UPDATE: Stoll's pin at heavyweight gives No. 7 Iowa an 18-17 win over No. 15 Illinois
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by University of Iowa, University of Illinois
Iowa's bench erupts in celebration after Sam Stoll scores a pin at heavyweight to give the Hawkeyes the victory over Illinois. Photo by Mark Lundy.
Complete recap by Chris Brewer of Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa wrestling team needed a pin for the win, and its fall-happy heavyweight delivered.
Junior Sam Stoll delivered a first-period knockout to rally the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes to an 18-17 win over No. 15 Illinois on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The teams split 10 bouts, and for nine matches it looked like Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez’s technical fall at 165 may be the difference. That was before Stoll, ranked No. 7 at 285 pounds, took Deuce Rachal to his back to send the Carver crowd into what amounted to a buzzer-beating frenzy.
“I am out there to do my job,” Stoll said. “I know that if I go out there and wrestle hard for seven minutes I can pin a lot of guys. My goal is to pin every guy I wrestle. No one wants to wrestle at a hard, high pace, and if I go out there and take care of what I need to do, everything will fall into place.”
The Hawkeyes trailed the entire dual, dropping the first three matches and falling behind 9-0 before All-Americans Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer took the mat.
Sorensen put Iowa on the board at 149 with a 4-1 win against No. 20 Eric Barone. He picked up a single-leg in the third and closed on the edge to break a 1-1 tie. He finished the final 1:25 on top to add a point for riding time.
Kemerer followed Sorensen with his own 4-1 decision against. No. 17 Kyle Langenderfer at 157. He scored a takedown in the first and put on a third-period ride to earn a point for riding time. It was his fifth straight win against a ranked opponent.
Illinois won two of the first three matches after intermission to build a 17-9 lead -- Joey Gunther sandwiched a 6-1 decision in between Illinois wins at 165 and 184, setting up a must-see bonus-point scenario from the Hawkeyes at 197 and 285.
Cash Wilcke wrestled to a 1-1 tie after regulation at 197, and set the table for Stoll’s dramatics with a takedown in the first sudden victory period.
“I don’t really consider the team score when I’m getting ready for my match,” Wilcke said. “I know I need to go out there and win and win by scoring points. I let him slow me down. I gave a lot of respect to his offense. I need to do what I do best.”
QUOTING COACH BRANDS
“If we continue to give up nine first-period takedowns and get one, we’re going to really struggle. We knew this year was going to be unique, but we did not fight. You have to fight and it has to be more about getting that one takedown to get yourself back in the match. Those guys were athletic and points were hard to come by, but that is not where we should be struggling. We know that we have work to do.”
UP NEXT
Iowa returns to the mat Friday, Dec. 8 at No. 11 Rutgers, and Sunday, Dec. 10 at Maryland.
NOTEABLES
• Iowa has won 20 straight conference openers.
• Four of Kemerer’s last seven matches have been against ranked opponents, he is 4-0 with two major decisions against those four opponents.
• Sixteen of Sam Stoll’s 34 career wins have ended in fall.
• Records: Iowa (5-0, 1-0), Illinois (1-2, 0-1).
• Attendance was 8,206
#7 IOWA 18, #15 ILLINOIS 17
125 -- #13 Travis Piotrowski (ILL) dec. Justin Stickley (IA) #13Travis Piotrowski (ILL), 7-4; 0-3
133 -- #20 Dylan Duncan (ILL) dec. Phillip Laux (IA), 6-1; 0-6
141 -- Mike Carr (ILL) dec. Vince Turk (IA), 7-5; 0-9
149 -- #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA) dec. #20 Eric Batone (ILL), 4-1; 3-9
157 -- #3 Michael Kemerer (IA) #17 Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 4-1; 6-9
165 -- #2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech. fall #16 Kaleb Young (IA), 23-8; 6-14
174 -- Joey Gunther (IA) dec. David Riojas (ILL), 6-1; 9-14
184 -- #12 Emery Parker (ILL) dec. Mitch Bowman (IA), 5-3; 9-17
197 -- #10 Cash Wilcke (IA) dec. Andre Lee (ILL), 3-1 SV1; 12-17
285 -- #7 Sam Stoll (IA) pinned Deuce Rachal (ILL), 2:02; 18-17
ILLINOIS PRESS RELEASE by Chad Beyler
No. 15 Illini Wrestling Drops Heartbreaker at No. 7 Iowa
Pin in final bout defeats Illini
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 15 Illinois wrestling team dropped a heartbreaker on Friday night at Carver Hawkeye Arena, as No. 7 Iowa defeated the Illini 18-17 on a pin in the final match. Leading 17-12 entering the heavyweight bout, Iowa’s No. 7 Sam Stoll earned the pin 2:02 into the first period to complete the comeback.
