On senior night, the No. 8 Illinois wrestling team fell against No. 2 Iowa 25-12 before 1,485 fans at home, dropping to 2-5 in Big Ten dual meets this season.
In one of the most anticipated matchups of this year, the Illini’s No. 3 Jesse Delgado took on Iowa’s two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough in the 125-pound dual. After losing to Delgado last season in December, McDonough had won all 42 matches since.
Delgado was able to control the pace from the get-go Friday, recording two takedowns in the first period to give him the 4-1 lead heading into the second. He then continued to dominate in the next period by recording two more takedowns and limiting McDonough to just one escape, increasing the lead to 8-2.
Delgado was penalized for stalling in the third period before McDonough recorded an escape. Delgado was able to hold on and capture the 9-4 decision, giving the Illini the early 3-0 lead.
“We came out with fire and had some energy, and I think that’s very important,” head coach Jim Heffernan said. “Jesse did great for six minutes and got going right away and stayed on the attack the whole match and put (McDonough) away early.”
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Iowa captured the next two matches at 133 and 141 pounds; Iowa’s No. 2 Tony Ramos pinned No. 10 Daryl Thomas in 6 minutes, 36 seconds before the Hawkeyes’ Mark Ballweg defeated Steven Rodrigues 2-0.
Caleb Ervin was able to get the Illini back on track at 149 pounds, as he was able to defeat Iowa’s Brody Grothus 5-0, bringing the Illini within three at 9-6.
At 157 pounds, Illinois’ Matt Nora was defeated by No. 1 Derek St. John by a 20-8 major decision. No. 7 Conrad Polz was able to get the Illini back on the board in the 165-pound match, as he captured the 7-3 decision over Nick Moore.
With Illinois trailing 13-9, No. 8 Jordan Blanton of the Illini fell to No. 6 Mike Evans 2-1 in a tough seven-minute defensive match at 174 pounds. Iowa’s No. 13 Ethen Lofthouse then won the 184-pound dual, defeating No. 16 Tony Dallago 9-5, increasing Iowa’s lead to 19-9.
The Illini’s 197-pound Mario Gonzalez was able to win his fourth conference match of the year as he controlled the pace against Iowa’s No. 19 Nathan Burak.
The heavyweight match was the last of the evening as Iowa’s Bobby Telford pinned the Illini’s Chris Lopez in 2 minutes, 32 seconds, giving the Hawkeyes the 25-12 victory.
As the Illini are trying to establish themselves as one of nation’s top programs, they will first need to be able to compete with the best in the Big Ten.
“We’re trying to become a top-level program,” Heffernan said. “We gotta be able to compete with those guys in order to win a national championship.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @yaboybernie11.
