"Jimmy really gave a pretty dominating performance," Illinois head coach Mark Johnson said. "People didn't really know what to do with Ness in the rankings since he moved up to 133 this year after having success at 125 last year, so this was a good match for Jimmy to wrestle."
Kennedy fired and got a takedown just seven seconds into the match but Ness escaped. Less than one minute later, Kennedy finished a double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat for a 4-1 margin. After Kennedy recorded some riding time, Ness managed to escape to make the score 4-2 at the end of the first period.
Ness started down in the second and Kennedy managed to increase his riding time advantage to 1:46 before Ness escaped to bring the score to 4-3. Ness fired in on a deep single-leg but Kennedy managed to fend off the Gopher and earn a neutral restart. After no further scoring in the period, Kennedy started down in the third and escaped, but Ness caught him for a takedown to tie the score at 5.
After Ness rode him for approximately 40 seconds, Kennedy escaped to make the score 6-5 and maintain his riding-time point with 1:01 of riding time advantage remaining. The Illini junior fended off numerous late attacks by Ness to hold on for the 7-5 victory.
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