HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — No. 15 Wisconsin finished third overall at the Illinois Matmen Open tournament, led by two first-place finishes by wrestlers Dean Hamiti and Trent Hillger on Thursday.
Winning the 165-pound crowd, Hamiti impressed with four bonus-point victories on his run to the title — one pin, two tech falls and one major decision. Notably, the true freshman won the tournament with a dominating 21-6 tech fall over Harvard's Philip Conigliaro.
Senior heavyweight Hillger earned three victories by major decison on his way to the final. He then won a gritty 2-0 decision over Rider's Ethan Laird to claim the Open's title.
UW teammates Austin Gomez (149 pounds, second), Braxton Amos (197, third), Joseph Zargo (141, fourth) and Garrett Model (157, eighth) all finished on the podium. Wisconsin earned 117 team points overall, finishing behind Pittsburgh (121.5) and Penn (118) in the standings. Following an action-packed first day of the tournament on Wednesday, the Badgers were in first place in the team standings with 66 points heading into day two.
Wisconsin entered 11 Badgers overall to compete in the tournament, featuring more than 20 NCAA Division I wrestling programs and 220-plus wrestlers at the NOW Arena near Chicago. Nine Badgers wrestled attached for Wisconsin — Kyle Burwick (133), Ethan Rotondo (133), Joseph Zargo (141), Austin Gomez (149), Garrett Model (157), Dean Hamiti (165), Chris Weiler (184), Braxton Amos (197) and Trent Hillger (285). Two Badgers — Graham Calhoun (184) and Peter Christensen (285) — competed unattached.
Full results are below.
RESULTS
Kyle Burwick - 133 pounds
R32: Burwick def. Matthew Chi (UW-Parkside), Fall 1:31
R16: Bailey (Lehigh) over Burwick, D 4-3
WB2: Burwick def. Cabanillas (Brown), Fall 2:48
WB3: Burwick def. Rotondo (Wis.), D 4-2
WB4: Olivieri (Rutgers) def. Burwick, MD 9-1
Ethan Rotondo - 133 pounds
R32: Michael Colaiocco (Penn) def. Rotondo, MD 15-8
WB1: Rotondo def. Norris (Purdue), MD 15-8
WB2: Rotondo def. Masters (Princeton), MD 10-2
WB3: Burwick (Wis.) def. Rotondo, D 4-2
Joseph Zargo - 141 pounds - 4th Place
R32: Bye
R16: Zargo def. over Mann (Princeton), MD 18-8
QTR: Zargo def. Ferrante (Penn), D 5-2
SEMI: Rivera (Rutgers) def. Zargo, MD 11-1
CS: Zargo def. Filius (Purdue), D 6-4 (SV1)
CF: Matthews (Pitt) def. Zargo, Fall 4:14
Austin Gomez - 149 pounds - 2nd Place
R32: Bye
R16: Gomez def. Mancini (Pitts.), D 10-4
QTR: Gomez def. Keller (Princeton), Fall 1:15
SEMI: Gomez def. Artalona (Penn), MD 17-4
FINAL: Heil (Campbell) def. Gomez, D 3-1 (SV1)
Garrett Model - 157 pounds - 8th Place
R32: Model def. Evan Yant (UNI WC), TF 18-2 6:15
R16: Model def. Zuunbayan (NIU), D 6-0
QTR: Zapf (Penn) def. Model, D 9-6
WB4: Model def. Badgett (Pitt), MD 12-3
WB5: Keating (Virginia) def. Model, D 12-8
CF: Zamin (Unatt.) def. Model, D 4-3
Dean Hamiti - 165 pounds - 1st Place
R32: Bye
R16: Hamiti def. C. Herceg (Lehigh), TF 18-3 5:26
QTR: Hamiti def. Braunagel (Illinois), MD 10-0
SEMI: Hamiti def. Hartman (Bucknell), Fall 5:51
FINAL: Hamiti def. Conigliaro (Harvard), TF 21-6 7:00
Graham Calhoun - 174 pounds (Unattached)
P32: Calhoun def. Fox (F&M), MD 8-0
P16: Kaufmann (NIU) def. Calhoun, D 7-4
WB2: Oneill (Rutgers) def. Calhoun, D 4-2
Chris Weiler - 184 pounds
R32: Bye
R16: Antrassian (Penn) def. Weiler, D 8-6
WB2: Bye
WB3: Weiler def. Elstrum (Princeton), Fall 0:52
WB4: Munoz (Ore. St.) def. Weiler, D 6-2
Braxton Amos - 197 pounds - 3rd Place
R32: bye
R16: Amos def. McCready (Bucknell), MD 11-3
QTR: Amos def. Kober (Campbell), D 7-1
SEMI: Bulsak (Rutgers) def. Amos, D 6-2
CS: Amos def. Urbas (Penn), TF 18-3 6:20
CF: Amos def. Baldridge (No. Central), D 3-1 (SV1)
Peter Christensen - 285 pounds (Unattached)
R32: Bye
R16: Laird (Rider) def. Christensen, MD 14-4
WB2: Christensen def. Ruhlman (Purdue), D 4-2
WB3: Christensen def. Carroll (Unatt.), FFT
WB4: Goldin (Penn) def. Christensen, MD 12-3
Trent Hillger - 285 pounds - 1st Place
R32: Bye
R16: Hillger def. Aaron (NIU), MD 11-3
QTR: Hillger def. Woulfe (Purdue), MD 11-3
SEMI: Hillger def. Jake Slinger (Pitt), MD 10-2
FINAL: Hillger def. Laird (Rider), D 2-0
