PHILADELPHIA, PA • In one of the most anticipated national championship matches slated out of the ten title bouts, Lucas Byrd of Illinois, the number-one seed at 133 pounds, was looking for his 100th career win and a national championship—and not in that order. To do so, he would have to defeat Iowa’s Drake Ayala, last year’s national runner-up, and the only opponent to defeat Byrd this season.
In their B1G dual in Iowa City, it was Ayala who defeated Byrd, 4-2, and in the title match at the B1G Championships, it was Byrd winning by fall after catching Ayala in a cow-catcher. Now, it was time for the rubber match, and Byrd was more than ready having the confidence that he can do what he had already done two weeks earlier.
The match opened with heavy hands from each wrestler as they exchanged levels and low stances and matched each other’s head position.
With Byrd snapping with a heavy right hand, Ayala tried to hit a slide by, but Byrd defended and squared back up and the hand fight continued.
As there was 1:00 remaining in the period, Byrd attempted a slide by of his own on the edge of the mat, but both wrestlers would go out of bounds, but Byrd was picking up his pace. And as they had another restart, it was Byrd once again firing off a shot. Ayala would defend with a front headlock, and Byrd would defend by circling; ultimately, a stalemate would be called.
The first period closed out with another heavy hand fight mixed with fakes and snaps and head levels matching head levels.
When the second period began, it was Byrd with the choice, and Byrd chose down. Five seconds later, Byrd was out via a tripod stand and kickout as Ayala tried to control the position. The score was now 1-0 in favor of Byrd and, again, his pace increased as he looked to hit another slide by past Ayala. Ayala defended and the hand fight and pass by attempts continued, but Ayala was playing the edge and Byrd, who had been the aggressor, pressed forward.
Ayala would try to tie Byrd up with a two-on-one, but Byrd would find his way free, continue with his forward pressure and, with twenty-two seconds left in the second, Byrd would force Ayala out of bounds and Ayala would be hit for stalling.
After this call, Ayala tried to stay center, each match levels and tried to work past the other’s head and hands, but the second period expired.
For the third period, it was now Ayala’s choice, and he would choose down. Byrd, normally very strong on top, could not stop Ayala’s first move. The Iowa junior would quickly get to his feet, and as Byrd tried to return him to the mat, he could not. Ayala would escape turn into Byrd, and his five-second escape erased all riding time for either wrestler. Quickly, as he and Byrd faced one another, Ayala immediately looked for a slide by. There would be no score as Byrd defended and stayed forward.
With another heavy right-hand tie by Byrd, Ayala transitioned into a slide by, but Byrd stayed square and pressured forward and attempted a shot. As he came out of his shot, Ayala reattacked with a right-handed ankle pick, but he could not find a scoring opportunity and the position would be stalemated.
The restart was more heavy hands and levels and fakes, but Byrd’s pressure was about to pay off.
With another heavy right-handed tie, Byrd forced Ayala to step forward. When he did, Byrd dropped levels and used his left hand to reach, as he pressured down with his right hand on Ayala’s head, and he hit a beautiful ankle pick.
In following the pick, Byrd would knock Ayala to his hip, but Ayala would defend and come back out very quickly. Byrd lift Ayala, but Ayala continued to maintain his position on his feet, turn toward Byrd and jump into a roll. Ayala, who created the scramble, would come out square against Byrd, but Byrd would body lock the Hawkeye as the two continued their fight on the edge of the mat, and Ayala would walk Byrd off—no takedown was called.
Almost immediately, Illinois threw in their challenge brick, but after the video review the no-call was confirmed as Ayala stayed square and Byrd never had full control of the position.
The match stayed 1-1 as time expired, and the 133-pound championship was now headed to sudden victory.
For Byrd, his pressure and forwardness would not change. Again, his pace seemed to be increasing, and with each step forward, Ayala was continuing to move backwards, and the Illinois corner, who had been on the officials for a stall call, were becoming more and more open about it.
