Chambana Sun

The Illinois wrestling team completed the first day of the Big Ten Championships at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland. Notably, redshirt junior Edmond Ruth advanced to the finals in the 174-pound category and secured a spot in his second consecutive NCAA Championships.

Ruth began his journey by defeating DJ Shannon from Michigan State with a 7-1 decision. He then moved past Rocco Welsh of Ohio State in overtime, securing victory with a quick takedown for a 4-1 score. In the semifinals, he mirrored this performance against Andrew Sparks from Minnesota, winning again with an overtime takedown and a 4-1 score.

Ruth will compete against Shane Griffith from Michigan in Sunday's final. This marks the first time since Isaiah Martinez in 2018 that an Illinois wrestler has reached the Big Ten finals. Fans can watch the finals on BTN starting at 3:30 p.m. CT.

In other results, redshirt sophomore Danny Pucino qualified for his first NCAA Championships at 141 pounds. After an initial win over Kal Miller from Maryland, Pucino was defeated by Real Woods from Iowa but managed to win his consolation match against Greyson Clark of Purdue. Pucino is set to wrestle Vance Vombaur from Minnesota for seventh place.

True freshman Chris Moore also qualified for the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds after advancing through several consolation matches following an initial loss to Cameron Amine of Michigan. Moore will face Mike Caliendo of Iowa in the consolation semifinals.

The team standings after Saturday placed Penn State at the top with 136 points, followed by Michigan and Nebraska. Illinois ranked twelfth with 28 points.

Illinois wrestlers will continue their competition on Sunday for the final day of the Big Ten Championships.