CLEVELAND, OH – Illinois 165-pounder Isaiah Martinez used a dominant first period to spur a 10-5 decision over No. 16 seed Jonathon Chavez of Cornell is Thursday night's NCAA Championships second round, advancing to the Friday morning quarterfinal round at Quicken Loans Arena.
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"I feel great; I feel excited," said the two-time champ and three-time finalist after day one of competition. "It's great to be at the national tournament; it's what I train for all year. I'm so ready, I'm so prepared."
Three Illini remain alive in wrestle backs heading into day two of the Championships, as No. 11 Mike Carr (141), No. 10 Emery Parker (184) and Travis Piotrowski (125) each split their two matches on day one.
Friday's quarterfinal round will begin at 10 a.m. central time and broadcast live on ESPNU. Two rounds of wrestlebacks will follow the round of eight matches. A live stream of each mat can be accessed on ESPN3.com.
Winning his second match of the day, Martinez (16-0) took control of the second round bout with three takedowns in the opening three minutes. Martinez got on the board just less than a minute into the match, and then added on two more in the following minute.
Choosing defense to start the second, Martinez quickly escaped the grasp of Chavez. Back in neutral, Martinez tallied his fourth, and final takedown of the match. Holding his biggest lead of the match, 9-3, Martinez held off third-period advances by Chavez, and also added on a point for riding time.
Advancing to his fourth straight quarterfinal round, Martinez will meet the No. 9 seed, and fifth-ranked, Chance Marsteller of Lock Haven on Friday morning. Marsteller will be Martinez's second ranked wrestler in a weight class that is widely considered to be the toughest this year.
"It feels good," said Martinez of the competiveness at 165 pounds. "You take a lot of pride in it. If you can be at the top of the mountain in this kind of weight [class] it fills you with a tremendous amount of pride. You have a tremendous amount of respect for the guys that try to knock you off. As an athlete, it's all I could ever dream of, it's all I could ever want. I'm excited and happy that my final year will probably be my hardest."
Despite no collegiate meetings, Martinez and Marsteller did meet at the Team USA Under-23 World Championships qualifying last October. Meeting in the best-of-three finals, Martinez swept Marsteller by scores of 8-2 and 7-6 to take the 74kg (163 pounds) spot. Martinez went on to place fifth in Bydgoszcz, Poland on November 26.
With a win over Marsteller, Martinez would become the first four-time All-American in Illinois wrestling history. Martinez is one of 15 to earn three All-America honors as an Illini.
Martinez won his first match of the day by way of a 20-5 tech fall over Zachary Carson of Eastern Michigan. Needing just four minutes, 21 seconds to finish off the win, the tech fall was the ninth this season for Martinez which is tied for sixth nationally despite Martinez having just 16 matches this season.
The other Illini in the championship bracket on Thursday evening, No. 11 seeded Mike Carr dropped his bout against defending national champion, and No. 6 seed, Dein Heil of Oklahoma State. Heil broke a scoreless tie in the second period with an escape and takedown before sealing the win with a second takedown in the closing seconds of the match for a 6-2 decision.
Illinois finished off session two by going 2-1 in the consolation bracket, as 125-pounder Travis Piotrowski and 184-pounder No. 10 seed Emery Parker both rebounded with victories to stay alive in wrestlebacks.
Piotrowski defeated American's Gage Curry by major decision, 9-1, to pick up his first win of the tournament. The Illini sophomore won the match behind a six-point flurry in the first minute of the bout. The Crystal Lake, Illinois native earned his a takedown 35 seconds into the match on a one-legged shot. From there, Piotrowski was able to get a four-point tilt to take a 6-0 lead. Building 2:40 of riding time, Piotrowski added a takedown and riding time point in the third period to finish off the victory.
Piotrowski will wrestle No. 5 seed Sean Fausz of North Carolina State on Friday morning in the second round of consolation matches.
Like Piotrowski, Parker combined a takedown and four back points to build an early 6-0 lead over Wyoming's Chaz Polson. Starting the second period on defense with a 6-1 lead, Parker reversed Polson and then put him on his back for two near fall points. The Illini redshirt junior continued the rout with seven more points to earn a 17-3 major decision.
Parker will take on No. 8 seed Drew Foster of Northern Iowa in the second round of wrestlebacks on Thursday.
Day two of NCAA Wrestling Championships begins at 10 a.m. central time on ESPNU with championship bracket quarterfinals and two rounds of wrestlebacks. Winners of quarterfinal matches will clinch All-America honors. Fans can also stream each individual mat on ESPN3.com.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.
Session III Quarterfinal Matches:
165: (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez vs. (9) #5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
Session III Consolation Matches:
125: Travis Piotrowski vs. (5) Sean Fausz (NC State)
141: (11) Mike Carr vs. Brent Moore (Virginia Tech)
184: (10) #8 Emery Parker (8) #10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa)
Attendance:
Session I: 18,660
Session II: 18,680
Illini Notes:
- Isaiah Martinez advanced to his fourth straight NCAA quarterfinal round, defeating No. 16 seed Jonathon Chavez of Cornell
- Martinez is one win away from becoming Illinois' first four-time All-American. Martinez is currently one of 15 three-time All-Americans.
- Martinez will wrestle Lock Haven's No. 9 seed, and fifth ranked, Chance Marsteller. Martinez defeated Marsteller in the Team USA Under-23 World Championships qualifying. Martinez won the best-of-three final, 8-2, 7-6.
- Martinez outscored his two opponents by a combined score of 30-10 on Thursday, only allowing points off of escapes
- Martinez improved to 16-1 all-time at NCAA Championships with seven wins by major decision, including three tech falls
- Martinez moved into sole possession of 11th place on Illinois' all-time wins list, recording his 113th and 114th victories. Martinez is one win (115) behind Jordan Blanton (2008-13) for 10th place.
- Emery Parker added another win to his team-leading total of 22 wins to just four losses. The major decision was Parker's fourth of the season, while the 17 points were the third most
- Travis Piotrowski won his 18th match of the season, one win shy of tying his total from last season (19)
- Mike Carr and Dylan Duncan made their NCAA Championships debut on Thursday
Illinois Match-By-Match Results
125 // Travis Piotrowski // 1-1
1st Round: (6) #7 Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State) def. Piotrowski by fall, 1:47
Cons. Round 1: Piotrowski def. Gage Curry (American), 9-1
Cons. Round 2: vs. (5) #5 Sean Fausz (NC State)
133 // #19 Dylan Duncan // 0-2
1st Round: (4) #4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) def. Duncan, 7-4
Cons. Round 1: Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern) def. Duncan, 7-5
Dylan Duncan is eliminated
141 // (11) #7 Mike Carr // 1-1
1st Round: (11) Carr def. Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State), 8-1
2nd Round: (6) #5 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) def. (11) Carr, 6-2
Cons. Round 2: vs. Brent Moore (Virginia Tech)
165 // (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez // 2-0
1st Round: (1) Martinez def. Zachary Carson (Eastern Michigan) by fall, 4:21
2nd Round: (1) Martinez def. (16) #17 Jonathan Chavez (Cornell), 10-5
Quarterfinals: (9) #5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
184 // (10) #8 Emery Parker // 1-1
1st Round: #18 Chip Ness (North Carolina) def. (10 #8 Parker, 4-3
Cons. Round 1: (10) #8 Parker def. Chaz Polson (Wyoming), 17-3
Cons. Round 2: vs. (8) #10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa)
