No. 19 Wrestling Drops 23-12 Dual at No. 14 Illinois

Sunday, February 4

Urbana-Champaign, IL

2 p.m.

Rutgers University

Illinois

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

No. 19 Wrestling Drops 23-12 Dual at No. 14 Illinois

Feb 04 | Wrestling

Scarlet Knights pick up four individual victories Sunday afternoon in Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 19 Rutgers wrestling finished with wins in three of its last four bouts, but the Scarlet Knights (6-6, 2-5) dropped a 23-12 road dual against No. 14 Illinois (7-3, 6-2) Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall in Champaign.

No. 20 Scott DelVecchio (133), Joseph Grello (174), Anthony Messner (197) and Razohnn Gross (HWT) all picked up individual victories against the Fighting Illini, who entered Sunday winners of 11 consecutive home duals.

"We're a little banged up right now at certain spots in our lineup," said head coach Scott Goodale. "We're looking forward to returning home, healing and preparing for our dual with Minnesota on Friday."

After the Scarlet Knights forfeited at 125 pounds, DelVecchio faced Dylan Duncan to start the dual. Possessing a 1-0 lead in the third period, DelVecchio connected on a takedown with 16 seconds left to secure his 3-1 decision. It was DelVecchio's second win of the weekend and third consecutive in Big Ten action.

The Fighting Illini would pick up four-straight wins after DelVecchio's decision, but they did not come easy. In just his second-career dual match, rookie Nick Santos (149) dropped a tight 3-2 decision to 2017 NCAA qualifier Eric Barone. Trailing by one with the clock running out in the final period, Santos almost connected on a single-leg for the takedown, but Barone was able to hold on for the win.

Losses at 157 and 165 followed before Grello faced David Riojas at 174 pounds. Grello wrapped up Riojas for a takedown in the first period, and went up 3-0 after an escape in period two. Riojas was hit with a stall call in the third period, and Grello's takedown in the closing seconds secured a 6-2 decision for the redshirt freshman.

In his second appearance in the lineup in as many outings, Willie Scott (184) showed grit in his matchup with No. 6 Emery Parker, a 2017 NCAA qualifier. Scott worked a few shots on Parker in period one and collected 1:37 of riding time in the middle period, trailing just 2-1 with two minutes left. Scott worked two more escapes on Parker, dropping a close 4-3 decision.

Messner and Gross closed out the dual with back-to-back victories for RU. After racking up 1:37 of riding time in the second period, the Somerset, New Jersey, native trailed just 1-0 to Andre Lee at the end of two. Messner escaped to start period three, Lee was hit for locked hands and Messner added a takedown to close out a 4-3 win over Lee, his first Big Ten victory of the year.

In a rematch from when Rutgers and Illinois met at the RAC last season, Gross defeated Deuce Rachel, 5-3, for the win. Gross notched two takedowns in the final period to produce the victory.

The Scarlet Knights return to action on Friday (Feb. 9), when they host No. 18 Minnesota for a 7 p.m. dual at the RAC.

No. 14 Illinois, (7-3, 6-2) 23, No. 19 Rutgers (6-6, 2-5) 12
Dual started at 125 pounds
Location: Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill.

125: No. 18/19/20 Travis Piotrowski (Ill) wins by forfeit | Ill 6, RU 0
133: No. 20/16/16 Scott DelVecchio (RU) dec. Dylan Duncan (Ill), 3-1 | Ill 6, RU 3
141: NR/12/20 Mike Carr (Ill) dec. Michael Van Brill (RU), 10-4 | Ill 9, RU 3
149: Eric Barone (Ill) dec. Nick Santos (RU), 3-2 | Ill 12, RU 3
157: Kyle Langenderfer (Ill) dec. No. 17/15/16 John Van Brill (RU), 8-6 | Ill 15, RU 3
165: No. 2/2/2 Isaiah Martinez (Ill) TF Brett Donner (RU), 18-3 | Ill 20, RU 3
174: Joseph Grello (RU) dec. David Riojas (Ill), 6-2 |Ill 20, RU 6
184: No. 6/6/5 Emery Parker (Ill) dec. Willie Scott (RU), 4-3 | Ill 23, RU 6
197: Anthony Messner (RU) dec. Andre Lee (Ill), 4-3 | Ill 23, RU 9
HWT: Razohnn Gross (RU) dec. Deuce Rachal (Ill), 5-3 | Illinois defeats Rutgers, 23-12

Rankings (-/-/-): InterMat / FloWrestling/The Open Mat
NR denotes not ranked

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