“The guys competed well, won the toss-up [matches] and had great momentum, said coach head Jim Heffernan. “We really competed and had multiple opportunities to win. The guys responded well in a tough environment, hate to leave here on the losing end.”
In a top-15 matchup that saw eight of the ten matches won by decision, Iowa’s three bonus points at heavyweight overcame the two bonus points redshirt senior Isaiah Martinez scored at 165 pounds for the Orange and Blue. Overall, the two teams split the 10 matches with the Illini going on a 9-0 run to start the dual and Iowa countering with a 9-0 run to finish the dual.
Opening up a 9-0 advantage through three matches, the Fighting Illini silenced the Carver Hawkeye Arena crowd early with decisions from sophomore Travis Piotrowski, redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan and redshirt freshman Mike Carr.
Piotrowski got Illinois on the board at 125 pounds with a 6-4 win over Justin Stickley. The Illini sophomore scored first with a takedown midway through the first period to take the early lead, and then took Stickley to the mat once more in the second for the deciding blow. The victory keeps the Illini sophomore undefeated (7-0) on the season.
At 133 pounds, Duncan notched his fifth win of the season with a 6-1 victory over Phillip Laux, a senior wrestle who entered the match ranked by WIN Magazine. Duncan drew first blood with a takedown late in the first period, added a second one to seal the victory, and earned his sixth point on ride time.
Adding to Illinois’ momentum was Mike Carr at 141 pounds, as he stormed out of the gates with a double-leg takedown five seconds into his match against Vince Turk. With Turk still on his heels, Carr continued to rout the Iowa wrestler with two more first-period takedowns to lead 6-2 through the first three minutes. Despite an aggressive second period by Turk that saw him cut Carr’s lead to 6-5, Carr fended off the Hawkeye sophomore with an escape to start the third and held on for the 7-5 win.
The seventh-ranked Hawkeyes bounced back at 149 pounds and 157 pounds with a pair of 4-1 decisions from No. 2 Brandon Sorensen and No. 3 Michael Kemerer. Sorensen notched his takedown in the second period, while Kemerer recorded his lone takedown in the opening minute of the match.
After Iowa’s top-ranked wrestlers drew Iowa within three points of the Illini, the Orange and Blue turned to their top two grapplers to stretch the lead back out to 17-9 with victories from No. 2 Isaiah Martinez and No. 12 Emery Parker.
Martinez collected his third technical fall in as many matches to start his senior season 3-0, defeating Iowa’s Kaleb Young by a score of 23-8. Scoring three takedowns in both the first and second periods, the Illini captain picked up the pace in the third with five more takedowns to finish off the Iowa redshirt freshman.
The win is the 101st of Martinez’s career and moves him into a tie with former Illini Jesse Delgado for 24th place on Illinois’ all-time list. Griff Powell ranks 23rd on the list with 103 victories.
After Iowa 174-pounder Joey Gunther cut the lead to 14-9 with a 6-1 decision over Illini freshman David Riojas, Emery Parker recovered the three points for Illinois with a come-from-behind win against Mitch Bowman.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third period without a takedown in the match, Parker took over the final frame with a dominating two minutes beginning with a mat return to score the go-ahead takedown with 1:40 left on the clock. Needing to ride Bowman for at least a minute to keep the score in his favor, Parker kept Bowman under wraps for the remainder of the period to win 5-3 with riding time.
With the Illini leading by eight points with only two matches to go, the Illini turned to redshirt juniors Andre Lee and Deuce Rachal to close out the upset victory. Unfortunately, a pair of top-10 wrestlers for Iowa proved too much, as they combined for nine team points to steal the dual victory.
Lee’s loss at 197 pounds came in sudden victory, as No. 10 Cash Wilke earned the two points with just eight seconds left in the extra period. It’s the second close loss to a top-10 opponent for Lee this season after dropping a 3-1 decision to Missouri’s No. 3 Willie Milkus to start the season.
The Fighting Illini will have three weeks off following tonight’s dual to prepare for the 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands tournament at the end of the month. Held December 29-30, the tournament will be held at Sears Center Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Normally held at Welsh-Ryan Arena, the tournament has been moved this season due to renovations to the Northwestern arena. Tickets for the two-day meet can be purchased here.
Illini Notes:
• Isaiah Martinez picked up career win number 101 on Friday, tying him with former Illini, and two-time NCAA champion, Jesse Delgado for 24th on Illinois’ all-time list. Next on the list for Martinez is Griff Powell (103).
• Travis Piotrowski and Isaiah Martinez continued their undefeated start to the 2017-18 season, as Piotrowski improved to 7-0 and Martinez to 3-0.
