The University of Northern Colorado appears to have dismissed a third-year wrestler from the team following his disqualification during a match for an illegal move that injured his opponent.
The UNC athletic department declined to comment Saturday on the matter and hasn’t issued any kind of news release regarding a dismissal from the team, but the school removed references to the athlete from its website and said they don’t comment on “former student athletes” when asked about the wrestler.
Baylor Fernandes, a 165-pound third-year Bears wrestler from Lockport, Illinois, was disqualified in the sixth of seven matches at the 20th Southern Scuffle Jan. 1-2 in at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.Fernandes’ disqualification came as a result of using an illegal move in a consolation semifinal bout against Tyler Lilliard from Indiana University. Wrestling media reported the match against Lilliard was not the first time Fernandes has used illegal moves in competition.
The Southern Scuffle is a premier in-season collegiate wrestling event hosted by the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Here is the move:
— The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo) (@MrPatMineo)
Nickerson did not reply to an email from the Tribune, and the athletic department did not address Fernandes’ disqualification.
“Coaches and staff do not comment on team disciplinary issues or former student athletes,” according to associate athletic director for strategic communications Dennis Driscoll.
Fernandes was a high school state champion in Illinois in 2019. He had a 17-5 record at the University of Minnesota from 2019-21, according to his UNC bio from the 2022-23 season. Fernandes came to UNC for the 2021-22 season but did not compete for the Bears. He had an 18-12 record last year.
The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo), a platform with more than 26,000 followers on X, showed three short clips of Fernandes in action in a Jan. 3 post.
One of the clips was from the Southern Scuffle match against Lillard, and included a comment “3+ times is certainly habitual.”
The clip showed Fernandes standing on one leg, his left leg, while holding Lillard’s extended left leg. Lillard’s right knee and right hand were on the mat.
Fernandes using his right knee pushed down on the side of Lillard’s leg while it was extended, and the IU wrestler fell back onto the mat.
Tina Lillard, who identified herself as Tyler Lillard’s mother in a post on X, said Tyler suffered a leg injury during the match. In the lengthy message, Tina Lilliard wrote that at the time Tyler was consulting with IU doctors, and he was in a full leg brace and on crutches.
Tina Lillard said in a post on X that Fernandes has “done this to many other wrestlers in the past,” and she said she filed complaints with the NCAA, the University of Northern Colorado and the Big 12 Conference.
UNC is a member of the Big 12 in wrestling.
Lillard replied “no comment” on the matter in an email to the Tribune on Saturday afternoon.
She wrote in an X post that she filed complaints at UNC with senior associate athletic director for external operations David Sabolcik as well as Nickerson.
