The win gives the Wildcats an 8-7 record overall, 3-3 in conference. The loss drops Illinois to 12-3, 3-2 in the Big Ten.
The dual began for the Wildcats with 184-pounder Adil Kolovic (Chicago, Ill./Niles West) against Ben Friedl. The Wildcat senior had a late surge but couldn't find a win on senior day, as Friedl managed three takedowns in the first two periods for an 11-5 decision that gave Illinois the early 3-0 lead.
No. 2 Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) answered the early Illinois lead for the Wildcats against No. 13 Patrick Bond at 197 lbs. Tamillow accrued a takedown in the first and an escape in the second to jump out to a 3-0 lead -- a lead that would hold through the remainder of the match, as the Wildcat tied the dual at three apiece.
Northwestern's top-ranked heavyweight, Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) scored an early takedown against No. 17 John Wise to begin the match. Wise answered with an escape, but Fox was quick with another takedown, and this time there would be no escape, as Fox rode Wise for the remainder of the period.
Entering the second, Fox displayed his ability to escape, scoring the only point of the period to go to the third leading 5-1. Wise finally got an escape in the third, but it was too little too late, as Fox held Wise off for a 6-2 decision, giving him his 19th-straight victory and giving the 'Cats the 6-3 dual lead.
The dual's third-straight match between ranked opponents came next at 125 lbs. with NU's Precin and No. 9 Gabe Flores. Points were scarce in the match, as both wrestlers failed to score in the first. The match intensified in the second as Flores came close to a near fall, but couldn't manage to contain Precin, as the Wildcat escaped for the match's first point.
Flores did manage a late takedown in the second, giving the Illini a 2-1 lead entering the third. The match remained in question as time winded down, but Precin was able to overcome 55 seconds of riding time to score the ride out point to take the match into overtime.
Precin finished the match in the opening tiebreaker with a takedown, taking the match 4-2 and adding to the Wildcat lead to make the score 9-3.
133 lb. Eric Metzler (Luxembourg, Wis./Luxembourg-Casco) looked to continue the dual winning streak against No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy. An early Illini lead proved to be too much for the Wildcat, however, as Kennedy scored three takedowns on his way to a 11-3 major decision to cut Northwestern's lead to 9-7.
Sulzer came out at 141 lbs. with a takedown against No.11 Ryan Prater in the first period, much to the chagrin of the Illinois fans. Regardless, the Wildcat entered the second period with a 2-0 lead. Prater managed to tie the match with a two-point near fall midway through the second, evening the score as the wrestlers entered the third.
Prater's reversal in the third gave Illinois the 4-2 lead, but Sulzer was able to counter with a reversal of his own with just 17 seconds remaining in the match. Sulzer erased the riding advantage of Prater as well, taking the match to a tiebreaker.
After a close but scoreless first tiebreaker, Sulzer's two-point nearfall in the second tiebreaker gave NU the lead, and despite Prater's best effort, he couldn't manage anything else as Sulzer took the match 7-4 and widened the NU lead in the dual to 12-7.
No. 6 Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/Lakewood St. Edward) came out firing against Grant Paswall at 149 lbs. with an early takedown and over two and a half minutes of riding time in the first period alone to give the NU senior a 2-0 lead entering the second.
Lang doubled his lead in the second with an early reversal, but Paswall did manage an escape, giving Lang a 4-1 advantage after two periods. Lang, with the aid of two takedowns and two penalties in the third, scored a key 11-3 major decision victory for NU, making the score 16-7.
At 157 lbs., NU's Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) had his work cut out for him as he took on No. 2 Mike Poeta. Poeta continually racked up points on Nadhir, but the Illinois wrestler couldn't get the tech fall victory as Illinois won the match with a 15-1 major decision, closing the NU lead to 16-11.
At 165 lbs., Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) faced Clint Arlis. The first round saw a slew of action but the points were hard to come by, as Marella scored the only point of the period on a stalling penalty. In the second, Marella doubled his advantage with an escape, giving the Wildcat a 2-0 lead. With only three seconds remaining in the second, Marella doubled his lead again with a takedown for a 4-0 lead entering the third.
Arlis managed to escape in the third, but Marella's answering takedown stifled the comeback. Despite a late reversal and penalty point for Arlis, Marella came out on top with a 6-4 decision that gave NU the decisive 19-11 advantage entering the dual's final match.
No. 12 Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) closed out the dual for Northwestern at 174 lbs. against No. 16 John Dergo. The match remained scoreless entering the second period, where Dergo opened up the scoring with a takedown midway through. Hayes tied the match early in the third, however, with his second escape of the match, and then scored a late reversal to seal the deal with a 4-2 decision, giving the Wildcats the 22-11 victory.
The Wildcats return to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday as they take to the road to face the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers.
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