Piscataway, NJ—No.16 Rutgers wrestling team rebounded from their 19-14 loss against No. 16 Wisconsin Sunday Jan. 9th with a 21-13 win over No. 21 Illinois in a Big Ten Conference match. The match was held at Jersey Mikes’s Arena in front of a crowd of 3,318.
At 141 pounds Rutgers grad student Sebastian Rivera recorded his 100th career win Friday night, but was visible upset with the stalling technique of We Rachal. The crowd inside Mike’s Arena screamed about the stalling as Rivera rolled to a 23-7 technical fall win over Rachal at 6:54.
“Any time you get a Big Ten win, it is exciting. They were a really tough team and one that has had our number. We won we’re we needed to win. Shawver was huge to start the dual and we got off to a great start. We scored where we needed to score.” Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale said.
A close decision by John Poznanski (No. 5 184 pounds) over D.J. Washington and a major decision by unbeaten four-time NCAA qualifier Greg Bulsak sealed the match for Rutgers (12-1, 2-1). The Scarlet Knights won six of the 10 bouts, including bouts from Dylan Shawver (125) and Robert Kanniard (157).
Mike VanBrill (149) and Robert Kanniard (157) followed with tough decisions to make it 14-4 RU at the intermission.
VanBrill defeated Christian Kanzler 3-2 on a takedown with 54.2 seconds left in the third period.
Kanniard’s 7-4 win over Joseph Roberts in a close bout came on his mother’s birthday.
“It kind of felt like one of those old school duals where every point mattered,” Goodale said. “We won where we needed to win.
At 197 pounds Greg Bulsak majored Matt Wroblewski 9-1.
“Shawver was huge,” Goodale said. “That was a huge swing match for us. It was one that probably favored them.”
RUTGERS 21, ILLINOIS 13
125: Dylan Shawver (R) d. Justin Cardani 3-1.
133: Lucas Byrd (I) md. Joey Olivieri 13-2
141: Sebastian Rivera (R) tf. st 6:54 (23-7).
149: Mike VanBrill (R) d. Christian Kanzler 3-2.
157: Robert Kanniard (R) d. Joseph Roberts 7-4
165: Danny Braunagel (I) d. Andrew Clark 9-3
174: D.J. Shannon (I) d. Connor O’Neill 7-5
184: John Poznanski (R) d. Zac Braunagel 6-2
197: Greg Bulsak (R) md. Matt Wroblewski 9-1.
HWT: Luke Luffman (I) d. Boone McDermott 7-2.
EXTRA BOUT
157: Al DeSantis (R) tf. Jake Reicin 7:00 (19-4).
