PHILADELPHIA, PA • After the second round of the 2025 NCAA Championships ended, Illinois finds themselves tied for ninth place with the University of Michigan in the team standings, and they have three wrestlers who will be looking for another win. Now, the magnitude of that “another win” is extremely significant because it would mean not only All-American status, but also a semifinal berth which means an opportunity to wrestle into the finals and potentially win a national championship.
For the Fighting Illini’s one seeded Lucas Byrd, he had a nail bitter in his 133-pound opening round matchup against the 32 seed, Hunter Leake of Cal Bakersfield.
The first period would be scoreless, and Byrd, the redshirt senior, would choose down in the second period. About forty-five seconds into the period, Byrd would score a reversal and go up 2-0. But with just under thirty seconds remaining in the period, Leake would find his way into a reversal of his own, ride Byrd out, and it would be a 2-2 match headed into the third.
In that final period, Leake would choose down, and Byrd would make sure that is where he would stay. With a ride out for the duration of the third period, Byrd would earn a riding point and win a tight 3-2 bout.
Now looking to wrestle himself into the quarterfinals, Byrd would face Ryan Miller of Penn. This time, Byrd would make nothing about this match interesting—and that was just fine for the Illini faithful in attendance. Byrd would score points in each period and take a 9-0 major decision win that now places him in the quarterfinals.
After what may have just been a nervous start as the one seed, Byrd appears to be settled into his bracket and will now face Braeden Davis of Penn State University, the eight seed. Up until this point, PSU has been a perfect 20-0 in the opening two rounds, and Byrd has the first opportunity to give the Nittany Lions their first loss of the tournament.
Beneath him, with a win, Byrd would face either Indiana’s 21st seeded Angelo Rini, or the fourth seeded Zeth Romney of Cal Poly.
Also in the finals for Illinois is redshirt freshman Kannon Webster at 149 pounds. For Webster, who opened up with two very strong wins—an 8-0 major decision over 26th seeded Kal Miller of Maryland, and an 8-3 decision over the University of Northern Iowa’s Colin Realbuto, the 10 seed—he will now face the two seeded and B1G champion Ridge Lovett from Nebraska.
For Webster, who appears to have his confidence intact, showed that he could keep a close match with Lovett two weeks ago in the B1G title bout, but now it will be about getting past Lovett’s head and hand defense, and possibly having to escape out of the bottom position, if he is to advance.
Again, and wrestlers know this, keep the matches close against the best guys, and anything is possible. For Webster, he now knows he can keep the match close, the next step is finding a way to win in the closing moments and advancing to the semifinals.
The third and final quarterfinalist for the Blue and Orange is Edmund Ruth at 184 pounds. The redshirt senior, who was a B1G champion and All-American a season ago, knows how to win big matches, and none get bigger than a senior in the quarterfinals of his finals NCAA tournament.
Ruth, the 10 seed, will have the tall task of having to face and defeat the University of Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, a returning national champion and currently undefeated two seed—it is worth noting that Keckeisen has not lost a match in the past two seasons.
However, Ruth’s first two matches of the tournament shed light on him as a complete wrestler.
For his opening match of the tournament, Ruth won a 10-2 major decision over the 23rd seeded Aidan Brenot of North Dakota State University. In that bout, Ruth would score from his feet, from bottom, and from the top position.
Then, in his Round of 16 win over Isaac Dean of Ryder, the seven seed, Ruth showed he could win the close matches. He would take a TB-2, 2-2 decision where he would escape in three seconds, and then ride out and defend to secure his advancement.
In both matches, Ruth showed his strength, wrestling intelligence, athleticism, allusiveness, and his ability to score. He will need it all to defeat Keckeisen, but that is the beauty in the magic of this tournament: anyone can beat anyone at any moment.
Now in the wrestlebacks, Danny Pucino (141), Braeden Scoles (165), Danny Braunagel (174), Zac Braunagel (197), and Luke Luffman (285), all of which have scored team points with at least one win, and now fighting for their individual, as well as their team finish.
If Illinois is going to make a move to stay in the Top 10, this handful of wrestlers is going to need to put some wins together and continue advancing.
Championship Round of 32:
133, Lucas Byrd (1) • defeated Hunter Leake (32), Cal Bakersfield • Dec, 3-2
141, Danny Pucino (28) • lost to Cael Happel (5), Northern Iowa • Fall (5:51)
149, Kannon Webster (7) • defeated Kal Miller (26), Maryland • MD, 8-0
165, Braeden Scoles (11) • defeated Enrique Munguia (22), Rider • Dec, 7-6
174, Danny Braunagel (20) • lost to Cade DeVos (13), San Diego State • Dec, 5-4
184, Edmund Ruth (10) • defeated Aidan Brenot (23), North Dakota State • MD, 10-2
197, Zac Braunagel (9) • lost to Gabe Sollars (24), Indiana • Dec, 6-5
285, Luke Luffman (8) • defeated Luke Rasmussen (25), South Dakota State • Dec, 8-2
Championship Round of 16:
133, Lucas Byrd (1) • defeated Ryan Miller (16), Penn • MD, 9-0
149, Kannon Webster (7) • defeated Colin Realbuto (10), Northern Iowa • Dec, 8-3
165, Braeden Scoles (11) • lost to Beau Mantanona (6), Michigan • Dec, 8-5
184, Edmund Ruth (10) • defeated Isaac Dean (7), Rider • TB-2, 2-2 (RT)
285, Luke Luffman (8) • lost to Cohlton Schultz (9), Arizona State • Dec, 7-0
Championship Quarterfinal:
133, Lucas Byrd (1) to wrestle Braeden Davis (8), Penn State
149, Kannon Webster (7) to wrestle Ridge Lovett (2), Nebraska
184, Edmund Ruth (10) to wrestle Parker Keckeisen (2), Northern Iowa
Consolation Round of 16-1:
141, Danny Pucino (28) • defeated Sam Latona (12), Virginia Tech. • Dec, 12-8
174, Danny Braunagel (20) • defeated Jackson Turley (29), Rutgers • MD, 18-9
197, Zac Braunagel (9) • defeated Luke Surber (8), Oklahoma State • MD, 14-3
Consolation Round of 16-2:
141, Danny Pucino (28) to wrestle Dylan Cedeno (11), Virginia
165, Braeden Scoles (11) to wrestle Mac Church (28), Virginia Tech.
174, Danny Braunagel (20) to wrestle Matthew Singleton (14), NC State
197, Zac Braunagel (9) to wrestle Brock Zurawski (26), Rider
285, Luke Luffman (8) to wrestle Peter Ming (26), Stanford
Here is a look at the Top 10 TEAM SCORES, as well as Illinois schools, at the end of day one:
01 • 39.5 • Penn State
02 • 28.0 • Nebraska
03 • 27.0 • Oklahoma State
04 • 18.0 • Iowa
— • 18.0 • Minnesota
— • 18.0 • Ohio State
07 • 17.5 • Northern Iowa
08 • 17.0 • Cornell
09 • 16.5 • Illinois
— • 16.5 • Michigan
36 • 04.0 • Northwestern
54 • 02.0 • Northern Illinois
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• TC LIFONTI / LEAD WRITER FOR ILLINOIS MATMEN / tclifonti.com
