It was all No. 11 Illinois (8-2, 3-2) on Friday when it took on No. 29 Maryland (8-6, 3-1) in College Park. Illinois rebounded from a tough loss to No. 2 Iowa (9-0, 3-0) last week with a convincing 33-7 win. The victory raises the Illini’s record and gets them back on track as they continue Big Ten play.
Riley breaks through
Friday showed signs of hope for 125-pound junior Caelan Riley after what’s been somewhat of a difficult year. Before the win, the Illini were a combined 0-9 in 125-pound duals. However, Riley delivered a breakthrough performance and earned his first win of the year. The win set the tone and momentum for a dominating Illinois victory.
Rest of the match
Redshirt senior Lucas Byrd rebounded from his first season loss with a hard-fought victory against Maryland’s No. 11 redshirt junior Braxton Brown in the 133-pound dual.
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After redshirt junior Danny Pucino secured a win in the 141-pound class, Illinois 149-pound redshirt freshman Kannon Webster delivered the only fall of the day on Maryland’s No. 32 149-pound junior Kal Miller to go up 15-0 in the match.
Graduate student Jason Kraisser dropped his 157-pound dual to Maryland’s top-ranked No. 6 redshirt junior Ethen Miller to put the Terps on the board.
Redshirt freshman Braeden Scoles and redshirt senior Danny Braunagel then delivered back-to-back tech falls in the 165 and 174-pound duals, respectively, to increase the Illini’s lead to 25-4.
Maryland got on the scoresheet one last time as 184-pound redshirt junior Jaxon Smith pulled out a close one. He defeated 184-pound redshirt senior Edmond Ruth by decision, 4-3.
Luffman locks in
The exceptional defensive run of 285-pound redshirt senior Luke Luffman continued as he grabbed a 4-2 victory. Home hero Luffman has only allowed his opponent to score more than three points twice this season. He has put his opponent into lockouts in every other match, dominating bouts throughout. His dual record improved to 9-1 as Illinois saw a resurgence from its “big three.”
Redshirt senior Zac Braunagel regained momentum in the 197-pound weight class with an important win after going 1-2 in the last three duals. With a technical fall, Braunagel contributed to Illinois’ heavyweight reawakening.
Big Ten roundup
With an important win in College Park, Illinois improves to 3-2 in conference matchups. However, it only sits at No. 7 in the Big Ten standings. With three conference matches remaining, Illinois must improve its individual records for better seedings for the Big Ten championship. The Illini can improve to a conference record of 6-2 at best if they win their remaining matchups.
With some momentum due to Riley’s first season win, Illinois has positives to take into an uphill climb in remaining fixtures. It takes on the No. 13 Rutgers (10-4, 2-2) next in New Jersey on Sunday to complete the road stand.
