Illinois wrestlers Alex Tirapelle and Mark Jayne continued their winning ways this weekend at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Both wrestlers became Las Vegas Invite champions as they each remained undefeated for the season. Jayne and Tirapelle also took home Missouri Open titles on Nov. 23.

As a team, the Illini finished in fourth place, somewhat of a disappointment after they were ranked No.1 in the country by intermatwrestle.com two weeks ago.

"It's kind of disappointing," Jayne said. "A lot of guys didn't wrestle as well as they should have."

The team score was affected by an injury to Kyle Ott at 125 lbs., who turned his ankle in the second round.

"It's just not worth it to wrestle on it and have the possibility of injuring it more severely," Tirapelle said. "The team score would have been different because Kyle would have finished second or third in his weight class."

The tournament included 10 teams ranked in the top 25 in the country. Nebraska came out on top in the cumulative team score, despite coming into the tournament ranked ninth.

Each weight division was represented by 32 competitors, with one champion crowned in each bracket.

Revenge was sweet for Tirapelle, the 157 lbs. sophomore who was the national runner-up last year. He faced Big Ten nemesis and defending national champion Ryan Bertin of Michigan in the finals of the invite. This time, Tirapelle was able to defeat Bertin to claim the Vegas title by a score of 4-2.

However, the Illini All-American would trade this win for a national championship in March.

"He got me last year when it really counted," Tirapelle said. "So this year I want to come out on top in March."

For his efforts, Tirapelle was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

"I'm not going to lie; it was nice to receive the outstanding wrestler award," Tirapelle said. "It's the first one I've received in college so it's an experience."

Jayne continued his dominance with a title in the 133 lbs. division. Two weeks ago, he was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week after the Missouri Open, and the momentum carried over to Vegas. Jayne was able to hold on in the finals to win 8-6 over Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly.

"Up to the last minute of the match I was really good," Jayne said. "Then I just eased off a little bit and he (Vasquez) made it closer."

Pete Friedl (174 lbs.), Brian Glynn (184 lbs.) and Mike Behnke (Hwt) all finished fifth in their respective brackets for Illinois.

Up next for the Illini is a non-conference duel meet with Tennessee-Chattanooga at Huff Hall on Dec. 13.