Illinois Matmen
TULSA, OK • Illinois’ Junior Freestylers went 5-3 at the National Duals, which included both a true second finish in their Preliminary Pool D bracket, and a fifth-place finish overall. However, the bigger story inside of their tournament was the turnaround from wrestling Team Iowa in the Preliminary Pool D championship dual, versus wrestling against Iowa in the “Gold and Silver” fifth-place dual. The score in each dual was 34-30; however, where Illinois fell in one, they were triumphant in the other.
Coming in as the number one seed in their preliminary bracket, Illinois worked itself into the finals with definitive wins over Oklahoma Red, 59-8, and Idaho, 47-18. However, once in the championship dual, Illinois would face their neighbors from the Hawkeye State, and even though Illinois would open the first half of the dual in fine form, they would let it slip away in the back half.
The dual opened at 100 pounds, and Iowa would take a quick 4-0 lead in the team score after a 12-0 technical superiority; however, Illinois would answer back with four-straight wins. At 106 pounds, Caden Correll would take a 12-2 technical superiority over his opponent, and Caleb Noble (113) would be on the winning side of a 9-9 match. Nichloas Garcia would give Illinois a boost at 120 with a fall,
