CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois wrestling begins postseason competition this weekend in East Lansing, Michigan with the 2018 Big Ten Championships. Hosted by Michigan State University, the two-day tournament will begin on Saturday, March 3 and conclude on Sunday, March 4. The opening three sessions of the meet will be streamed on BTN Plus and FloWrestling, while finals will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network on Sunday at 2 p.m. central time.
Illinois Probables
| Illinois Probables |
| Wt. |
Ranking |
Wrestler |
Record |
Year |
Notes |
| 125 |
-/19/20 |
(9) Travis Piotrowski |
14-6 |
So. |
Unseeded and placed 4th at B1G last season |
| 133 |
-/-/- |
(7) Dylan Duncan |
15-6 |
r-Fr. |
7-2 in B1G duals, won 5 of last 6 |
| 141 |
11/12/15 |
(3) Mike Carr |
14-4 |
r-Fr. |
Won 8 straight matches, 10 of last 11 |
| 149 |
-/-/- |
(12) Eric Barone |
8-12 |
r-So. |
Placed 8th at 2017 B1G Championships |
| 157 |
17/20/- |
Kyle Langenderfer |
10-8 |
r-Sr. |
2x placer; Won 4 of last 5 matches |
| 165 |
1/1/1 |
(1) Isaiah Martinez |
11-0 |
r-Sr. |
3x B1G Champ, 12.5 avg. margin of victory |
| 174 |
-/-/- |
David Riojas |
2-13 |
Fr. |
First B1G appearance |
| 184 |
7/5/7 |
(4) Emery Parker |
18-1 |
r-Jr. |
13 straight wins, 3 wins vs. top-10 opponents |
| 197 |
-/-/- |
Andre Lee |
9-11 |
r-Jr. |
Third B1G Championships appearance |
| HWT |
-/-/- |
Deuce Rachal |
10-10 |
r-Jr. |
Leads Illini in pins (5) this season |
Schedule & Streaming Information
Quick Hits
*The Illini have crowned a Big Ten Champion at each of the last six tournaments (Martinez, Delgado, Gonzalez) and nine of the last 10.
*In the history of the Big Ten Championships, dating back to 1910, Illinois has the second most Big Ten team titles (17) and fourth most individual champions (76).
*Illinois enters Big Ten Championships with five wrestlers ranked by either InterMat or WIN Magazine: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (165), No. 5 Emery Parker (184), No. 11 Mike Carr (133), No. 17 Kyle Langenderfer (157) and No. 19 Travis Piotrowski (125).
*Isaiah Martinez is seeking to become the first Illini, and 15th overall, to win four Big Ten titles.
*Undefeated (11-0) in the regular season, Martinez is outscoring his opponents 199-62 and owns wins with bonus points highlighted by eight tech falls.
*The eight tech falls by Martinez ranks 7th in NCAA Division I despite having wrestled just 11 matches
*Isaiah Martinez is 14th on Illinois' all-time wins list with 109 career victories. The redshirt senior is six wins away from cracking Illinois' top ten list.
*Emery Parker has won 13 straight matches dating back to December 1 at Iowa. During the 13-match winning streak, Parker has outscored his opponents 122-58 and has three wins over top-10 wrestlers.
*Illini freshman Mike Carr has won eight straight matches, and 10 of his last 11. Carr's only loss came to No. 11 Tommy Thorn on January 14.
Illini Notes
Six Illini Receive Big Ten Pre Seeds
Six Fighting Illini wrestlers received pre-seeds for Big Ten Championships. Three-time Big Ten champion Isaiah Martinez will be the top seed at 165 pounds, while Mike Carr (3rd/141), Emery Parker (4th/184), Dylan Duncan (7th/133), Travis Piotrowski (9th/125) and Eric Barone (12th/149) are also seeded.
The Big Ten received 80 automatic bids to NCAA Championships, including at least nine at three weights. For Big Ten weight classes with nine or more bids, the Big Ten seeded all fourteen starters. Bid allocations are determined based off of RPI, coaches rankings and win percentage against Division I opponents.
| Weight Class |
Big Ten Bids |
National At-Large Bids |
| 125 |
10 |
4 |
| 133 |
7 |
5 |
| 141 |
8 |
6 |
| 149 |
9 |
6 |
| 157 |
8 |
4 |
| 165 |
10 |
4 |
| 174 |
7 |
5 |
| 184 |
8 |
4 |
| 197 |
6 |
5 |
| HWT |
7 |
4 |
An additional 47 at-large qualifiers will be selected by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee on March 6 to bring all weight classes to a total of 33 wrestlers. The selection process for at-large bids will be made based on head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches' ranking, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage.
RPI and coaches' Rankings
Six Illinois wrestlers are ranked in the RPI Rankings heading into conference tournaments. Wrestlers must have wrestled at least 17 matches to qualify.
Illinois Big Ten History
The Fighting Illini continue to rank second all-time in team Big Ten titles with 17 behind Iowa's leading 35. The Illini also own 76 individual Big Ten titles, fourth-best in the conference, including one in each of the last six tournaments. Last year, Isaiah Martinez won his third Big Ten title, while the Illini placed sixth with 88.5 points.
Martinez Seeks Record Fourth B1G Title
Isaiah Martinez will look to become the first Illini wrestler to win a Big Ten title in all four years of eligibility. One of three Illini to have won three, Martinez would be just the 15th Big Ten wrestler to accomplish the feat, joining his head coach, Jim Heffernan who did so at Iowa 1983, 85-87. Martinez is 11-0 all-time at Big Ten Championships. Ohio State's Nathan Tomasello is also seeking his fourth conference crown.
Four-Time Big Ten Wrestling Champions:
Verne Gagne (MINN), 1944, 47-49
Arnold Plaza (PUR), 1947-50
Joe Scarpello (IOWA), 1947-50
Tom Milkovich (MSU), 1970-73
Mike DeAnna (IOWA), 1977-81
Ed Banach (IOWAA), 1980-83
Barry Davis (IOWA), 1981-85
Duane Goldman (IOWA), 1983-86
Jim Heffernan (IOWA), 1983, 85-87
Mark Ironside (IOWA), 1995-98
Kellen Russell (MICH), 2008-12
Ed Ruth (PSU), 2011-14
David Taylor (PSU), 2011-14
Logan Stieber (OSU), 2012-15
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.
