BTT Continuing Coverage

FIRST ROUND

At 141, the ILLINI faced a guy who had beaten him the last two times they wrestled in the Big Ten tournament, effectively keeping him out of the NCAA tournament. DANNY PUCINO would get his revenge against Maryland's Kal Miller. This was an 8-3 win for the ILLINI, and he moved on to the quarterfinals. 

EDMOND RUTH was very careful during the first 6:45 of the match, using riding time to secure an advantage. Then, in the last :15 Edmond threw cares to the wind, using a body lock to throw his opponent, DJ Shannon, to his back for three and and additional two near-fall. Final score was 7-1. 

At 165, CHRIS MOORE came closest to an upset with an overtime loss to multi-time All-American Cam Amine of Michigan. The wolverine scored the 4-1 win in sudden victory. 

QUARTERFINALS 

DANNY PUCINO had the arena gasping multiple times, as he put Real Woods on his back twice. Once they were called out of bounds, but the first time, Real had the fight of his life to stave off the pin. Danny planked in the air on him for leverage, but Woods eventually fought to his stomach. These moves, like his Gator Bacon, are why so many kids get Pucino'd. Slickness = Pucino'd. The match ended as a 13-9 victory for the Hawkeye. 

At 174, EDMOND RUTH needed an extra minute to put away Rocco Welsh of Ohio State 4-1. There was no scoring in the first period. In the second, Edmond chose down and was out in one second. I **** you not. 

In the third period, Rocco Welsh got out in about 8 to 9 seconds. This was different from the dual, as Edmond held him down for the full period there. But in SV, Edmond shot his double leg, moved his arms up the body to an underhook, then got the body lock on the edge and, well, there's no secret what happens next. 

SEMIFINALS

It took Edmond Ruth extra time to put away Andrew Sparks of Minnesota in the semis. The only scoring during regulation was dueling escape points. In sudden victory, Edmond came through again with the takedown and the 4-1 victory. The ILLINI will face Shane Griffith of the North Standford Wolverines. 

Credit Fighting ILLINI Athletic Department

CONSOLATIONS

CHRIS MOORE beat AJ Rodrigues of Maryland 4-1 in SV. It was an underhook to a knee pick that led to the takedown. He's moving on!

DYLAN CONNELL had Chase Mielnik of Maryland and got the first-period takedown. The ILLINI rode him out. He'd still be riding him, but the period ended, and the ref made them break up. Dylan scored an escape in the second. Connell with another takedown in the third to go up 7-0 and a calendar's worth of riding time. The final is 8-2. He's moving on!

ISIAH PETTIGREW had two takedowns in the first and led 6-2 with nearly a minute of riding time. Isiah had a quick escape in period two. He added a takedown and riding point in the third for the 11-4 win. He's moving on!

CONSOLATIONS (ROUND TWO)

DANNY PUCINO starts off against Greyson Clark with the early first period takedown. Clark escaped and got a takedown himself. The second period saw Pucino with the takedown fighting through the waterfall position. They both got escapes from the bottom, and Danny held out in the third period for the 7-5 win. Pucino's moving on! 

Credit Fighting ILLINI Athletic Department

CHRIS MOORE had a tough task ahead with Caleb Fish of MSU. The Spartan made the mistake of going upper body in the first period, and Chris hit him with a damn headlock for 7! Fish got the reversal. The bad guy also got a takedown in the second period to make it 10-5 to start the third. Fish got the quick escape, then a takedown the about 50 seconds left. 

They did a restart with :14 to go, and Chris Moore got away, which means, he's moving on!

Credit Fighting ILLINI Athletic Department

CONSOLATION--THIRD ROUND

CHRIS MOORE had to beat Stoney Buell of Purdue the #7 seed to keep moving on in the consolation bracket. It was Buell with a first-period takedown. The Boiler got an escape in the second to take a 4-0 lead. 

Moore with a tough, tough double leg in the second to cut the Purdue lead to 3-4. Buell escaped for another point. Then, in the third period, Moore escaped. With :45 to go and a one-point lead, the Boiler shot a high crotch that Moore matrixed away from and covered for three. He held on for the win! 

SEVENTH-, NINTH- AND ELEVENTH-PLACE BRACKETS

There is a ninth-place bracket at 125 that includes Justin Cardani. With his record, he'll need to win three matches in a row: Blaine Fraizer of Indiana, Tristan Lujan of MSU and (most likely) Brendan McCrone of OSU. A loss in any one of those matches would be Justin's last collegiate wrestling match.

There are only 7 bids at 133, so there will be no extra brackets. Tony Madrigal is eliminated.

At 141, Danny Pucino will wrestle in the 7th-8th-place match against Vance Vombaur or Minnesota. Danny is safely in the NCAA tournament.

Like Cardani, Jake Harrier will need to win three matches in a row to win 9th place and a bid to the NCAA tourney. He will see Marcos Polanco of Purdue, then Drew Roberts of Minnesota and then (likely) Michael Cetta of Rutgers.

At 157, Logan Swaw is still in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid. Like Cardani and Harrier, he'll need to win three in a row: Luke Mechler of Wisconsin, then Isaac Wilcox of OSU, and finally, either Al De Santis of Rutgers or Michael North of Maryland.

At 184, Dylan Connell still has a chance to get back to the Big Dance, but it is the slimmest of chances. Insert Jim Carey meme. He has to win three matches in a row, then hope that he has an RPI that gets him an at-large bid. Even if he wins the 9th-place bracket, the conference is only allotted eight spots at this weight.