No. 5 Missouri holds off No. 12 Illinois, 20-17, in dual held at Mizzou Softball Stadium

COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 5 Mizzou Wrestling opened its 2017-18 campaign Saturday by upending No. 12 Illinois, 20-17, at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. The dual was Mizzou's first ever outside dual, as 1,810 fans packed the stadium to cheer on the Black & Gold. Mizzou claimed victories in six of 10 bouts in the match, and received bonus point victories from redshirt sophomore 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.) and redshirt junior 174-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.).
TURNING POINT

With Illinois still in striking distance with the score at 7-3 in the dual's fourth bout, redshirt junior 149-pounder Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.) upset No. 17-ranked Eric Barone, 6-2, to extend Mizzou's lead to 10-3. The win was the third of four straight wins for Mizzou, who had a 13-3 win heading into the halftime intermission. In his third year in the program, Leeth made his long-awaited Mizzou debut in the match. The Tiger junior missed all of the last two seasons due to injuries, but made the most of his first chance on the mat.
NOTABLE TIGERS

Eierman was one of two Tigers to score bonus point victories, as he beat Mike Carr by way of a major decision, 20-11. The Tiger sophomore thought he had fall recorded in the third period, but a video review reversed the original call and the two wrestlers returned to action. Carr then scored an escape, takedown and two-point near fall to pull the score close at 16-11, but Eierman responded with an escape and a takedown to clinch the major decision. Riding time made the score, 20-11, in favor of Eierman.

Lewis was tough once against No. 20-ranked Xavier Montalvo, recording a 14-2 major decision. The only points the two-time NCAA All-American gave up was a takedown in the third period when the score was already out-of-reach, as Lewis amassed 3:12 of riding time in his season-opening victory. In 58 career wins, Lewis has now recorded bonus point wins in 67.2% of his matches (39-of-58).
QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Brian Smith

"I loved the atmosphere today. It was really cool and I really enjoyed it. The dual was like I thought it was going to be, a really close dual. Our kids competed at a good level, but not the level we want. I could go through every match and what we need to improve on, but we have to remember it is still November."

On Grant Leeth

"He's been through a lot. Going to Duke and getting injured, then we told him to come home and then he hurts himself again. It's just been a long process. He's been wrestling since he was five years old and has been successful at every level, then he can't do it for two years. To get back in there, and get a good win against a ranked wrestler, I'm really happy for him."
UP NEXT

Mizzou will next wrestle three duals in one day on Nov. 12, as the Tigers will host Central Missouri, Truman State and Missouri Valley at the Hearnes Center. The quad-dual will begin at Noon (CT), and will be broadcast on Mizzou Network.

For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling).
Match-By-Match Results
125: No. 15 Travis Piotrowski (ILL) dec. No. 19 Barlow McGhee (MIZ): 3-1 | MIZ 0, ILL 3
133: No. 9 John Erneste (MIZ) dec. No. 15 Dylan Duncan (ILL): 5-4 | MIZ 3, ILL 3
141: No. 4 Jaydin Eierman (MIZ) maj. dec. Mike Carr (ILL): 20-11 | MIZ 7, ILL 3
149: Grant Leeth (MIZ) dec. No. 17 Eric Barone (ILL): 6-2 | MIZ 10, ILL 3
157: No. 2 Joey Lavallee (MIZ) dec. No. 16 Kyle Langenderfer (ILL): 9-3 | MIZ 13, ILL 3
165: No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech. fall Connor Flynn (MIZ): 24-8 | MIZ 13, ILL 8
174: No. 5 Daniel Lewis (MIZ) maj. dec. No. 20 Xavier Montalvo (ILL): 14-2 | MIZ 17, ILL 8
184: No. 6 Emery Parker (ILL) dec. Canten Marriott (MIZ): 6-2 | MIZ 17, ILL 11
197: No. 3 Willie Miklus (MIZ) dec. Andre Lee (ILL): 3-1 | MIZ 20, ILL 11
HWT: Decue Rachal (ILL) fall No. 22 Austin Myers (MIZ): 2:13 | MIZ 20, ILL 17
ILLINOIS PRESS RELEASE: No. 16 Illini Wrestling Drops Season Opener, 20-17, at No. 5 Missouri

Martinez tech fall, Rachal pin highlights Illini victories

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 16 Illinois wrestling team dropped its season-opening dual at No. 5 Missouri by a score of 20-17 as the two teams wrestled on the Missouri softball field. Four Illini picked up victories for head coach Jim Heffernan in the defeat, as redshirt senior Isaiah Martinez (tech fall), redshirt junior Deuce Rachal (fall) redshirt junior Emery Parker (decision) and sophomore Travis Piotrowski (decision) and each picked up victories.

