Poeta (Highland Park, Ill.) won four straight matches at 157 pounds, taking advantage of a forfeit by Mike Chandler of Missouri in the finals to win his second consecutive Missouri Open title.
For the second straight year, junior 174-pounder Donny Reynolds (Frankfort, Ill.) finished in second place, this time losing to No. 1-ranked Ben Askren of Missouri, 25-10. Senior Tyrone Byrd (Clinton, Ill.) battled through the championship bracket for a second-place finish at 197, dropping a 3-1 decision to At 149 pounds, redshirt-freshman Troy Tirapelle (Clovis, Calif.) recovered from an early loss to win five matches in a row and earn a third place finish with a 5-2 decision over Chris Seta of Campbellsville University.
Junior heavyweight Matt Weight (Batavia, Ill.) placed third with his 7-2 decision over Brad Farmer of Oklahoma. Junior Matt Winterhalter (Durand, Ill.) finished the day in fourth place at 174 pounds, while 141-pound junior Joel Karr (Clinton, Ill.) placed fifth. Senior heavyweight Matt Fletcher (Peru, Ill.) took sixth.
The Illini also saw great success in the freshman division as Nick Guida (Allentown, Pa.) won five straight matches at 174 pounds, downing No. 2 seed Matt Cauley of Lindenwood University to win his first collegiate title. Clint Arlis (Batavia, Ill.), 149 pounds and heavyweight John Wise (Pittsfield, Ill.) placed second, while 184-pounder Jake Norman (Batavia, Ill.) placed fourth and heavyweight Andy Greenawalt (Naperville, Ill.) placed fifth.
The Illini return to action on Dec. 2-3 as they travel to the Las Vegas Invitational.
MISSOURI OPEN
1st: Mike Poeta (157); 2nd: Donny Reynolds (174); Tyrone Byrd (197); 3rd: Troy Tirapelle (149), Matt Weight (Hwt.); 4th: Matt Winterhalter (174); 5th: Joel Karr (141); 6th: Matt Fletcher (Hwt)
FRESHMAN DIVISION
1st: Nick Guida (174); 2nd: Clint Arlis (149), John Wise (Hwt.); 4th: Jake Norman (184); 5th: Andy Greenawalt (Hwt.)
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