WVU 18 Illinois 15
January 07, 2011

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Jan. 7, 2011) – With the team down 12-15 in the final bout, West Virginia redshirt senior 149-pounder Brandon Rader defeated No. 7 Eric Terrazas of Illinois by fall in just 50 seconds to give the Mountaineers an 18-15 upset victory over the No. 8 Fighting Illini on Friday night at Huff Hall.

With the win, Rader was able to offset a victory that Terrazas earned over him a month ago at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to provide the Mountaineers their fourth dual meet victory of the season and first over a ranked opponent this year. WVU improves to 4-3 on the year.

“(Brandon) Rader got back to being Rader and executed in a pressure situation,” WVU coach Craig Turnbull says. “What an exciting finish it was and a great win for us.”

Redshirt junior Matt Ryan was also able to overcome a prior defeat to Illinois’ No. 17-ranked Tony Dallago by earning a 9-4 decision victory. The Eighty-Four, Pa., native earned four takedowns throughout the match and earned 1:50 of riding time to beat Dallago, who had defeated Ryan in Las Vegas by a fall.

The matchup started at the 157-pound class, in which WVU’s Ryan Goodman was defeated by the Illini’s Jackson Morse by decision, 5-10. Goodman was able to earn two takedowns and an escape point in the final but fell short of Morse’s quick start.

165-pounder WVU redshirt senior Donnie Jones tied the score up at 3-3 by defeating Conrad Polz by decision, 9-4, having earned three takedowns in the bout with an escape and 1:07 of riding time.

Wrestling in his first dual meet match at 174 pounds, WVU redshirt junior Christian Mory was defeated by Illinois’ Ben Friedl by decision, 2-8, after he earned a takedown in the opening period. Friedl was able to reverse the riding time and picked up two reversals and three near-fall points in the match to boost the Illini lead up to 6-3.

Ryan tied the score at 6-6 with his aforementioned win over Illinois’ Dallago.

Senior Kyle Rooney lost a close match, 4-5, to the Illini’s No. 20 Mario Gonzalez in the final moments of the third period as Gonzalez managed to earn a takedown before Rooney could force him out of the circle. Rooney earned a takedown in the first period.

“Our guys put in a good pre-Christmas practice and when we came back we put a lot of good work in and I think they’re becoming more confident,” Turnbull says. “Even in this match we had a few key opportunities get away, but we kept fighting and didn’t let them bother us.”

Heavyweight Philip Mandzik was beat by Patrick Walker, 2-8, as he earned two escape points after Walker had put the match out of reach with three takedowns in the first two periods, giving Illinois a 12-6 advantage.

No. 23 sophomore Shane Young beat Illinois’ freshman 125-pounder, Logan Arlis, by decision, 6-1, after gaining a quick 4-0 lead in the first two periods. Young also earned over four minutes of riding time in the match and a penalty point.

WVU 133-pounder No. 14 Nathan Pennesi had a rematch with No. 5 B.J. Futrell and fell by decision, 2-6. Futrell had previously beaten Pennesi in Las Vegas by a 5-6 decision score. After two periods, Futrell led by a 3-1 margin but was able to increase the lead to 5-1 with another takedown in the third period and also earned riding time despite Pennesi’s escape point.

Freshman Michael Morales trimmed the Illini lead to 15-12 by blanking John Deneen by decision, 4-0. Morales earned a penalty point when Deneen had a technical violation and also a reversal before earning 1:41 of riding time.

“This was a very nice victory over a nationally ranked team and hopefully something we can build on as the season goes on,” Turnbull says. “We played at a level we believe we’re capable of wrestling at. We had plenty of opportunities earlier in the season that slipped away from us that we wanted to avoid from happening again. We put together this schedule so that we could get as good as we can as quickly as possible.”

The Mountaineers return to action next Fri., Jan. 14, for their first home meet of the year in the “Beauty and the Beast” contest against Michigan State. The competition begins at 7:30 p.m.

WVU vs. No. 8 Illinois
125: No. 23 Shane Young (WVU) dec. Logan Arlis (Ill), 6-1
133: No. 5 B.J. Futrell (Ill) dec. No. 14 Nathan Pennesi (WVU), 2-6
141: Michael Morales (WVU) dec. John Deneen (Ill), 4-0
149: Brandon Rader (WVU) pinned No. 7 Eric Terrazas, :50
157: Jackson Morse (Ill) dec. Ryan Goodman (WVU), 5-10
165: Donnie Jones (WVU) dec. Conrad Polz (Ill), 9-4
174: Ben Friedl (Ill) dec. Christian Mory (WVU), 2-8
184: Matt Ryan (WVU) dec. No. 17 Tony Dallago (Ill), 9-4
197: No. 20 Mario Gonzalez (Ill) dec. Kyle Rooney (WVU), 4-5
HWT: Patrick Walker (Ill) dec. Philip Mandzik (WVU), 2-8