After four weights, it appeared more like a junior varsity dual than one between two of the nation’s top Greco-Roman states.

Once the action settled into a more conventional final, Illinois used five straight victories from 145-182 to distance itself from Michigan Blue in a 32-26 victory on Thursday evening at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Mike Swider’s 1-0, 3-1 victory at 220 pounds over Michigan’s Brian Moran clinched the team title for Illinois.

The dual started off with fireworks, four big ones.

Michigan started off the match as Camden Bertucci finished the tournament 6-0 with a first-period fall over Jabari Moody at 100 pounds. Moody’s older brother, Nkosi, would fire back for Illinois, pinning Taylor Ticknor in the second period at 106. 

Five of Bertucci’s six wins came by fall. 

Michigan would retake the lead as Mitch Rogaliner pinned Mark Duda in 56 seconds at 113 pounds. The fall parade concluded at 120 pounds as Illinois’ Kevon Powell bullied Mike Rojas to score the fall at 1:23 of the second period. 

Michigan’s Jacob Schmitt, a Cadet Greco-Roman champion in 2010, topped David Pearce at 126 pounds 3-0, 1-0, but Zane Richards, an Illinois signee, brought Illinois back to tie the dual at 13 with a 2-0, 1-0 victory over McKendry Bade at 132.

Michigan All-American Josh Pennell topped Jake O’Mara at 138 pounds, picking up a fall in the second period after rallying to win the first period 6-4. Pennell produced a highlight-worthy throw, tossing O’Mara straight over his own back from the front headlock position to give Michigan an 18-13 lead.

Illinois started its wave of wins at 145 pounds as Zach Pickering knocked off Columbia signee Alec Mooradian 2-0, 1-0. Mooradian was an All-American at the Cadet level and is a multi-time Michigan state champion.

Mitchell Alexander would give Illinois another solid victory as he topped Logan Marcicki 2-0, 3-0 in a battle of All-Americans at 152 pounds. The win gave Illinois its first lead, one the team would not relinquish.

Northern Illinois signee Trace Engelkes had little trouble with Michigan’s Devan Marry, scoring a dominant 7-0, 6-0 technical fall at 160 pounds. Ricky Robertson followed up for Illinois, rallying after a first period loss to defeat Drew Garcia 0-1, 2-0, 2-0 at 170. Robertson was second in Greco last year in Fargo.

With Illinois holding a 26-19 lead, Sam Brooks of Illinois topped Michigan’s Kevin Beazely in a matchup between the dual’s two most accomplished wrestlers. Brooks, an Iowa signee, bulled through Beazley, an Old Dominion signee, to the tune of a 5-0, 1-0 decision.  The outcome gave Illinois a 10-point lead heading into the final three weights.

Payne Hayden gave Michigan hope, defeating Campbell signee Taylor McGiffen 1-0, 2-0 at 195 pounds. Swider at 220 would end any chances of a Michigan comeback with heavyweight and Cadet freestyle world champion Adam Coon waiting in the wings for Michigan. 

Swider scored a late three points in the second period to rally from a 1-0 deficit to beat Moran 1-0, 3-1 to ice the dual.

Coon would end things on a positive note for Michigan, defeating Stanford commit Josh Marchok 2-0, 3-0.

Full Results via Trackwrestling.com

USA WRESTLING JUNIOR DUALS
GRECO-ROMAN FINALS
ILLINOIS 32, MICHIGAN BLUE 26
100 - Camden Bertucci (Michigan Blue) over Jabari Moody (Illinois) Pin 1:21
106 - Nkosi Moody (Illinois) over Taylor Ticknor (Michigan Blue) Pin 6-0,0:37
113 - Mitch Rogaliner (Michigan Blue) over Mark Duda (Illinois) Pin 0:57
120 - Kevon Powell (Illinois) over Mike Rojas (Michigan Blue) Pin 8-0,1:23
126 - Jacob Schmitt (Michigan Blue) over David Pearce (Illinois) Dec 3-0,1-0
132 - Zane Richards (Illinois) over McKendry Bade (Michigan Blue) Dec 2-0,1-0
138 - Josh Pennell (Michigan Blue) over Jake O`Mara (Illinois) Pin 6-4,0:23
145 - Zach Pickering (Illinois) over Alec Mooradian (Michigan Blue) Dec 2-0,1-0
152 - Mitch Alexander (Illinois) over Logan Marcicki (Michigan Blue) Dec 2-0,3-0
160 - Trace Engelkes (Illinois) over Devan Marry (Michigan Blue) TF 7-0,6-0
170 - Ricky Robertson (Illinois) over Andrew Garcia (Michigan Blue) Dec 0-1,2-0,2-0
182 - Sammy Brooks (Illinois) over Kevin Beazley (Michigan Blue) Dec 5-0,1-0
195 - Payne Hayden (Michigan Blue) over Taylor McGiffen (Illinois) Dec 1-0,2-0
220 - Mike Swider (Illinois) over Brian Moran (Michigan Blue) Dec 1-0,3-1
285 - Adam Coon (Michigan Blue) over Josh Marchok (Illinois) Dec 2-0,3-0

