Illinois wrestling beat up on Ohio State and No. 15 Indiana this weekend, improving to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Big Ten.

On Friday, Indiana started off hot, winning the first two matches of the night. The first match was highly-anticipated all week long, as senior Kyle Ott faced Joe Dubuque in a rematch of last year’s national championship. With a win, Kyle Ott could have potentially moved up to the No. 1 ranking in the 125-pound weight class.

The match went two periods with a score of 1-0, but Dubuque took control in the third, scoring a takedown, and giving Indiana an early 3-0 lead. Dubuque is now 13-0 on the season and will remain the top wrestler in his division.

“I’m sure Kyle wants to win every match he goes out, but this was a dual meet loss,” head coach Mark Johnson said. “When the time comes at the end of the year during big-time matches, he’ll be ready.”

Indiana scored again to extend its lead to six points when Andrae Hernandez beat Illinois sophomore Gabe Flores 4-0.

“I don’t like to lose at all, and I know we’re capable of winning every match this weekend,” Johnson said. “I told the guys before the meet that I was confident we’d win every match. That didn’t end up happening, but I’m still happy.”

The Illini took control the rest of the way, winning the next eight matches.

In one of the better matchups of the day, Illinois senior Alex Tirapelle (157 lbs) went up against Indiana’s Brandon Becker. No. 7 Becker battled the top-ranked All-American hard, and Tirapelle had to battle back from a three-point deficit late in the match. Tirapelle tied the match up when he scored an escape and a takedown, to come away with an 8-7 victory.

“That was real good for Alex to come back and win,” Johnson said. “I’m really happy with where Tirapelle was this weekend.”

At the 184-pound weight class, Pete Friedl tried to bounce back from last weekend’s loss to Purdue’s Ben Wissel with a strong performance this week. The Illinois senior All-American dominated the match, scoring a takedown against Indiana’s Justin Curran just 15 seconds into the match. Friedl added four more takedowns to beat No. 6 Curran 12-4 and win by major decision.

“I think any time you have a loss, it’s important to follow it with a win,” Johnson said. “Any loss shakes your confidence. It was great to see how Pete did.”

No. 9 senior Tyrone Byrd barely beat out Brady Richardson in the 197-pound match up. With the match going into the third period, it was all tied up. Byrd scored a point on an escape to take the lead 4-3. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the final period, Richardson took a shot at Byrd, sending him to the mat, but the match ended and no points were awarded to Byrd.

“That was a close call, but it was the right one,” Johnson said. “There was never any doubt that (Byrd) won that match.”

In the 174-pound match, No. 16 Donny Reynolds dominated to take a 10-5 decision against Marc Bennett. No. 8 Mike Poeta kept the Illini’s winning streak alive by racking up three takedowns against Max Dean for an 8-3 win in the 165-pound bout.

On Sunday, Illinois scored early and often to beat Ohio State 27-12. The Buckeyes have yet to win in conference play and are one of only two unranked teams in the Big Ten.

“Whenever you win two Big Ten matches on the road, no matter who it is you’re up against, you have to feel pretty good,” Johnson said.