"I thought this afternoon we were a little boring in a couple of different weights because we were too busy trying to win rather than wrestling to our potential, but we did have a couple of really good wins today," said head coach Jim Heffernan.
No. 1 Jesse Delgado won Illinois' first match of the dual, grabbing a 3-0 win over Del Vinas at 125 pounds. No. 7 Zane Richards followed up Delgado's win with a dominating performance at 133 pounds. Richards earned a technical fall win over Kyle Lukowich, 23-7, snapping a two-match losing streak.
No. 13 Steven Rodrigues continued Illinois' winning ways with a 6-4 victory over Tyler Small at 141 pounds. Kyle Langenderfer also came away with a narrow win, beating Kyle Bauer, 4-3, at 149 pounds.
The 157-pound matchup between No. 2 Isaiah Martinez and No. 6 Ian Miller was marquee bout of the afternoon. Martinez pinned Miller in 6:35, improving to 26-0 this season and running his win streak to 33 straight matches.
No. 8 Jackson Morse, No. 7 Zac Brunson and No. 19 Nikko Reyes earned wins by decision at 165, 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Morse grabbed a 9-4 win over Tyler Buckwalter, while Brunson downed Caleb Marsh, 3-2. Reyes earned a 6-3 victory over Jerald Spohn.
Jeff Koepke earned Illinois' second win by fall at 197 pounds, pinning Stephen Suglio in 4:30. Brooks Black closed out the strong performance by the Illini with 5-0 decision over Mimmo Lytle at heavyweight.
With the win, the Illini improve to 13-4 overall with their fifth consecutive victory. The win over the Golden Flashes also punches Illinois' ticket to the NWCA National Duals Finals next weekend in Iowa City, Iowa. The bracket for the event will be released early next week.
"We are all looking forward to next weekend," said Martinez. "It's exciting to go against those guys that you aren't going to wrestle in conference and maybe get a feel for them before nationals."
Results:
125: No. 1 Jesse Delgado (ILL) over Del Vinas (KSU) (Dec 3-0)
133: No. 7 Zane Richards (ILL) over Kyle Lukowich (KSU) (TF 23-7, 4:57)
141: No. 13 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) over Tyler Small (KSU) (Dec 6-4)
149: Kyle Langenderfer (ILL) over Kyle Bauer (KSU) (Dec 4-3)
157: No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) over No. 6 Ian Miller (KSU) (Fall 6:35)
165: No. 8 Jackson Morse (ILL) over Tyler Buckwalter (KSU) (Dec 9-4)
174: No. 7 Zac Brunson (ILL) over Caleb Marsh (KSU) (Dec 3-2)
184: No. 19 Nikko Reyes (ILL) over Jerald Spohn (KSU) (Dec 6-3)
197: Jeff Koepke (ILL) over Stephen Suglio (KSU) (Fall 4:30)
285: Brooks Black (ILL) over Mimmo Lytle (KSU) (Dec 5-0)
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