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OMAHA, Neb. – Illinois wrestlers John Dergo and Jordan Blanton each rebounded from consolation semifinal defeats to finish in fifth place Saturday at the NCAA Championships.

Dergo (184 pounds) lost to fourth-seeded Mike Cannon of American 7-5 before bouncing back to beat fifth-seeded Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State 10-4.

"Like Mike Poeta told me, in a couple of days, winning that last match will be really satisfying," Dergo said. "Right now it hurts because I was aiming at the national title, but it was good to get that last win because it was the only way I could go out on top from the position I was in."

Dergo (36-4) tied teammate Jimmy Kennedy for the ninth-most wins in a single season in school history.

Blanton (174) lost to fourth-seeded Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska 9-0, then beat seventh-seeded Ben Bennett of Central Michigan 3-2 for fifth place.

"This is a good finish to a good year, but I don't want to just be good – I want to be great," Blanton said. "When I finally came around after going 2-2 at Midlands, I made some lifestyle changes to focus more on school and wrestling and stop taking the easy, lazy way out of things. I started doing things the right way, and it paid off this weekend."

Blanton, a sophomore, ended 25-9.

"I'm very proud of both guys for the way they wrestled today," coach Jim Heffernan said. "Dergo fought back and beat a very good guy for fifth place, and Blanton did very well against a guy who is really hard to wrestle. It's a huge win for Jordan as far as him learning how to wrestle through this tournament. To wrestle three days in this tournament, you have to be a warrior, and both guys proved they were."

In men's gymnastics:

Illini win on Senior Night. Illinois scored a season high while defeating Illinois-Chicago 362.250-343.550 on Senior Night at Huff Hall.

The third-ranked Illini won each individual event, topped by Chad Wiest's 16.100 on floor exercise, which tied the top NCAA score in the event this season. Paul Ruggeri won the all-around with a season-best 90.100, the second-best mark in school history.

In women's gymnastics:

Illini take Classic. Allison Buckley won vault and all-around and tied teammate Sarah Schmidt for first place on floor as Illinois won the State of Illinois Classic for the third consecutive time, recording a season-high score of 196.650. Schmidt also won bars.

"I don't think we had a bad event or routine across the board," UI coach Bob Starkell said. "Our confidence level is pretty high heading into Big Tens."

In softball:

Roll continues. No. 21 Illinois beat Syracuse 7-3 and Dartmouth 16-1 in Clearwater, Fla., to improve its school-record start to 21-2.

Jessica Davis had two hits in the opener, and Monica Perry did not allow an earned run. In the second game, the Illini scored 11 times in the first inning. Meredith Hackett had three hits and five RBI. Hope Howell was 3 for 3.

"After having the opportunity to put Syracuse away and letting them stay in the game, I was proud of the way we came out in the second game and kept going after Dartmouth," UI associate head coach Donna DiBiase said.

In baseball:

Zerrusen sparks win. Lee Zerrusen allowed one run in seven innings to lead Illinois past North Dakota State 10-4 in Winter Haven, Fla.

"He really did well working out of jams in the first four innings and showed some great competitiveness," UI coach Dan Hartleb said. "He kept the game close."

Illinois scored three runs in the sixth and tacked on five more in the following inning. Brandon Hohl was 3 for 5 with two RBI. Josh Parr added two hits and three RBI. Matt Dittman had two hits and two RBI for the Illini (5-8).