Courtesy of Wisconsin and Illinois Athletic Departments

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 9 Illinois opened the dual season with three convincing wins at the ACC/Big Ten Clash, defeating No. 21 Virginia, 39-7, North Carolina State, 40-7, and North Carolina, 26-9, as the ninth-ranked Illini, No. 12 Wisconsin and Michigan State all won their three matches against that trio of ACC foes at Eddie Smith Field House. No. 6 John Wise put forth an award-winning performance, posting a pair of pins in a combined 2:49 and defeating the Tar Heels' No. 13 Justin Dobies, 3-2, to finish off the successful day.

In addition to Wise's banner afternoon, fourth-ranked Jimmy Kennedy notched a trio of major decisions at 133 and true-freshman Jordan Blanton scored two pins and won by injury default to go 3-0 at 184. Fellow rookie B.J. Futrell also went 3-0, winning two bouts by major decision and a third by forfeit at 125. No. 13 Roger Smith-Bergsrud went 3-0 with three decisions at 165, and No. 14 Troy Tirapelle was 2-1 at 149 with his only loss coming by an 8-4 score to No. 4 Darrion Caldwell of N.C. State.

Illinois started the day against the Wolfpack, with Futrell and Kennedy earning consecutive major decisions and Prater scoring a first-period pin to jump out to an early 14-0 lead. N.C. State got back-to-back wins at 149 and 157, but Smith-Bergsrud got the Illini back on track with a 9-3 win, Ben Friedl scored a 15-0 technical fall at 174 and Blanton pinned Hank Penree at 184 with nine seconds left in the match. No. 8 Patrick Bond won by injury default at 197 and Wise pinned Bobby Isola in 1:38 to finish the 40-7 win.

The Illini also jumped out quickly against the No. 21 Cavaliers, racking up a 27-0 lead. Futrell won by forfeit, Kennedy got an 11-3 major decision and Prater notched a 5-0 win. Tirapelle pinned Pete Ferrara in 4:42 and Grant Paswall earned a 16-1 technical fall at 157. Smith-Bergsrud finished the onslaught with a 4-2 win at 165. Friedl dropped his bout at 174 to No. 15 Chris Henrich, 15-4, but Blanton fought back with a pin in 3:35. Bond dropped a 9-3 upset, but Wise notched his second pin of the day in 1:11 as Illinois cruised to a 39-7 win.

The Orange and Blue once again got great production from its lightweights against North Carolina, as Futrell got a 19-6 major decision at 125 and Kennedy scored a 15-6 major decision at 133. Prater sustained a 5-2 loss, but Tirapelle battled back for a 5-3 win at 149. After Paswall dropped a 9-4 decision, Smith-Bergsrud finished his perfect day with a 3-2 win and Friedl earned a 3-1 decision. Blanton won by injury default to finish his day 3-0, but Bond suffered another upset defeat in a 5-3 match. Wise finished the day on a positive note, though, with his 3-2 win over No. 13 Dobies.

Illinois finished the day with six pins, two technical falls and five major decisions. Last season, the Illini had 29 pins with the top pinners being Wise, Paswall and Mike Poeta with four each. After one weekend, Wise and Blanton already each have a pair of pins.

The Illini will compete in their first open tournament next weekend when they head to the Missouri Open on Nov. 23. Complete results will be available on fightingillini.com following the completion of the day's events.

Additionally, the 12th-ranked Badgers had a solid showing as a team, going 3-0 to start the season. Wisconsin started the day with a 25-15 win over No. 21 Virginia, continued with a 27-8 victory over North Carolina, and swept the competition with a 20-15 win against North Carolina State.

Herbst first tied the record by pinning Jack Danilkowicz from Virginia in 1:08. That wasn't fast enough for Herbst though because his record breaking pin came in 48 seconds against Daniel Llamas from North Carolina. Herbst won his final bout of the day by a forfeit.

The Big Ten dominated the Clash, winning eight of the nine bouts. No. 9 Illinois and Michigan State were the other two Big Ten teams competing.

In the opening match against Virginia, Wisconsin won six matches to get its first victory of the season. The day started with a Cavalier forfeit at 125, which gave junior Drew Hammen the win. No. 13 senior Zach Tanelli won his first match at 141 lbs. by defeating Nick Nelson, 4-1. Wisconsin then jumped out to a 15-6 lead with No. 7 Kyle Ruschell defeating Kellen Balum, 4-2 at 149 lbs. and true freshman Ben Jordan getting his first Badger win at 157 with an 8-2 win over Jedd Moore.

Virginia then evened the score at 15-15 with three-straight wins at 165 lbs., 174 lbs., and 184 lbs. Three new faced started in those weight classes with sophomore Gabe Stoppelmoor wrestling at 165 lbs., senior Mike Felling at 174 and sophomore Eric Bugenhagen at 184 lbs.

That would be the closest Virginia got though as Herbst tied the pin record by sticking Brent Jones in 1:08 and senior Kyle Massey, who is ranked No. 5 in the country, finished off the Cavaliers with a 10-1 major decision over Jack Danilkowicz at heavyweight.

Wisconsin then defeated North Carolina 27-8 in the second bout of the day. Hammen started things off with a 6-2 decision over Justin Shields at 125 lbs. North Carolina then tied the score with a win at 133 lbs. but Wisconsin won three straight at 141 lbs., 149 lbs., and 157 lbs. Tanelli won with a 9-5 decision over Vincent Ramirez and Ruschell kept the momentum up with a 6-5 win over Nicholas Stabile at 149 lbs. Ben Jordan impressed again at 157 lbs. with a 4-0 shutout of Thomas Ferguson.

North Carolina scored four points with a tech fall victory at 165 lbs., but Wisconsin won the final four bouts to capture the match. Felling recorded his first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Kevin Owen at 174 lbs. and Bugenhagen notched a win with a 3-2 decision over Robert McCarthy.

Herbst's pin gave Wisconsin the 24-7 lead and Massey finished the bout with a 3-2 decision over No. 13 Justin Dobies.

The Badgers trailed for almost the whole match against the Wolfpack. The Badgers lost their first two bouts at 125 lbs. and 133 lbs. Tanelli got the Badgers on the board with five points after defeating Ryan Tice by a tech fall (16-1). Ruschell then lost his first bout of the season when he took on No. 4 Darrion Caldwell at 149 lbs. Ruschell stayed close but couldn't hang on in an 8-4 Caldwell win.

Stoppelmoor got his first win of the season by defeating Quinton Godley, 11-4 at 165 lbs. The Badgers then pulled within four points after Bugenhagen defeated Hank Penree, 6-2 at 184 lbs. A forfeit at 197 lbs. gave Herbst his third win of the day and a 17-15 lead for the Badgers before Massey sealed the win with a 7-0 victory over Bobby Isola.

Wisconsin opens up the home stand next Friday at the KOHL CENTER. The Badgers host the second-ranked team in the country, Iowa State at 7 p.m. Friday's match is Youth Day and anyone 18 and under receives FREE admission into the match.