Illinois’ 2/3 Ranked BJ Futrell Looks to Illini V Hawks Battle Talks to Takedown

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – Illinois redshirt-junior All-American B.J. Futrell was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Futrell earns the first honor of his career after going 4-0 last Saturday at the Wrestle for a Cure Duals.

The No. 3 133-pounder dominated the competition, recording three pins and one technical fall, giving the Illini 23 points on the day. The Park Forest, Ill., native recorded his first pin against North Carolina’s Brock Livorio then followed it up with another fall against Steve Mitcheff of Kent State. Against The Citadel, Futrell posted a pin of 2:23 and ended the day with a 25-9 technical fall over Utah Valley’s Derek Malan. Futrell upped his season pin total to four, good for a tie for the team lead.

The last Illini to win the honor was Tony Dallago on Dec. 21, 2010.

Dec. 2, 2011

#7 Illinois vs. #1 Iowa
Friday, Dec. 2 // Carver-Hawkeye Arena // Iowa City

#7 Illinois (6-0, 0-0) Probable Starters
125 15/9/16 Jesse Delgado, 9-1, r-Fr.
133 3/2/2 B.J. Futrell, 9-0, r-Jr.
141 -/-/-Daryl Thomas, 6-3, r-Jr.
149 8/9/10 Eric Terrazas, 10-1, Sr.
157 -/13/- Jackson Morse, 4-1, So.
165 -/-/- Dan Stelter, 4-1 r-Jr.
174 3/3/4 Jordan Blanton, 10-0, r-Jr.
184 -/-/- Tony Dallago, 7-3, r-So.
197 15/12/16 Mario Gonzalez, 7-1, r-So.
HWT -/-/- Pat Walker, 9-4, r-Jr.
Rankings are listed in Intermat, W.I.N., AWN format

#1 Iowa (3-0, 0-0) Probable Starters
125 1/1/1 Matt McDonough, 8-0, Jr.
133 2/3/3 Tony Ramos, 8-0, So.
141 3/3/3 Montell Marion, 7-0, Sr.
149 -/-/- Jacob Ballweg, 7-3, Fr.
OR -/-/- Mark Ballweg, 5-0, Jr.
OR -/-/- Dylan Carew, 1-0, So.
157 2/2/2 Derek St. John, 8-0, So.
165 15/14/15 Mike Evans, 8-0, Fr.
174 6/6/3 Ethen Lofthouse, 7-1, So.
184 -/4/2 Jeremy Fahler, 5-1, Fr.
OR -/-/- Vinnie Wagner, 1-0, Sr.
197 2*/2*/4* Grant Gambrall, 1-0, Jr.
OR -/-/- Tomas Lira, 7-2, So.
HWT 7/6/8 Bobby Telford, 7-0, Fr.
Rankings are listed in Intermat, W.I.N., AWN format
*ranked at 184

Live Video
Live video will be available for the dual on BTN.com. Adam Lacey and Phil Keddy will have the call live from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Quick Hits
• Junior B.J. Futrell is off to a great start, beginning the season 9-0 for the first time in his career. Out of the nine matches, he has pinned six of his opponents en route to tying his career-best in falls. Futrell is ranked No. 3 by Intermat and No. 2 by W.I.N. Magazine and Amateur Wrestling News. Futrell had a career season at 133 pounds last year after recovering from a shoulder injury that cut his 2009-10 season short.

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