Illini dominate home opener

By Majesh Abraham

Mother Nature had turned a double dual meet into just a dual meet, but Augustana might have wanted some more intervention.

Cumberland University was forced to cancel the trip to Champaign because of the weather, and it ended up being a dual meet with the No. 7 Illini taking on Division-III Augustana in the Illini’s home opener.

The bad weather could not faze the Illini on this day as they took charge from the start, and the result was visible early on as the team went on to win 45-0. The Illinois took a 6-0 lead from the start on senior All-American Kyle Ott’s season debut.

Ott (125 pounds) who was rested in the early tournaments of the season to rest his knees, has not wrestled since last year’s Nationals. He performed as if he hadn’t missed any time at all. Ott dominated Leo Byrd and won by pinfall in only a time of 1:43 to put the Illini up 6-0.

“It was exciting to be back in front of the home crowd,” Ott said. “It was just good to get the bugs out in this first match.”

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
Thank you for subscribing!

The crowd was able to witness senior All-American Pete Friedl’s 100th career victory. Freidl, ranked No. 3 nationally at 185 pounds, made quick work of Brian Turrell. He won in a pitfall in only a time of 1:38. It was good way to rebound after losing his first match of the season last week.

“It was just like any other match,” said Friedl about his landmark match. “I treat every match the same and just go out and do my job, and it was good just to get the win.”

Redshirt freshman Joe Gomez (133 pounds) earned a 6-5 decision against Dan Stanton. Junior All-American Cassio Pera (141 pounds) continued with a 13-6 decision over Ryan McMurry. Pera, ranked 13th nationally in his weight division, scored three takedowns in the first period to put the match away. Redshirt freshman Troy Tirapelle (149) took down Jeff Keske with a 5-2 decision to put the Illini up 15-0.

Tirapelle’s older brother, senior All-American Alex Tirapelle (157 pounds) showed why he is No. 2 in the nation in his weight class. Tirapelle won the match with a pinfall only two and a half minutes into the match, to earn his 106th career victory. At 165 pounds, redshirt freshman Mike Poeta defeated Brian Daly 7-3. Junior Donny Reynolds (174) took down Danny Krcmar with a 11-2 major decision. Senior Tyrone Byrd (197) 17-1 technical fall over John Parkhurst, which was the last of the action of the day. Redshirt freshman heavyweight Ben Zulauf won by forfeit to round out the meet.

The Illini will not be in action for more than two weeks, when they head to Evanston, Ill., to defend their Midlands Tournament title and try to make it a three-peat in the tournament.

“Midlands is why we have a meet like this,” said head coach Mark Johnson. “You need a meet between Vegas and Midlands to get the individuals some action. It was good for guys like Kyle to get in, and now these guys can go focus on the student part of being a student athlete.”