Chambana Sun

The Illinois wrestling team, ranked 13th nationally, achieved notable success at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic tournament held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The event featured a round-robin format where five Illinois wrestlers secured first-place finishes.

Lucas Byrd, a redshirt senior competing in the 133-pound category, won all three of his matches. He began with a 7-0 victory over Alex Almeyda from Penn and continued to defeat Tyler Ferrara of Cornell with an 8-2 decision. Byrd concluded his performance by shutting out Brett Ungar from Cornell, winning 2-0.

Danny Pucino, a redshirt junior at 141 pounds, also went undefeated. He started with a close overtime win against Justin Hoyle of Hofstra and then pinned Carter Bailey from Lehigh in under six minutes. Pucino finished strong with a decisive 14-7 victory over Evan Mougalian from Penn.

In the 149-pound bracket, redshirt freshman Kannon Webster emerged victorious after pinning Jaden Pepe of Harvard early in their match. He proceeded to win against Alex Nini from Rutgers and narrowly defeated Cross Wasiliewski from Penn.

Braeden Scoles dominated the 165-pound category as another redshirt freshman going unbeaten. His victories included a major decision over Gage McClenahan of Cornell and a technical fall against Evan Canoyer. Scoles capped off his day by pinning Luke Ahrberg from NC State.

Junior Caelan Riley claimed gold in the 125-pound division. His wins included a technical fall over Noah Tonsor from Army and decisions against Joe Sciarrone of Cornell and Trevon Grey of Pitt-Johnstown.

Illinois wrestling will next compete on November 21 for their home opener against Missouri.