Welcome back! Fresno State draws 6,840 for return home dual, a 33-10 loss to No. 12 Illinois

FRESNO, Calif. - In front of the third-largest crowd in program history, Fresno State Wrestling made its return to the Valley on Friday night in front of 6,840 fans at the Save Mart Center as the Bulldogs fell 33-10 to No. 14 Illinois.


"It is a start. I talked to the team before the match and I told them I wanted to see hustle, effort and fight. I thought that I saw that for the most part," said head coach Troy Steiner.


Starting off the night at 125 pounds, the Fighting Illini got on the scoreboard quickly with a pin by sophomore Travis Piotrowski in 1:04 of the 'Dogs Sean Williams to take a quick 6-0 lead in the dual.


Illinois increased its lead to 10-0 with a major decision at 133 pounds by redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan who downed Bulldogs' Trevor Williams and continued to pitch a shutout with a 13-7 win by redshirt freshman Mike Carr over the 'Dogs Chris De Loza at 141 pounds.


The 'Dogs got on the board at 149 pounds as Clovis native, freshman Khristian Olivas, picked up a 10-2 major decision over No. 19 ranked wrestler Eric Barone to cut Illinois' lead to 13-4. Olivas broke open a 2-2 match in the second period with four takedowns to lock up the first win at the SMC by a Bulldog wrestler in over 11 years.


Fellow Clovis native Greg Gaxiola kept it going at 157 pounds as he registered a 9-5 win over No. 16 Kyle Langenderfer. Building a 3-2 lead after the first period, two second period takedowns for Gaxiola increased his lead to 7-2 before one final takedown in the third period locked up the win for the Bulldog.


With the Illini leading 13-7 at the break, Illinois came out of the 10-minute intermission putting up points as Lemoore native and two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez notched a 28-13 technical fall victory over the 'Dogs Isaiah Hokit to increase its lead to 18-7.


Back-to-back pins at 174 and 184 pounds for Illinois made the team score 30-7 in favor of the Fighting Illini, but junior Richie Brandt, a Madera native, fought tough holding a 3-3 tie after two periods. A third-period escape for Illinois' Andre Lee turned out to the difference as Lee won 4-3 as Illinois took a 33-7 lead.


The 'Dogs got one final win at heavyweight as Clovis native AJ Nevills won 7-5 using a third-period takedown with 30 seconds left to break a 5-5 tie to make the final score of the match 33-10.


The 6,840 fans came only 23 fans short of matching the second-largest crowd in program history, which came Jan. 9, 2005 vs. Iowa in front of 6,863 fans. The largest crowd that has ever attended a Bulldog wrestling dual was Jan. 6, 2004 when the 'Dogs battled Iowa State in front of 9,750 fans.


Fresno State returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to San Diego for its first Big 12 dual taking on Air Force on the USS Midway in the Inaugural Battle on the Midway.

Fresno State vs. No. 14 Illinois Match-By-Match Results

125: No. 14/17/19 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) wins by fall over Sean Williams (FS), 1:04 | ILL 6, FS 0

133: No. 17/16/15 Dylan Duncan (Illinois) maj. dec. over Trevor Williams (FS), 12-4 | ILL 10, FS 0

141: Mike Carr (Illinois) dec. Chris De Loza (FS), 13-7 | ILL 13, FS 0

149: Khristian Olivas (FS) maj. dec. No. 19/-/20 Eric Barone (Illinois), 10-2 | ILL 13, FS 4

157: Greg Gaxiola (FS) dec. No. 16/19/- Kyle Langenderfer (Illinois), 9-5 | ILL 13, FS 7

165: No. 2/2/2 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) tech. fall Isaiah Hokit (FS), 28-13 | ILL 18, FS 7

174: Eric Rojas (Illinois) pinned Dominic Kincaid (FS), Fall 4:22 | ILL 24, FS 7

184: No. 8/6/6 Emery Parker (Illinois) pinned Angel Solis (FS), Fall 5:20 | ILLL 30, FS 7

197: Andre Lee (Illinois) dec. Richie Brandt (FS), 4-3 | ILL 33, FS 7

HWT: AJ Nevills (FS) dec. Duece Rachal (Illinois), 7-5 | ILL 33, FS 10

Rankings are listed in Intermat, W.I.N., FloWrestling


Head Coach Troy Steiner Quotes

On his initial thoughts on tonight's match…

"There are definitely still a lot of things we need to work on. Sometimes you don't see that in the room, or they don't see it at the level they were at before. A lot of these guys are young and some of them are right out of high school. Overall, I thought it was a decent performance from our guys. The fight that I saw at 149, Olivas was keeping his head in the match and then getting the takedown at the end was a big thing for him. At 157, Langenderfer from Illinois is a pretty solid guy and I thought that Gaxiola did a great job at creating a lot of action and giving himself opportunities to put points on the board."

On getting the first home match out of the way…

"It is good. I knew it was going to be when I saw the set-up. So many people have worked on this moment. I have worked on one aspect of it, but so many others should get the credit for the atmosphere that was there tonight. The amount of people that were there doesn't come from me, that comes from marketing and the facilities staffs. The way they had it all set up was awesome."