In that same sequence, Byrd would attempt another shot, but Ayala would whizzer and a mat fight proceeded. Ayala would keep his whizzer forward, but Byrd was trying to step over and score. Byrd ended up in a single leg and Ayala would again fight out of the circle.
The crowd could be heard wanting the stall call, and now the yells from the Illinois coaches was ferociously questioning the no-stall call as Byrd was obviously doing all the work, and Ayala was being allowed to back off the mat.
Off the restart, it was Byrd again with a snap that knocked Ayala down and off balance. Ayala would regain control, but Byrd was in deep on his right leg. From there, Ayala would try to sit though, and a scrambling position began.
Byrd on the leg, and Ayala coming through, Ayala would come out the back with a scramble that now saw Byrd almost being placed on his back and in danger, but he would roll through only to be placed there again. Fortunately, for Byrd, no points or swipes would be awarded, and it was now time for the first tiebreaker.
In the first of two thirty-second periods, Ayala would choose down. Fairly quickly, Ayala would escape, but just as quickly was Byrd in on a shot. Ayala defended, but Byrd was back in on another shot. Ayala fought to the mat’s edge as Byrd continued to fight the position, but as they two went out of bounds, Byrd would score, but not on a takedown. Ayala was hit for his second stall call; thus, Byrd was awarded one point.
Iowa’s challenge brick would find its way to the center of the mat, but the stall call would be confirmed after the review.
With time ending, the score would be 2-2, and now it was Byrd’s choice for his thirty-second overtime period. He looked to his corner and chose neutral. With Ayala going down in the first overtime segment, Byrd had accumulated six seconds of riding time. And once Ayala was hit for his second stall call, Byrd had the advantage in the match with more riding time. By staying on his feet, he maintained his riding advantage, and now Ayala was forced to attack.
Byrd, on the line, had to simply not concede any points. Ayala would come at him, but Byrd was the one now backing away and clearing positions. Ayala fired off a shot in the final seconds, but Byrd would defend and fire off a shot of his own—from there, Byrd simply held onto the leg and, as time ended in the match, Byrd would give Illinois its first national champion since Isaiah Martinez back in 2016.
Byrd’s hand would be raised high in the arena before he would run to his corner and give his coaches a big hug. Immediately after, Byrd ran off the stage and into the arms of his girlfriend where the two embraced. After, Byrd embraced his parents with a big hug as well.
In his conference, Byrd addressed his mindset and what he was thinking as the match was in overtime.
“Every time there’s a break,” Byrd explained, “every time there’s a challenge brick, I looked to my corner, Jeremy Hunter, Mike Poeta, Austin O’Connor, Christian Kanzler, hell, our trainer Jeff Jahnel, but me and Jermey have been striking on a different level—we can probably speak telepathically. We know what is going on and anything he tells me, I just have to trust him.
“I get that little run down in overtime, and they threw the brick, I looked at Jeremy, ‘Hey, were all good,’ Jeremy said, ‘Calm down. We’re gonna go neutral.’ I said, ‘We’re not going to go down, we’re going neutral?’ and he said we were going neutral. I stepped on the line and chose neutral. I just trust my coaches so damn much with everything.”
And once Byrd toed the line, and believed in what he was being told, he had reached his goal of being the last hand raised.
For Byrd, his journey to his title has been up and down. He has finished fifth twice, and he was eliminated one year. But now he was a national champion.
“It’s been one hell of a journey,” Byrd responded to his journey to this title. “It has been one of the most exciting journeys I have ever been on, and it is a moment winning that match, I have to give all my coaches a hug, because I have been a pain in the ass over these past six years, they are my people, they are my home.”
As for where this places Byrd in the collection of Illinois champions, as well as what is says about the program, Byrd was grateful and confident: “It’s a cycle you want to be involved in. There’s a lot of good stuff going on at Illinois. We didn’t have the best Blood Round this year, we had a lot of guys that should have won matches, and the ball didn’t bounce our way. But it shows we all have good fight.”
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• TC LIFONTI / LEAD WRITER FOR ILLINOIS MATMEN / tclifonti.com