• Redshirt freshmen Dylan Duncan and Mike Carr each picked up their first Big Ten dual victories.
Complete recap by Chris Brewer of Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa wrestling team needed a pin for the win, and its fall-happy heavyweight delivered.
Junior Sam Stoll delivered a first-period knockout to rally the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes to an 18-17 win over No. 15 Illinois on Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The teams split 10 bouts, and for nine matches it looked like Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez’s technical fall at 165 may be the difference. That was before Stoll, ranked No. 7 at 285 pounds, took Deuce Rachal to his back to send the Carver crowd into what amounted to a buzzer-beating frenzy.
“I am out there to do my job,” Stoll said. “I know that if I go out there and wrestle hard for seven minutes I can pin a lot of guys. My goal is to pin every guy I wrestle. No one wants to wrestle at a hard, high pace, and if I go out there and take care of what I need to do, everything will fall into place.”
The Hawkeyes trailed the entire dual, dropping the first three matches and falling behind 9-0 before All-Americans Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer took the mat.
Sorensen put Iowa on the board at 149 with a 4-1 win against No. 20 Eric Barone. He picked up a single-leg in the third and closed on the edge to break a 1-1 tie. He finished the final 1:25 on top to add a point for riding time.
Kemerer followed Sorensen with his own 4-1 decision against. No. 17 Kyle Langenderfer at 157. He scored a takedown in the first and put on a third-period ride to earn a point for riding time. It was his fifth straight win against a ranked opponent.
Illinois won two of the first three matches after intermission to build a 17-9 lead -- Joey Gunther sandwiched a 6-1 decision in between Illinois wins at 165 and 184, setting up a must-see bonus-point scenario from the Hawkeyes at 197 and 285.
Cash Wilcke wrestled to a 1-1 tie after regulation at 197, and set the table for Stoll’s dramatics with a takedown in the first sudden victory period.
“I don’t really consider the team score when I’m getting ready for my match,” Wilcke said. “I know I need to go out there and win and win by scoring points. I let him slow me down. I gave a lot of respect to his offense. I need to do what I do best.”
QUOTING COACH BRANDS
“If we continue to give up nine first-period takedowns and get one, we’re going to really struggle. We knew this year was going to be unique, but we did not fight. You have to fight and it has to be more about getting that one takedown to get yourself back in the match. Those guys were athletic and points were hard to come by, but that is not where we should be struggling. We know that we have work to do.”
UP NEXT
Iowa returns to the mat Friday, Dec. 8 at No. 11 Rutgers, and Sunday, Dec. 10 at Maryland.
NOTEABLES
• Iowa has won 20 straight conference openers.
• Four of Kemerer’s last seven matches have been against ranked opponents, he is 4-0 with two major decisions against those four opponents.
• Sixteen of Sam Stoll’s 34 career wins have ended in fall.
• Records: Iowa (5-0, 1-0), Illinois (1-2, 0-1).
• Attendance was 8,206
#7 IOWA 18, #15 ILLINOIS 17
125 -- #13 Travis Piotrowski (ILL) dec. Justin Stickley (IA) #13Travis Piotrowski (ILL), 7-4; 0-3
133 -- #20 Dylan Duncan (ILL) dec. Phillip Laux (IA), 6-1; 0-6
141 -- Mike Carr (ILL) dec. Vince Turk (IA), 7-5; 0-9
149 -- #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA) dec. #20 Eric Batone (ILL), 4-1; 3-9
157 -- #3 Michael Kemerer (IA) #17 Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 4-1; 6-9
165 -- #2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech. fall #16 Kaleb Young (IA), 23-8; 6-14
174 -- Joey Gunther (IA) dec. David Riojas (ILL), 6-1; 9-14
184 -- #12 Emery Parker (ILL) dec. Mitch Bowman (IA), 5-3; 9-17
197 -- #10 Cash Wilcke (IA) dec. Andre Lee (ILL), 3-1 SV1; 12-17
285 -- #7 Sam Stoll (IA) pinned Deuce Rachal (ILL), 2:02; 18-17
ILLINOIS PRESS RELEASE by Chad Beyler
No. 15 Illini Wrestling Drops Heartbreaker at No. 7 Iowa
Pin in final bout defeats Illini
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 15 Illinois wrestling team dropped a heartbreaker on Friday night at Carver Hawkeye Arena, as No. 7 Iowa defeated the Illini 18-17 on a pin in the final match. Leading 17-12 entering the heavyweight bout, Iowa’s No. 7 Sam Stoll earned the pin 2:02 into the first period to complete the comeback.
