CHAMPAIGN -- Nobody cheered harder for University of Illinois wrestler Karl Roesler than teammate Seth Brady.

   A victory by Roesler at 190 pounds on Saturday during Illinois'' 20-15 triumph over Indiana would have meant a day off for Brady. A very welcome day off. The kind the heavyweight has taken a lot of lately since suffering a lower-back injury last weekend during the Las Vegas Invitational.

   But Roesler couldn''t pull off a meet-clinching win in his injury-delayed season debut. Instead, the Illini were left clinging to a 17-15 lead.

   Now, if Illinois were to pull out this Big Ten Conference match at Huff Hall, its best shot figured to be with Brady on the mat. Even a Brady at less than full strength.

    "I didn''t think he''d wrestle," coach Mark Johnson said after his sixth-ranked Illini improved to 1-0 overall and in the Big Ten. "We didn''t want to wrestle him. The only way I was going to wrestle him is if the meet was in jeopardy."

   And even then, the final call was Brady''s.

   "Two minutes before he walked out there, I point-blank asked him," the Illini coach recalled. "I needed honesty. He goes, ''I don''t know, but I''m going to try.'' "

   Whatever pain Brady felt during his bout with Ben Nachtrieb ultimately was shared by the 15th-ranked Hoosiers. Racking up five points in the final period, Brady rolled to an 8-3 victory that nailed down Illinois'' home-opening win.

   "I don''t know that I''ve ever seen a gutsier performance," Johnson said.

   Said Illini 150-pounder Eric Siebert: "To do what he did today was really unbelievable."

   Brady had gotten off to an 8-1 start this season before getting hurt on the first day of the Las Vegas tournament. The Mount Prospect native gave it a go on the second day there but went 0-3, forfeiting the third match after the injury.

   "Yeah, it causes a lot of pain," Brady said. "There were points today where it really hurt. If we had been up by more than six points, I wouldn''t have wrestled."

   After taking a 4-0 lead on Lindsey Durlacher''s major decision at 118 pounds, the Illini lost the next three matches to fall behind 9-4. Siebert was up next, and if he didn''t stop the slide, Illinois would have been behind by at least eight points.

   Siebert came through, but not without some accompanying tension. The junior wrestled to a 3-3 stalemate with Butch Hildebrand in the first period, then fell behind 4-3 at the start of the second.

   But Siebert rebounded with a takedown later in the period to go ahead for good in an 8-5 victory.

   "I was able to battle my way out," said Siebert, 10-2. "The kid wrestled me real hard."

   Illinois was behind 9-7 with two-time All-American Ernest Benion up next at 158. Benion recorded an 11-2 major decision over Joe Farr for an 11-9 Illini lead.

   A short-lived lead. Mike Powell, ranked third at 167 pounds, edged Illini freshman Bill Zeman 5-4 to send Indiana ahead again 12-11.

   Short-lived for the 1-1 Hoosiers, too. Indiana forfeited at 177 pounds, giving Illinois a 17-12 lead.

   "We knew going in we were six points in the hole," Hoosier coach Duane Goldman said, "and we would have to try to overcome it. We almost did, but unfortunately it wasn''t good enough."