NCAA WRESTLING : Illinois’ Marianetti Settles an Old Score

It was personal for Steve Marianetti of Illinois, who snapped a 57-match win streak by defending champion Lincoln McIlravy of Iowa on Saturday in the NCAA wrestling tournament.

Marianetti, who had lost to McIlravy at 150 pounds at the Big Ten championships, had also lost to him in the NCAA semifinals at 142 pounds in 1993.

“This has been my main goal for the whole year,” Marianetti said. “I wanted to wrestle him hard for seven full minutes, and right now my body is telling me that I did just that.

“All last week in practice, I was trying to push myself out of my comfort zone because McIlravy never lets you wrestle there.”

Marianetti had five takedowns in a 13-10 victory that denied McIlravy his third overall NCAA championship and angered Iowa Coach Dan Gable.

“He was on track to be the best of all times, and all of a sudden, it’s not there anymore,” Gable said. “I wanted to be a part of his success. I’m still in a state of shock.”

That state was tempered by Iowa’s victory in team competition. The Hawkeyes had wrapped up the title on Friday night and finished at 134 points for their fourth NCAA championship in five years. They had a champion in Jeff McGinness, at 126 pounds. An Iowa defending champion, Joel Sharratt, lost, 8-6, at 190 pounds to Oklahoma’s J.J. McGrew.

Oregon State was runner-up with 77.5 points. Michigan State was third with 69.5, followed by Arizona State (65.5), Penn State (60.5), Nebraska (60), Oklahoma State (55.5), North Carolina (54.5), Illinois (52.5) and Oklahoma (51.5).

North Carolina’s T.J. Jaworsky won his third consecutive title, defeating Oregon State’s Babak Mohammadi, 13-6, at 134 pounds in a rematch of last year’s title bout. Jaworsky has won 49 matches in a row.

“I thought it was a pretty close match. I always wrestle the same, but I was kind of worried about what he might do. I’m really fortunate to win it,” said Jaworsky, who pinned three of his five opponents.