No. 16 Illinois Upsets No. 8 Northwestern, 21-13

Poeta and Flores Stay Perfect in Big Ten Season Opener

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ? The Big Ten season kicked off for the No. 16
Illinois wrestling team as they upset No. 8 Northwestern, 21-13,
Friday night at Huff Hall. The Illini took six out of the ten weight
classes to avenge last season's heartbreaking three-point loss to the
Wildcats. Gabe Flores (125) and Mike Poeta (157) kept their undefeated
season intact in the victory. Ryan Lang, Northwestern's top-ranked
141-pounder didn't compete due to injury.

After dropping their first match at heavyweight, the Illini fired off
six victories in a row. #10 Gabe Flores (Madera, Calif.) took a
decision against Brandon Precin, 8-3. Flores was in control of the
entire match as he recorded a takedown, reversal and a two-point
nearfall in the win. The Illini appeared to have tied the match, but a
team point was subtracted from them because of unsportsmanlike
conduct.

After the Flores decision, the next four Illini wins came without
allowing their opponents to score a takedown. At 133, freshman Jimmy
Kennedy took a 2-0 decision against Eric Metzler. At 141,
#12 Cassio Pero dominated James Kohlberg, 15-5. Pero (Chicago Heights,
Ill.), who logged seven takedowns in the major decision, only let
Kohlberg score on five escapes. #12 Troy Tirapelle followed up with a
major decision of his own against Marty Gould in their 149-pound
match. With Tirapelle (Clovis, Calif.) up 2-1 heading into the third
period, he extended his lead by scoring on an escape, a pair of
takedowns and a three-point nearfall.

At 157, #1 Mike Poeta showed Dominic Marella why he's the top
157-pounder in the country in a win via technical fall, 19-4 (7:00).
Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) came out firing in the first period as he
scored a takedown and picked up three more on back points. Poeta
extended his lead in the first as he added another takedown. The
Illini sophomore collected two takedowns in each of the next two
periods en-route to the technical fall.

At 165, #14 Roger Smith-Bergsrud posted a huge victory against Greg
Hagel, 11-7. With no scoring in the first two periods, the action came
with a fury in the third. The pair traded takedowns and escapes to
start the third. After Hagel took a 7-6 lead later in the period,
Smith-Bergsrud (Lake Bluff, Ill.) took the lead back with a takedown.
Then, the Illini sophomore sealed the win by picking up three points
on a nearfall. At this point in the dual, Illinois had a commanding
21-3 lead.

"We wrestled very tough tonight." Head coach Mark Johnson said. "We
wrestled the entire seven minutes of every match and we never let up.
We had a goal to get tougher this season and it's showing. I'm very
pleased with our performance."

The No. 16 Illini continue Big Ten action on Sunday, Jan. 21 as they
host No. 13 Indiana at Huff Hall. Mat time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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