"I think our youth showed in a couple spots, but the young guys will learn and contribute as the season progresses," said coach Heffernan. "Isaiah looked great, Deuce was great and Travis did his job starting us off with a win. Emery [Parker] was workmanlike. We need to get back to work and fix some things going forward."

No. 2 Isaiah Martinez and Deuce Rachal scored 11 of Illinois’ 17 points on Saturday, each notching big bonus point victories for coach Heffernan. At 165 pounds, Martinez won his classic fashion, tallying nine takedowns and six near-fall points to finish off Connor Flynn in the second period (4:35). Rachal’s victory came even quicker, needing just 2:13 of the first period to get the fall of Austin Myers.

Martinez’s victory marked the 99th of his career and giving him sole possession of 25th place on Illinois’ all-time list. Former Illini Jesse Delgado holds claim to 24th on the list with 101 wins.

The first Illini to notch a win came in the first bout of the dual as No. 17 Travis Piotrowski put Illinois on the board with a 3-1 victory in overtime against Missouri’s Barlow McGhee. With both grapplers trading shots throughout regulation, Piotrowski broke through as he reversed McGhee’s momentum to get him on his back for the two points 23 seconds into sudden victory.

No. 8 Emery Parker added in a second Illinois decision by way of a 6-2 victory against Canten Marriott at 184 pounds. After Marriott kept the first six minutes to a defensive struggle, a 2-0 Illinois lead, Parker finished off the Tiger’s 184-pounder with a pair of takedowns in the final period.

Although the Illini kept most of the other six bouts close, the fifth-ranked Tigers proved too much for the Illini as they used a 13-0 run following Piotrowski’s opening salvo to take their biggest lead of the day, 13-3.

Within the four-match drought by the Orange and Blue, redshirt freshmen No. 18 Dylan Duncan (133 pounds) and Mike Carr (141 pounds) showed well against top-10 opponents in their Illini debut.

Redshirt freshman No. 18 Dylan Duncan fell behind No. 9 John Erneste 5-1 in the second period, but battled back to within one point after his first career takedown to end the second period followed by an escape to start the third. With Duncan looking for the winning takedown, the Illini 133-pounder delivered multiple shots to Erneste in the closing minute but was unable to get in on both legs to pull the upset.

Similar to Duncan, fellow redshirt freshman Mike Carr pushed No. 4 Jaydin Eierman in a high-energy 141-pound bout, dropping the dual 20-11. Falling behind 7-0, Carr came back with two takedowns to pull within three, 8-5. After an Eierman pin was overturned in the second period, Carr again showed resolve by adding another takedown and two back points before falling by major decision, 20-11.

The third Illini to drop a close match against a top-10 wrestler, redshirt junior Andre Lee pushed third-ranked Willie MIklus for seven minutes, only surrendering one takedown to the 197-pounder. However, Lee came was unable to overcome the second period takedown as he dropped the match by a score of 3-1 despite nearly scoring on a late shot attempt by in the closing seconds.

Missouri’s other victories came from Grant Leeth (149), Joey Lavallee (157) and Daniel Lewis (174).

The Illini will return to the mat in two weeks for their second dual of the season at Fresno State on Friday, November 17 at 9 p.m. central time. Two days later, November 19, the Orange and Blue will compete in the Roadrunner Open, held in Bakersfield, California.

For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.

Illini Notes:
1. Isaiah Martinez moves into sole possession of 25th place on Illinois’ all-time list with his 99th career victory. Martinez sits two wins behind former Illini, and two-time NCAA champion, Jesse Delgado (101) for 24th place.
2. A native of Lemoore, California, Martinez will seek his 100th career win as an Illini less than 40 miles from as the Illini wrestle at Fresno State on Nov. 17.
3. Three Illini made their first starts for the Illini on Saturday: Dylan Duncan (133), Mike Carr (141) and Xavier Montalvo (174).
4. Redshirt junior Deuce Rachal (HWT) notched the first pin of the season for the Illini, his first as an Illinois starter. Rachal had 10 pins while wrestling in tournaments over the last two seasons.