CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois Wrestling lost in the rarest of ways Saturday, watching their defending national championship suffer a defeat for the first time in his career.
Top-ranked Isaiah's Martinez's defeat at the hands of 3rd-ranked Jason Nolf -- a Penn State freshman -- was his first, ending the sophomore's 54-match win streak.
Martinez was pinned at 4:55 in the 2nd period, the 3rd match of the day, which helped Penn State open a 15-0 lead on Illinois.
The Nittany Lions won the meet by a 30-15 score to improve to 11-0 and 6-0 in the Big Ten. Illinois dropped to 9-4, and 1-4.
Martinez won the 2015 NCAA National Championship in the 157 lb. class, finishing off a perfect 35-0 season last spring.
Find more individual results from the meet here.
