The Illinois wrestling team defeated Northern Illinois in a 22-15 victory at Huff Hall Friday in the team’s first home meet of the season.

Freshman Justin Cardani won the first match of the night at 125-pounds, 5-2. He took his opponent down twice and successfully controlled the match all six minutes.

Junior Dylan Duncan wrestled at 141-pounds and swiftly secured a fall for Illinois. His opponent, freshman Nathan Swartz, was unable to prevent Duncan from scoring a takedown and four-point near fall. At time 2:20 of the match, Duncan got the fall.

“I’m pretty happy with that,” Duncan said. “I’ll take what I can get. Any win is a win. I just wish I would have worked more, wish I would have let him up and worked my skills.”

Duncan didn’t expect to get a pin so quickly, but he knows there’s a lot he’ll be able to prove in longer matches. He said he enjoys seeing the success of his teammates, and it helps to motivate him in his bouts since he’s the third wrestler in the team’s lineup.

“The two people in front of me, they pump me up a lot,” Duncan said. “It’s great to see when they get wins. I get excited.”

Senior Joey Gunther competed against junior Kenny Moore in the 174-pound weight class. Gunther patiently wrestled, never allowing his opponent to take him down in the first period and successfully held Moore down more throughout the entire second, leading to a riding point. In the third period of the match, Gunther escaped his opponent and won the match with a score of 2-0.

Freshman Zac Braunagel had an action-filled match with eight takedowns to rack up points, finishing with a major decision. At 184-pounds, he faced off against Northern Illinois’s junior Caden McWhirter. During the match, he realized a succession of takedowns created a more discouraged and fatigued opponent.

“I’d rather just let him up and try to take him down again and wear him out a little more so the third period is easier on me, because he will be tired,” Braunagel said.

Braunagel believes his ability to outwork his opponents is an asset in his wrestling, but said he’s not in better shape than his other teammates.

“I believe in my conditioning more and I’ve wrestled and put myself in positions where I’m exhausted in practice, so I know that when I am exhausted I can still wrestle,” Braunagel said.

The meet concluded after an hour and a half. The Illini look forward to working hard in the practice room to correct mistakes made in their matches. Their next tournament will be at the 57th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Hoffman Estates.

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