Maybe it was the heartbreak from losing to Michigan or maybe it was just probability. All streaks have to end, and the Illini’s streak of 10 straight dual-meet wins against the Northwestern Wildcats came to an end on Sunday. It was the second straight loss for the Illini in a weekend that saw them drop from unbeaten to 8-2 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten. It was also the first time that the Illini have lost back-to-back meets in the Big Ten since the 2002-2003 season.

“You hope that the Michigan loss didn’t affect the team against Northwestern, but I know that everybody was down afterwards,” Johnson said. “I was down, and I didn’t do a good job of coaching, because we had no zip, we were flat, and it’s the coach’s responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The meet started off with No. 3 All-American Kyle Ott (125 lbs) being pinned by No.8 John Velez. It was the second straight loss for Ott against Velez, who also upset Ott last year. Sophomore Gabe Flores (133 lbs) rebounded from a loss on Friday with a 10-3 victory over Danny Quintanela.

Junior All-American Cassio Pero (141 lbs) then lost a tight 2-1 decision to No. 6 Ryan Lang. But redshirt freshman Troy Tirapelle (149 lbs) brought the Illini back with a 9-6 victory over Marty Gould.

Tirapelle’s older brother, senior All-American Alex Tirapelle put the Illini in the lead with an 11-2 major decision. Tirapelle, No. 1 in the country at 157 lbs, scored four takedowns in the match. No. 8 red-shirt freshman Mike Poeta (165 lbs) made it three straight victories for the Illini with a 7-3 victory over No. 18 Will Durkee. But junior Donny Reynolds (174 lbs) couldn’t continue the streak as he was defeated by No. 2 Jake Herbert in a 16-6 major decision.

The match that might have turned the meet in favor of the Wildcats was when senior All-American No.3 Pete Friedl (184 lbs) was upset 5-4 by No. 11 Mike Tamillow. In a match that went back and forth, Tamillow got the last and decisive point because he had an advantage in riding time at the end of the match.

“Pete was in a situation where he didn’t wrestle well”, Johnson said. “I think he’s much better than that guy, and he’ll prove it at the end of the year. You can’t have two All-Americans lose and expect to win a Big Ten meet.”

Senior No. 8 Tyrone Byrd (197 lbs) brought the Illini back with a 3-1 victory over No. 12 Matt Delguyd. The meet was now dead even at 16-16, and for the second time this weekend, the fate of the team depended on junior heavyweight Matt Weight.

He was pitted against No. 8 Dustin Fox, who Weight had defeated 2-1 at Midlands in December. The match went back and forth as neither wrestler could gain the upper hand, as the match headed to overtime with the score 1-1. The match headed into a second overtime, during which Fox scored an escape to win the match 2-1, and the meet for Northwestern 19-16.

“There’s ten guys out there, and we don’t lose because of one guy,” Johnson said. “He’ll be the first to admit that Friday night you don’t get pinned, and yesterday against Northwestern, I thought he outwrestled the kid. But he didn’t lose the match for us, we had other opportunities to win and we didn’t get it done.”