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.