“The guys competed well, won the toss-up [matches] and had great momentum, said coach head Jim Heffernan. “We really competed and had multiple opportunities to win. The guys responded well in a tough environment, hate to leave here on the losing end.”
In a top-15 matchup that saw eight of the ten matches won by decision, Iowa’s three bonus points at heavyweight overcame the two bonus points redshirt senior Isaiah Martinez scored at 165 pounds for the Orange and Blue. Overall, the two teams split the 10 matches with the Illini going on a 9-0 run to start the dual and Iowa countering with a 9-0 run to finish the dual.
Opening up a 9-0 advantage through three matches, the Fighting Illini silenced the Carver Hawkeye Arena crowd early with decisions from sophomore Travis Piotrowski, redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan and redshirt freshman Mike Carr.
Piotrowski got Illinois on the board at 125 pounds with a 6-4 win over Justin Stickley. The Illini sophomore scored first with a takedown midway through the first period to take the early lead, and then took Stickley to the mat once more in the second for the deciding blow. The victory keeps the Illini sophomore undefeated (7-0) on the season.
At 133 pounds, Duncan notched his fifth win of the season with a 6-1 victory over Phillip Laux, a senior wrestle who entered the match ranked by WIN Magazine. Duncan drew first blood with a takedown late in the first period, added a second one to seal the victory, and earned his sixth point on ride time.
Adding to Illinois’ momentum was Mike Carr at 141 pounds, as he stormed out of the gates with a double-leg takedown five seconds into his match against Vince Turk. With Turk still on his heels, Carr continued to rout the Iowa wrestler with two more first-period takedowns to lead 6-2 through the first three minutes. Despite an aggressive second period by Turk that saw him cut Carr’s lead to 6-5, Carr fended off the Hawkeye sophomore with an escape to start the third and held on for the 7-5 win.
The seventh-ranked Hawkeyes bounced back at 149 pounds and 157 pounds with a pair of 4-1 decisions from No. 2 Brandon Sorensen and No. 3 Michael Kemerer. Sorensen notched his takedown in the second period, while Kemerer recorded his lone takedown in the opening minute of the match.
After Iowa’s top-ranked wrestlers drew Iowa within three points of the Illini, the Orange and Blue turned to their top two grapplers to stretch the lead back out to 17-9 with victories from No. 2 Isaiah Martinez and No. 12 Emery Parker.
Martinez collected his third technical fall in as many matches to start his senior season 3-0, defeating Iowa’s Kaleb Young by a score of 23-8. Scoring three takedowns in both the first and second periods, the Illini captain picked up the pace in the third with five more takedowns to finish off the Iowa redshirt freshman.
The win is the 101st of Martinez’s career and moves him into a tie with former Illini Jesse Delgado for 24th place on Illinois’ all-time list. Griff Powell ranks 23rd on the list with 103 victories.
After Iowa 174-pounder Joey Gunther cut the lead to 14-9 with a 6-1 decision over Illini freshman David Riojas, Emery Parker recovered the three points for Illinois with a come-from-behind win against Mitch Bowman.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third period without a takedown in the match, Parker took over the final frame with a dominating two minutes beginning with a mat return to score the go-ahead takedown with 1:40 left on the clock. Needing to ride Bowman for at least a minute to keep the score in his favor, Parker kept Bowman under wraps for the remainder of the period to win 5-3 with riding time.
With the Illini leading by eight points with only two matches to go, the Illini turned to redshirt juniors Andre Lee and Deuce Rachal to close out the upset victory. Unfortunately, a pair of top-10 wrestlers for Iowa proved too much, as they combined for nine team points to steal the dual victory.
Lee’s loss at 197 pounds came in sudden victory, as No. 10 Cash Wilke earned the two points with just eight seconds left in the extra period. It’s the second close loss to a top-10 opponent for Lee this season after dropping a 3-1 decision to Missouri’s No. 3 Willie Milkus to start the season.
The Fighting Illini will have three weeks off following tonight’s dual to prepare for the 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands tournament at the end of the month. Held December 29-30, the tournament will be held at Sears Center Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Normally held at Welsh-Ryan Arena, the tournament has been moved this season due to renovations to the Northwestern arena. Tickets for the two-day meet can be purchased here.
Illini Notes:
• Isaiah Martinez picked up career win number 101 on Friday, tying him with former Illini, and two-time NCAA champion, Jesse Delgado for 24th on Illinois’ all-time list. Next on the list for Martinez is Griff Powell (103).
• Travis Piotrowski and Isaiah Martinez continued their undefeated start to the 2017-18 season, as Piotrowski improved to 7-0 and Martinez to 3-0.
• Redshirt freshmen Dylan Duncan and Mike Carr each picked up their first Big Ten dual victories.
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