On tonight's turn out…

"I said all along that I wanted eight to ten thousand, so I am a little disappointed that we didn't reach that. I know this place can draw people. We have been fighting to get this program back and now it is back. I will continue to say, 'you need to support it now". The best way to support is to be here in the stands. If they want this to be a strong program, we need to do our part and put an exciting product on the mat, but everyone has to do their part. The fans have to be here. To me, it is not good enough to hear about it the next day or even watch it on FloWrestling. You need to get your body in the stands and support this team."

ILLINOIS RELEASE

MARTINEZ RECORDS 100TH CAREER WIN AS ILLINI ROUT FRESNO STATE, 33-10

Martinez becomes 25th Illini to reach century mark


FRESNO, Calif. – Illinois redshirt senior wrestler Isaiah Martinez recorded his 100th career victory on Friday night in front of his hometown crowd at Fresno State, as the Illini routed the Bulldogs 33-10. A native of Lemoore, California, just 30 miles south of Fresno, Martinez used a 28-13 tech fall to become the 25th Illini to reach the century mark. The Illini won seven of the ten bouts, including three pins, to improve to 1-1 on the season, while Fresno State dropped to 1-2.


"Isaiah was great as always, said head coach Jim Heffernan. "It was good to get him back home one last time. Fresno did a phenomenal job with the event and should be congratulated. I was also really impressed with the way David Riojas handled himself in his first time out. [He] kept his composure, competed hard and got it done."


Martinez's 100th win proved to be quite similar to 40 of his previous victories, as the Illini 165-pounder dominated Isaiah Hokit for the tech fall (5:05), alternating between takedowns and cutting his opponent loose to get back to his offense throughout the match. Using 11 takedowns, paired with a reversal and a two-point near fall, Martinez powered his way to his second tech fall in as many matches this season.


Friday night's dual also marked the first home dual for Fresno State since their program was reinstated beginning this season. The Bulldogs wrestling team was cut as a varsity sport following the 2005-06 season.


Starting at 125 pounds, the Fighting Illini jumped out to an early 13-0 lead with wins in each of their first three matches, highlighted by a pin and the first Illini victories for redshirt freshmen Dylan Duncan and Mike Carr.


Sophomore Travis Piotrowski opened the dual with a commanding pin just a into the 125-pound bout against Fresno State's Sean Williams. After a scramble on the outside of the mat, Piotrowski gained control for the takedown. Over the next 30 seconds, Piotrowski worked both of Williams' shoulders, eventually getting both on the mat 1:04 into the match.


Adding four more points to the Illinois score at 133 pounds, redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan picked up his first career win in an Illini singlet with a major decision over Trevor Williams. Leading wire-to-wire, Duncan earned a takedown in the first period, another takedown in the second, followed by three more in the final frame to win 12-4 with riding time.


The third straight victory to open the dual came from another first-year starter for Coach Heffernan, as redshirt freshman Mike Carr won by decision, 13-7, against Chris De Loza at 141 pounds. After falling behind 2-0 early, Carr bounced back to tie the match, 3-3, at the end of the first. Over the remaining two periods Carr held De Loza without a takedown while notching four two-pointers of his own to pull away for his first win as an Illini.


Fresno State picked up a pair of victories at 149 and 157 pounds to cut into the Illinois lead. Kristian Olivas defeated redshirt sophomore Eric Barone by a 10-2 major decision on the backs of a 8-0 run in the final frame. At 157 pounds, redshirt senior Langenderfer opened the scoring for the Illini, but a 7-0 run by Greg Gaxiola put the match out of reach as the Bulldog held on for a 9-5 decision.


After Isaiah Martinez's tech fall put the Illini back in the win column following intermission, the Illini iced the victory with back-to-back falls at 174 pound and 184 pounds from true freshman David Riojas and redshirt junior Emery Parker.


Making his collegiate debut, Riojas picked up the pin over Dominic Kincaid midway through the second period. Tied 3-3 entering the second frame, Kincaid got in on a leg of Riojas but was stymied by the first-time starter as he scramble out of danger. Riojas quickly got back to his offense, notching the go-ahead takedown, 5-3, and then worked Kincaid to his back for the fall with 38 seconds left (4:22) in the period.


Parker made it back-to-back pins when he put Angel Solis on his back early in the third period. After a single takedown in the first period, Parker added three more in the second to take a 9-2 advantage into the final frame. Having worn down Solis in the previous period, Parker finished off the Bulldogs' 184-pounder 20 seconds into the third (5:20) with his first pin of the season.


Illinois won their seventh and final match of the night at 197 pounds, as redshirt junior Andre Lee edged Richie Brandt by way of a 4-3 decision to push Illinois' lead to 33-7. After a takedown late in the first period, Brandt tied the match with a takedown of his own in the second period. An escape by the Illini 197-pounder in the final period proved to be the difference as Lee held staved off late shots by Brandt.


Ending the match at heavyweight, Illini redshirt junior Duece Rachal dropped a back-and-forth battle against A.J. Nevills by a score of 7-5. Tied 5-5 entering the final period, Nevills countered a late shot by Rachal to get a takedown with 13 seconds remaining to seal the third win for Fresno State.


Up next, the Orange and Blue will continue their trip in the Sunshine State with the Roadrunner Open on Sunday, November 19. Held in Bakersfield, the all-day tournament will begin at noon central time, 10 a.m. locally, and be broadcast via subscription on FloWrestling.