Rutgers' weekend started splendidly.

It ended with a thud.

The No. 19 Scarlet Knights had four starters missing from the lineup and a fifth upset en route to a 23-12 loss to No. 14 Illinois on Sunday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Illinois. The loss kept Rutgers from what would have been an impressive road sweep after it beat No. 17 Northwestern on Friday night.

No. 1-ranked Nick Suriano missed the dual meet due to flu-like symptoms, forcing Rutgers to forfeit at 125 pounds in what likely amounted to at least a nine-point swing. Not that it mattered much, because No. 12 Eleazar DeLuca (149), No. 11 Richie Lewis (165) and No. 12 Nick Gravina (184) were sidelined as well for the Scarlet Knights, who fell to 6-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten.

Rutgers coach Scott Goodale told NJ Advance Media by phone all three are dealing with nagging injuries, but nothing he believes is serious. Rutgers didn't have a 125-pound substitute on the trip and available to replace Suriano because additional middle and upper weights traveled due to the injury situation.

"We're kind of hurting, and once we realized Nick wasn't going to wrestle, we decided to rest these guys," Goodale said. "We just felt that's in the best interest going forward to the postseason, to get these guys back to healthy."

Lewis was expected to wrestle two-time national champion and No. 2 Isaiah Martinez in a much-anticipated bout and Gravina was scheduled to face No. 6 Emery Parker. Martinez scored a technical fall over Brett Donner, but Willie Scott wrestled Parker tough in a decision loss.

Illinois' Kyle Langenderfer then knocked off No. 17 John VanBrill at 157 pounds to cap Rutgers' rough day. The team has six ranked wrestlers, but only one - No. 20 Scott DelVecchio at 133 pounds - won a bout Sunday. The Illini (7-3, 6-2) won six bouts in total.

Joe Grello (174), Anthony Messner (197) and Razohnn Gross (heavyweight) also had wins for Rutgers.

NO. 14 ILLINOIS 23, NO. 19 RUTGERS 12

125: No. 18 Travis Piotrowski (I) wbf.

133: No. 20 Scott DelVecchio (R) dec. Dylan Duncan, 3-1.

141: Mike Carr (I) dec. Mike VanBrill, 10-4.

149: Eric Barone (I) dec. Nick Santos, 3-2.

157: Kyle Langenderfer (I) dec. No. 17 John VanBrill, 8-6.

165: No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (I) tf. Brett Donner, 18-3 3:29.

174: Joe Grello (R) dec. David Riojas, 6-2.

184: No. 6 Emery Parker (I) dec. Willie Scott, 4-3.

197: Anthony Messner (R) dec. Andre Lee, 4-3.

HWT: Razohnn Gross (R) dec. Deuce Rachal, 5-3.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.