By

Staff writer

The Illinois wrestling team ended its losing streak in style Friday, beating No. 9 Iowa in front of 3,352 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The victory marks the first dual meet win against Iowa for 14-year Illini head coach Mark Johnson.

“I don’t care what kind of team they have, any time you go into Iowa with the atmosphere and everything, it’s always good to win there,” said sophomore Gabe Flores who had two wins this weekend. “The environment was definitely intimidating.”

Friday saw nine ranked wrestlers going at it, with only one losing – Iowa’s Paul Bradley. Sixth ranked Illinois senior Pete Friedl took down No. 7 Bradley after getting off to a quick start, scoring early in the first period with a takedown. Bradley was called for an illegal hold and Friedl earned another point. Bradley made a run at Friedl late in the match, but the lead was too much and Friedl came away with a 4-2 victory.

Friedl dropped a match last weekend and fell two spots in the rankings this week, something Friedl said motivated him.

“The last couple of years I’ve been blessed to be up there pretty high and I kind of dropped a little bit recently,” Friedl said. “It helps me work harder and actually it helps me a little bit in practice each day pushing for that higher ranking.”

Top ranked senior Alex Tirapelle was unable to wrestle this weekend due to an elbow injury. The injury prevented him from facing rival Joe Johnston, who beat Tirapelle last year in the NCAA tournament, knocking him out of contention for the national title.

Tirapelle beat Johnston in the All-Star dual meet earlier this year.

Illinois sophomore Dan Zeman took Tirapelle’s place in the lineup, but was unable to fill his shoes as Johnston took the match in a major decision.

Iowa tied the meet up with the Johnston victory, but this was the last Iowa win as three ranked Illinois wrestlers took care of business and helped the Illini seal the win, 24-13.

On Sunday the Illini headed back to Huff Hall and pushed the new winning streak to two as they beat Michigan State 22-15.

It was a weekend of firsts for sophomore Gabe Flores, as he competed against Iowa and won at Huff Hall for the first time, things he hopes will not be lasts.

“This is my first win at home,” Flores said. “I just wanted to come out here and make a statement.”

Flores’ win at Huff Hall was not a small one, either. Illinois was stunned at the time as No. 6 senior Kyle Ott lost his match by a major decision and the Spartans were looking to take the lead. Flores did not let that happen, though, as he improved his record on the weekend to 2-0 and helped Illinois finish off Michigan State.

“He was huge today,” Johnson said. “Without him today we wouldn’t have won.”