11/23-Smith-Bergsrud wins at Missouri Open

Smith-Bergsrud Wins Missouri Open Title 10 Illini Place in Open Division; Six Illinois Wrestlers Place in Fresh/Soph Division COLUMBIA, Mo. - No. 12 Roger Smith-Bergsrud won the 165-pound title at the Missouri Open and No. 6 John Wise (HWT), No. 17 Ryan Prater (141) and true-freshman Jordan Blanton (184) each took second in the open division for the Illini at Hearnes Fieldhouse on Sunday. In addition, No. 8 Patrick Bond (197), B.J. Futrell (125), Troy Tirapelle (141) and Joe Barczak (165) each took third at the event. "A tournament like this is filled with ups and downs," Illinois head coach Mark Johnson said. "There were a lot of good things, but it also shows us some things we need to work out. In the end, though, we got a lot of placewinners and a lot of good things happened." Also in the open division, sophomore Ben Friedl took fourth at 174 and redshirt-freshman Martin Smith placed sixth at 197. In the freshman/sophomore division, Daryl Thomas (125), Reece Taylor (149) and Pat Walker (HWT) all finished fourth, while Eric Terrazas placed fifth at 149. Jake Kimberlin took sixth at 157 and Matt McCarter finished sixth at 184. Smith-Bergsruds title is his first tournament win at Illinois, besting the second-place finish he recorded at the Missouri Open a year ago. He notched a 22-6 technical fall in 5:30 in his first bout of the day then advanced via a default. The top-seeded Smith-Bergsrud then downed Barczak, 6-4, to move into the championship match where he defeated Hofstras Ryan Patrovich, the tournaments No. 2 seed, 3-2, to take home the title. At 141, the top-seeded Prater notched technical falls by scores of 21-4 and 17-0 in his first two matches before scoring a 5-1 win to move into the title match. But he dropped a wild 9-8 decision to Cal Polys Fil Novachkov in the championship to place second. Wise, the No. 2 seed at heavyweight, pinned his first opponent in 2:24 and defeated Missouris Dom Bradley, 1-0, to advance to the title bout against No. 4 Mark Ellis, the third-straight year the pair have met in the tournaments championship. Ellis once again won his home tournament, squeaking out a 4-3 victory over Wise in the final seconds. True-freshman B.J. Futrell was dominant in all but one match at 125 Sunday, registering two pins and a technical fall before notching a major decision in the third-place match. His only defeat was a 6-3 decision to Hofstras Steve Bonanno, the tournaments No. 2 seed. Tirapelle, who was seeded second, started the day with a pin in 0:32 and then earned a 17-1 technical fall before getting caught on his back in his semifinal match against eventual champion Quinten Feuntes (Oklahoma State). But Tirapelle battled back with another pin and a 4-2 win in sudden victory time in the third-place match. At 165, Barczak went 3-1 on the day to place third, with his only loss coming to Smith-Bergsrud in the pairs semifinal match. Bond finished third at 197 with his only loss coming by an 8-3 margin to the eventual champion, Hofstras Joe Fagiano, who is No. 17 in the nation. After that defeat, Bond notched a pair of wins by 8-3 and 9-5 margins to take third. Illinois Placewinners - Open Division 1. Roger Smith-Bergsrud (165) 2. Ryan Prater (141), Jordan Blanton (184), John Wise (HWT) 3. B.J. Futrell (125), Troy Tirapelle (149), Joe Barczak (165), Patrick Bond (197) 4. Ben Friedl (174) 6. Martin Smith (197) Illinois Placewinners - Freshman/Sophomore Division 4. Daryl Thomas (125), Reece Taylor (149), Pat Walker (HWT) 5. Eric Terrazas (149) 6. Jake Kimberlin (157), Matt McCarter (184)