THIRD PLACE
MINNESOTA BLACK 31, WISCONSIN 25 
100 - Paul Fitterer (Minnesota Black) over Dillion Koenigs (Wisconsin) Dec 1-0,1-0
106 - Gannon Volk (Minnesota Black) over JJ McClelland (Wisconsin) Dec 1-0,6-0
113 - Jarred Oftedahl (Minnesota Black) over Bill Prochniewski (Wisconsin) Pin 0:48
120 - Tristan Manderfeld (Minnesota Black) over Phillip Opelt (Wisconsin) Dec 3-0,4-0
126 - Andrew Crone (Wisconsin) over Nate Thomas (Minnesota Black) Dec 4-0,1-1
132 - Sam Brancale (Minnesota Black) over Gabriel Grahek (Wisconsin) Dec 3-3,1-0,1-0
138 - Mitch Bengtson (Minnesota Black) over Mitchell Friedman (Wisconsin) Dec 1-0,3-0
145 - Jarod Donar (Wisconsin) over Wayne Voss (Minnesota Black) Dec 3-2,1-0
152 - Ryan Gartner (Wisconsin) over Josh Halicke (Minnesota Black) Dec 4-1,2-0
160 - Nick Becker (Wisconsin) over Austin Boniface (Minnesota Black) Pin 0:24
170 - Trey Hable (Minnesota Black) over Jacob Stillings (Wisconsin) Dec 4-2,4-1
182 - Matt Gray (Wisconsin) over Brett Pfarr (Minnesota Black) Dec 7-0,4-0
195 - Jacob Morrissey (Wisconsin) over Miles Hammerlund (Minnesota Black) Dec 0-3,1-0,4-0
220 - Justin Karkula (Wisconsin) over Tommy Petersen (Minnesota Black) Dec 4-3,0-4,5-2
285 - Sam Stoll (Minnesota Black) over Newton Smerchek (Wisconsin) Dec 1-0,1-0

FIFTH PLACE
IOWA 37, OKLAHOMA RED 25
100 - Noah Ajram (Iowa) over Matt Maxwell (Oklahoma Red) Dec 1-0,3-0
106 - Tanner Rohweder (Iowa) over Kaid Brock (Oklahoma Red) Dec 2-0,5-4
113 - Cody Karstetter (Oklahoma Red) over Sam Phillips (Iowa) Pin 0:36
120 - Joe Smith (Oklahoma Red) over Drake Swarm (Iowa) Dec 2-0,2-0
126 - Cory Clark (Iowa) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
132 - Brian Crutchmer (Oklahoma Red) over Logan Ryan (Iowa) Dec 4-2,3-0
138 - Colton McCrystal (Iowa) over Dakota Head (Oklahoma Red) Dec 1-0,6-1
145 - Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma Red) over Connor Ryan (Iowa) Dec 4-0,0-2,2-0
152 - Jake Marlin (Iowa) over Keilan Torres (Oklahoma Red) Pin 1-8,0:28
160 - Justin Koethe (Iowa) over Kyle Ash (Oklahoma Red) Dec 1-0,2-1
170 - Zeb Wahle (Iowa) over Drake Martel (Oklahoma Red) Dec 1-0,4-0
182 - Alex Meyer (Iowa) over Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma Red) Pin 0-1,1:20
195 - Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma Red) over Mickey Pelfrey (Iowa) Dec 4-0,5-0
220 - Brett Haas (Iowa) over Mikel Baker (Oklahoma Red) Pin 0:49
285 - Evan McGee (Oklahoma Red) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf 

SEVENTH PLACE
GEORGIA BLACK 39, PENNSYLVANIA 21
100 - Adam Flatt (GA Black) over Jacob Lizak (Pennsylvania) Pin 1:40
106 - Ethan Lizak (Pennsylvania) over Trae Green (GA Black) Dec 1-0,1-0
113 - Dominic Forys (Pennsylvania) over Hunter Kelley (GA Black) Dec 6-0,5-1
120 - Immanuel Henderson (GA Black) over Justin Cummings (Pennsylvania) Dec 1-0,0-3,1-1
126 - Josh DiSanto (Pennsylvania) over Madison Martin (GA Black) Pin 3-7,1:47
132 - Kamaal Abdushshakur (GA Black) over Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania) Dec 1-1,2-1
138 - Bobby Harmon (Pennsylvania) over Joseph Hulen (GA Black) Dec 1-8,3-3,7-1
145 - Tyrel White (Pennsylvania) over Taylor Lujan (GA Black) Dec 4-1,1-0
152 - Cody Dickerson (GA Black) over Arthur Watkins (Pennsylvania) Dec 6-2,2-0
160 - Hunter Gamble (GA Black) over Kyle Carson (Pennsylvania) TF 6-0,7-0
170 - Jason Grimes (GA Black) over Sam Dickey (Pennsylvania) TF 7-0,7-0
182 - Glenn Climmons (GA Black) over Addison Knepshield (Pennsylvania) Dec 0-2,1-0,2-1
195 - Boyce Cornwell (GA Black) over Dennis Atyeh (Pennsylvania) Dec 1-0,3-0
220 - Chance McClure (GA Black) over Jake Hart (Pennsylvania) Dec 1-0,2-0
285 - Josh Mackey (GA Black) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf