No. 14 Nebraska wrestling scored an 18-15 upset over Big Ten rival, fourth-ranked University of Illinois, 18-15, before 1,365 fans at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln Friday night.
For the Huskers, it was the third straight win over a ranked conference foe, having defeated No. 11 Michigan and No. 18 Northwestern on the road last weekend.
The Cornhuskers won six of ten matches; one of the home team's most significant wins was when third-ranked 174-pounder Robert Kokesh defeated No. 4 Jordan Blanton, 8-3.
Putting bonus points on the board for the Fighting Illini was Jesse Delgado, who pinned his Husker opponent at 125.
"This match more than anything showed how important it is to be at full strength in this conference," Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. "It also shows how important B.J. Futrell (133 lb. starter, out with injury) is as a leader on our team. It was great having Jesse (Delgado) and Daryl (Thomas) return and they both looked good. Conrad (Polz) and Tony Dallago wrestled well and made some gains. We will need more guys carrying the load as we move forward."
Nebraska is now is 9-3 for the season, and 3-0 in the Big Ten; Illinois falls to 5-1 overall, and is 1-1 in the conference.
Match Results:
- 133: No. 11 Daryl Thomas (ILL) dec. Shawn Nagel (NEB), 10-8
- 141: Ridge Kiley (NEB) dec. Logan Arlis (ILL), 4-0
- 149: No. 15 Jake Sueflohn (NEB) dec. Caleb Ervin (ILL), 8-1
- 157: No. 5 James Green (NEB) dec. Matt Nora (ILL), 9-4
- 165: No. 7 Conrad Polz (ILL) dec. Tyler Koehn (NEB), 10-4
- 174: No. 3 Robert Kokesh (NEB) dec. No. 4 Jordan Blanton (ILL), 8-3
- 184: No. 7 Josh Ihnen (NEB) dec. No. 11 Tony Dallago (ILL), 5-4
- 197: No. 5 Mario Gonzalez (ILL) dec. Caleb Cobb (NEB), 4-3
- HWT: Spencer Johnson (NEB) dec. Chris Lopez (ILL), 3-1
- 125: No. 4 Jesse Delgado (ILL) pinned Eric Coufal (NEB), 6:55
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