No. 17 Wrestling Loses by Criteria at No. 12 Illinois

Saturday, January 24

Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

1 PM

Rutgers University

Illinois

Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos

No. 17 Wrestling Loses by Criteria at No. 12 Illinois

Jan 24 | Wrestling

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 17 Rutgers wrestling (8-5, 2-3) lost to No. 12 Illinois (9-4, 2-2), 17-16, on Saturday afternoon at Huff Hall. Despite the 5-5 match split and a 16-16 tie score at the end of the dual, the Fighting Illini secured the win on Criteria C – total match points – by a 46-42 advantage.

Wrestling up a weight, Ryan Ford (174) delivered a ranked major decision over No. 25 Colin Kelly. No. 16 Remy Cotton (197), No. 19 Hunter Catka (HWT), No. 31 Andrew Clark (149) and Tahir Parkins (141) all secured decisions in the tough loss to Illinois.

No. 27 Ayden Smith (125) and No. 27 Dylan Shawver (133) both lost decisions to ranked opponents, including a tough 3-1 loss from Shawver to reigning national champion and No. 1 Lucas Byrd. The back-to-back decisions put Illinois up 6-0 through two bouts.

Parkins followed against Kole Brower and looked impressive, shooting several shots before both went to sudden victory tied 1-1. Right at the start of overtime, Parkins caught Brower with a single leg and finished for a 4-1 final – his first career dual win.

Clark followed against Michael Gioffre and also took his opponent to extra time. Tied 1-1 after sudden victory, Clark rode out Gioffre for 17 seconds in first tiebreakers, then escaped with just seconds to spare for a 3-2 decision to tie the dual at 6-6.

No. 31 Anthony White (157) lost to No. 9 Kannon Webster but held his opponent to just a major decision, as RU trailed 10-6 heading into intermission.

No. 20 Andrew Barbosa (165) wrestled tough in an 8-2 loss to No. 8 Braeden Scoles before Ford stepped up against No. 25 Colin Kelly. Competing up one weight class, Ford scored 12 points in the first period, including two takedowns and six back points for a 12-1 lead. Ford fought off a tough Kelly, reversing his opponent in the third period en route to a 15-5 major decision.

A loss from No. 14 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) gave Illinois a 16-10 lead with two matches to go. Cotton responded with his fourth consecutive Big Ten match by 6-5 decision over Dylan Connell, setting up Catka for a chance to win the dual.

Catka needed to win by major decision for Rutgers to leave with a dual win. Catka had several opportunities on Ryan Boersma, winning by 5-2 decision. Despite the positive final result and a tied 16-16 dual, the Fighting Illini would add a team point thanks to criteria for the team win.

Up Next
Rutgers returns home to host Maryland on Friday, January 30 at Jersey Mike's Arena. The dual is set for a 7 p.m. start and will stream on Big Ten Plus.

Box Score
No. 12 Illinois 17, No. 17 Rutgers 16
125: 20/14 Spencer Moore (ILL) over 27/28 Ayden Smith (RU) by dec., 5-1; ILL leads, 3-0
133: 1/1 Lucas Byrd (ILL) over 27/32 Dylan Shawver (RU) by dec., 3-1; ILL leads, 6-0
141: Tahir Parkins (RU) over Kole Brower (ILL) by SV1, 4-1; ILL leads, 6-3
149: 31/NR Andrew Clark (RU) over 27/29 Michael Gioffre (ILL) by TB2, 3-2; Match tied, 6-6
157: 9/9 Kannon Webster (ILL) over 31/32 Anthony White (RU) by MD, 13-4; ILL leads, 10-6
165: 8/8 Braeden Scoles (ILL) over 20/25 Andrew Barbosa (RU) by dec., 8-2; ILL leads, 13-6
174: Ryan Ford (RU) over 25/26 Colin Kelly (ILL) by MD, 15-5; ILL leads, 13-10
184: 28/18 Chris Moore (ILL) over 14/15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) by dec., 2-1; ILL leads, 16-10
197: 16/13 Remy Cotton (RU) over NR/31 Dylan Connell (ILL) by dec., 6-5; ILL leads, 16-13
HWT: 19/19 Hunter Catka (RU) over Ryan Boersma (ILL) by SV1, 5-2; Match tied, 16-16
Illinois wins, 17-16, on Criteria C – Total match points (46-42).
Rankings Intermat/FloWrestling