No. 4 at 133 pounds, redshirt senior Lucas Byrd has been named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, as announced by the conference on Thursday, January 30. Byrd is the first wrestler from Illinois to receive this accolade since Zac Braunagel was honored on January 11, 2023.
Byrd had a successful weekend following his first loss of the season at Iowa. He achieved a 2-0 record in recent duals with victories over ranked opponents from Maryland and Rutgers. In his match against Maryland, he secured a win against No. 11 Braxton Brown with a 7-3 decision, contributing to Illinois' overall victory of 33-7. Two days later, Byrd defeated No. 9 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers with a close 6-5 decision.
With these wins, Byrd has moved up to No. 7 on the Illinois career win percentage leaderboard with an impressive record of 87-16 (.845).
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