The Illinois wrestling team recorded 14 pins and seven technical falls at the Loras Open on Saturday in Dubuque, Iowa, as seven wrestlers won their respective weight classes. To go along with the seven titles, five other Illini wrestlers finished in the top four.

In the gold bracket, the Illini were led by first-place finishes from redshirt freshman Dominic Olivieri (125 pounds), senior Daryl Thomas (133), redshirt freshman Steven Rodrigues (184) and junior Tony Dallago (184). Dallago led the Illini by recording four pins, including the fastest pin of the tournament in 23 seconds. Thomas recorded bonus points in three matches, while Olivieri won all five of his matches by decision. Rodrigues won his title by winning four major decisions to go along with a pin that sent him to the semifinals.

“I think the guys wrestled hard,” head coach Jim Heffernan said in a press release. “Some guys like Olivieri showed a lot of improvement and guys scored a bunch of bonus points, which is something we need to continue as the year progresses. Overall, it was a good start for an early season tournament.”

Along with the four first-place finishers, Logan Arlis (133) and Jackson Morse (165) both took home second-place finishes in their respective weight classes.

In the silver bracket, all five Illini wrestlers earned top-four finishes, including three first-place finishers. Freshmen Zane Richards (133), John Fahy (149) and Zac Brunson (157) all captured titles in their respective weight classes, while Jake Kiminsky (157) placed second and Benjamin Soumar (133) finished fourth.

With solid performances from this weekend, the Illini will head to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday to compete in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @callitcomisky.