Kennedy Takes Fifth, Futrell Eighth at NCAA Championships

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Illini Pair Place

PHILADELPHIA - Fourth-seeded Jimmy Kennedy (141 pounds) scored a major decision over Missouri's tenth-seeded Todd Schavrien to earn fifth place and seventh-seeded B.J. Futrell (133 pounds) took eighth place to finish Illinois' performance at the 2011 NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. The Illini take twenty-second place with Kennedy and Futrell earning All-America honors, the third of Kennedy's career and first for Futrell.

Kennedy finishes the season 23-4 for an .852 winning percentage, the 25th-best in school history. He also ends his career 120-24, tied for the seventh-most wins in school history with Matt Lackey and holding the fifth-best career winning percentage at .833.

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"The hard matches for Jimmy were last night after he got beat," Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. "He was pretty upset and it really took a lot out of him emotionally. So the fact that he was able to win two really high-pressure matches last night was good to see. Then today, he just got caught in a tough situation (against Mike Thorn). And I think it was good for B.J. - we talked a lot about this with Jordan (Blanton) last year - to go through the tournament one time for three days and learn what it takes. B.J. made a lot of good progress this year and really improved a lot."

In the Kennedy hit a blast double against Minnesota's second-seeded Mike Thorn with 1:46 left in the first period but Thorn rolled through and scored the defensive fall in 1:29.

Futrell gave up a throw-by for a takedown with 2:29 left in the first period against No. 5 seed Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) and Ruggirello used a bar tilt for a three-point near-fall to go ahead 5-0. Ruggirello rode him out and Futrell chose a neutral start to the second period. But Ruggirello passed the elbow and threw Futrell by for a takedown to go up 7-0. Ruggirello rode him out and started on top in the third. But Futrell swam over the top for the reversal and added three near-fall points to get within 7-5 with 1:15 left in the bout. Futrell cut him loose and got in on a single-leg but Ruggirello sprawled out of bounds. Ruggirello was given a stall call then was dinged with a point with just a few seconds left, but he held off Futrell and added the riding-time point to take the 9-6 win over the Illini sophomore and give Futrell eighth place.

Kennedy got a leg quickly against Missouri's Todd Schavrien and worked it into a takedown, adding a leg turk and a crossface for three near-fall points and a 5-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first period. Schavrien escaped as Kennedy tried to roll through for more back points but the Illini senior shot back in on his legs and got a takedown on the edge with 10 seconds left before riding him out for a 7-1 lead after five minutes. Schavrien chose a neutral start to the second and Kennedy shot in on a single-leg with 35 seconds left, starting a scramble that ended with the Illini senior scoring a takedown with eight seconds left in the period. He rode out Schavrien for a 9-1 lead after two periods and Kennedy started down in the third. Schavrien cut him loose with 20 seconds left to put Kennedy up 10-1 and Schavrien was called for a penalty point, giving Kennedy an 11-1 major decision win to take fifth place.

133: No. 7 seed B.J. Futrell, r-So., Park Forest, Ill., 28-10
First Round: Dec. Eric Morrill (Edinboro), 11-6
Second Round: Maj. dec. Flint Ray (Utah Valley), 12-4
Quarterfinals: Maj. dec. by No. 2 seed Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State), 10-2
Consolation Round of 12: Dec. No. 9 seed Devin Carter (Virginia Tech), 10-3
Consolation Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 11 seed Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan), 4-0
Seventh Place: Dec. by No. 5 seed Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra), 9-6
Futrell - 8th Place

141: No. 4 seed Jimmy Kennedy, r-Sr., Ingleside, Ill., 23-4
First Round: Dec. Justin Morrill (Utah Valley), 9-3
Second Round: Pinned Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech), 4:43
Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 5 seed Montell Marion (Iowa), 8-7
Consolation Round of 12: Dec. No. 11 seed Matthew Mariacher (American), 7-3
Consolation Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 8 seed Zack Bailey (Oklahoma), 3-2
Consolation Semifinals: pinned by No. 2 seed Mike Thorn (Minnesota), 1:29
Fifth Place: Maj. dec. No. 10 seed Todd Schavrien (Missouri), 11-1
Kennedy - 5th Place

[Formerwrestler]

I was reading this article and was interesting. I noticed it was stated that Lackey was 5th all time in wins and percentage, who are the four ahead of him if anyone knows? Winning percentage and record?