Beginning the day at 174 pounds, Zac Brunson wasted no time in getting back into the groove he had established before missing the past four matches due to injury. In the first period, Brunson used a takedown and a four-point near fall to take an early 6-0 lead. Brunson escalated the action in period two, scoring 12 points to earn a technical fall without surrendering a point. The win was Brunson's 14th of the season and was his third tech fall of the season.
Jeff Koepke doubled the early advantage with a 26-11 technical fall at 184 pounds. The major blow came in the third period when Koepke used a four-point near fall with a minute remaining that set him up for the technical fall with two more takedowns.
Michigan State got on the board at 197 pounds when Jacob Cooper out-dueled Illinois' Andre Lee. Lee opened up a 2-0 lead, and stretched it to 4-1, but a four-point near fall by Cooper gave the Spartan the lead for good, holding on for the 9-6 win, cutting the Illini lead to 10-3.
However, the seven=point deficit would be as close as the Spartans would come to Illini on the afternoon. At heavyweight, Brooks Black added the third bonus point victory in the first four matches with a 10-2 tally against Dimitrus Renfroe, using three takedowns 3:58 of riding time in route to the win.
The most competitive match of the day came at 125 pounds between Francis Edelen and Michigan State's Mitch Rogaliner. The pair remained knotted 2-2 after the first period, but Rogaliner gained the lead with a takedown in period two to lead 4-3 entering the final two minutes. Battling back-and-forth, Edelen led 7-6 with under ten seconds remaining after two takedowns. However, Rogaliner used a last-ditch effort to get a reversal and win the bout 8-7.
Coming out of the intermission with a 14-6 advantage, the Fighting Illini put the Spartans away with bonus points at 133, 157, and 165 pounds. The Illini began the second half of the match with Zane Richards' fourth pin of the season, using just 3:35 to get the fall over Garth Yenter. The win moves him to 18-0 on the season and gives him 60 dual points for the season.
Michigan State would earn their final, and biggest, victory of the day at 141 pounds. Javier Gasca used early scoring to put Brock Ervin on his heels and earning a 12-3 major decision over Ervin. The loss snapped Ervin's two-game winning streak started last Sunday at Northern Illinois.
The Illini grapplers reeled off 12 straight points in the final three bouts to finish of the Spartans, beginning with a 6-3 decision by Kyle Langenderfer over Kaelan Richards. The victory by Langenderfer extended the Illini lead to 23-10, securing the Orange and Blue's first Big Ten victory of 2016. Isaiah Martinez and Steven Rodrigues added style points to the win with bonus points in both duals. Martinez reeled in his 15th technical fall of the season with a 20-5 score, including two four-point near falls, that pushes his record to 19-0 and his winning streak to 61. The Illini romp concluded with Steven Rodrigues' team-high ninth major decision, beating Dean Vettese 20-9. The 32-10 victory gave the Illini their biggest win of the season since defeating Drexel 31-9 In New York on November 29.
"I felt good," said Martinez. "It's always good to get the tech fall. I was actually going for the fall, but I got him on his back and he just spun out too hard and I wasn't able to hold him there. But, I'm happy. Any time I can get a bonus point victory, looks good on the resume."
The Fighting Illini return home for their only match of the week when they meet top-ranked Penn State at 3 p.m. on the mat at Huff Hall on Saturday, January 23. The match against the nation's top-ranked team will be broadcasted live on Big Ten Network. Fans are encouraged to bring canned food for the Eastern Illinois Food Bank as part of the Hometown Heroes promotion. Illinois' starters will also be throwing out American Flag wrestling t-shirts prior to the match.
Results:
174: #1 Zac Brunson (ILL) tech fall Shane Shadaia (MSU),18-0| 5-0
184: #16 Jeff Koepke (ILL) tech fall Wesley Maskill (MSU),26-11 | 10-0
197: Jacob Cooper (MSU) dec. Andre Lee (ILL),9-6 | 10-3
HWT: Brooks Black (ILL) major dec. Dimitrus Renfroe (MSU),10-2 | 14-3
125: Mitch Rogaliner (MSU) dec. Francis Edelen (ILL),8-7 | 14-6
133: #3 Zane Richards (ILL) fall Garth Yenter (MSU),3:35 |20-6
141: Javier Gasca (MSU) major dec. Brock Ervin (ILL),12-3 | 20-10
149: Kyle Langenderfer (ILL) dec. Kaelan Richards (MSU), 6-3| 23-10
157: #1 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech fall Joe Johnson (MSU),20-5 | 28-10
165: #6 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) major dec. Dean Vettese (MSU,20-9 | 32-10
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