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Wrestling
Poeta to Wrestle for NCAA Title; Illinois Has 3 All-Americans
March 20, 2009
Team Scores Through Session 4 ST. LOUIS - Top-ranked and second-seeded Mike Poeta won the rematch of last year's championship bout with Cornell's third-seeded and fourth-ranked Jordan Leen, 6-4, and will face top-seeded and second-ranked Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska in Saturday night's title match. In addition, No. 3 seed and third-ranked Jimmy Kennedy and No. 8 and ninth-seeded John Wise earned All-American status, the first time since 2005 that the Illini have had at least three All-Americans. Kennedy will wrestle sixth-seeded and sixth-ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota for the right to wrestle for third place, while Wise will face Pittsburgh's 15th-ranked Zach Sheaffer in their seventh-place match. Illinois is in eighth place with 49.5 points after four sessions, the seventh-most points the Illini have ever scored at the NCAA Championships. The consolation semifinals and third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches will be contested in a session beginning Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and televised live on ESPNU. "It's been a very pleasing weekend so far," Illinois head coach Mark Johnson said. "Even the matches we lost, we were very competitive in and took a lot of them right to the wire. Now we just need to finish it off with Mike Poeta winning a national title tomorrow." Poeta started fast against Leen, finishing a single-leg with 1:48 left in the first period and repeating the move with 53 seconds left. Leen escaped both times to make the score 4-2 in Poeta's favor. Leen started down in the second and escaped in 17 seconds to cut Poeta's lead to 4-3. The Illini senior started down in the third and Leen put on a hard ride, but Poeta was able to work into a reversal with 36 seconds left to go up 6-3. Leen escaped but couldn't land any late offense as Poeta finished with the 6-4 win. "It feel pretty good to beat him, but the goal in this tournament wasn't to beat Jordan Leen, the goal was to be a national champion," Poeta said. "Burroughs is pretty similar to me, so it should be a great show tomorrow night. I won't watch any film because every time I've watched film before a match, I've lost. All I care about is the stuff I do." Third-seeded and third-ranked Jimmy Kennedy continued his improbable run through the wrestlebacks with a 5-3 win over Hofstra's ninth-seeded and eighth-ranked Lou Ruggirello. Kennedy scored first, getting a takedown with 1:11 left in the first and Ruggirello was warned for stalling. Kennedy started down in the second and Ruggirello rode him the entire period, but was called for stalling once again, pushing Kennedy's lead to 3-0. Ruggirello chose neutral to start the third and the Pride grappler finished a takedown with 18 seconds left. But Kennedy kept working, knowing that Ruggirello had just tied the match because of his riding-time advantage, and worked into a reversal with seven seconds left for the 5-3 victory. Kennedy won his sixth-straight match in the wrestleback bracket when he took down Iowa's fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked Daniel Dennis, 6-3, for his second-straight win over the Hawkeye. After a scoreless first period, Kennedy started down in the second and escaped in 29 seconds. He started to push the pace and got a takedown with 1:04 left. Denis escaped to make the score 3-1 in Kennedy's favor after five minutes. Dennis started down in the third and escaped in 17 seconds but Kennedy battled back for another takedown with 1:10 left. He rode Dennis until the Hawkeye escaped with only two seconds left, adding the riding-time point for the 6-3 win. He'll face Minnesota's sixth-seeded and sixth-ranked Jayson Ness in the wrestleback semifinals for the right to compete for third place on Saturday morning. Kennedy is 2-0 against Ness this year, most recently beating him 8-2 to take third at the Big Ten Championships. No. 8 and ninth-seeded John Wise earned his first All-America honor after defeating Virginia Tech's David Marone in the round of 12, 5-2. After a lot of first-period hand fighting, Wise managed to land a single-leg and finish it for the takedown with 20 seconds left and rode out Marone. The Hokie started down in the second and Wise rode him out. Wise started down in the third and escaped in 10 seconds to go up 3-0. Marone got a takedown with 1:16 left, but Wise escaped and added riding time for the 5-2 win. Wise battled third-seeded Jared Rosholt of Oklahoma State to the wire before the Cowboy got a takedown with seven seconds left for the 7-5 win. Rosholt scored first with a takedown with 50 seconds left in the first but Wise escaped. Wise also was hit with a penalty point for roughness early in the period to trail 3-1 after three minutes. Rosholt started down in the second and escaped with 1:03 left but Wise landed a takedown with 50 seconds left. Rosholt escaped to make his lead 5-3 after five minutes. Wise started down in the third and Rosholt was hit with a quick stalling warning. Wise escaped 13 seconds into the period and Rosholt was penalized a point for stalling with 30 seconds left, tying the match at 5. But Wise went for the winning takedown and Rosholt blocked the shot, spinning behind for the winning score. Wise will face Pittsburgh's 15th-ranked Zach Sheaffer in the seventh-place match, an opponent Wise defeated on Jan. 10. Ryan Prater wasn't as fortunate, as he took a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Wisconsin's second-seeded and second-ranked Zach Tanelli. Tanelli got a takedown with 1:45 left in the first but Prater quickly escaped to make it 2-1 after a period. Prater started down in the second and escaped off the whistle to tie the bout at 2. Tanelli started down in the third and Prater rode him hard for over a minute before the Badger was able to slip out with 50 seconds remaining, leaving Prater just short of the one minute of riding time needed to earn a point. The Illini sophomore couldn't land any late offense as his magical NCAA tournament run came to an end one win short of All-America status. No. 19 John Dergo also wasn't able to stay alive in the wrestlebacks as he fell, 6-1, to Virginia's eighth-seeded and seventh-ranked Christopher Heinrich. The Cavalier got a takedown in the first period and rode out Dergo, then started down in the second. Dergo was awarded a penalty point but Heinrich escaped. He added another takedown and tacked on the riding-time point after a scoreless third period for the 6-1 win. Dergo finishes one win short of All-American status and was 17-10 in his junior campaign after going 3-2 at the NCAA Championships. TEAM STANDINGS 1. Ohio State 84.5 2. Iowa 81.0 3. Iowa State 71.5 4. Nebraska 69.0 5. Edinboro 63.5 6. Cornell 63.0 7. Missouri 57.5 8. Illinois 49.5 9. Wisconsin 45.0 10. Boise State 43.0
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT RESULTS
141: Ryan Prater (So., 13-17)
157: No. 2 seed, #1 Mike Poeta (Sr., 17-0)
174: #19 John Dergo (Jr., 17-10)
HWT: No. 9 seed, #8 John Wise (Sr., 24-9)
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