CLEVELAND, OH – Top-ranked Isaiah Martinez (165 pounds) and No. 11 seed Mike Carr (141 pounds) each held their seed, advancing out of the first round with a victory in session one of the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships in front of 18,660 fans at Quicken Loans Arena.

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Session two begins at 6 p.m. central time and will be broadcast live on ESPN with individual mats streamed on ESPN3.com. Martinez and Carr will wrestle second round matches, while three other Illini, No. 10 Emery Parker (184), Dylan Duncan (133) and Travis Piotrowski (125) will each look to bounce back in the consolation bracket after dropping their first match of the tournament in session one.

The top seed at 165 pounds, two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez made quick work of his opponent, Zachary Carson of Eastern Michigan, needing just four minutes, 21 seconds to earn his ninth tech fall of the season.

Racking up 16 points in the first three minutes, Martinez drew first blood seconds into the match. After three more takedowns to lead 8-3, Martinez twice turned Carson for a four-count highlighted by a throw for the second set of back points to end the period with a 13-point lead.

Starting the second period on top, Martinez tallied his fifth and sixth takedowns to end the match with 39 seconds remaining.

No note or cool fact needed, just I-Mar throwing guys for back points??#Illini pic.twitter.com/OjDsKLf3XY

— Illini Wrestling (@IlliniWrestling) March 15, 2018

The win is his ninth tech fall of the season, tied for sixth in the country despite having wrestled just 15 matches so far this season. The win also marks the 113^th of his career, moving him into sole possession of 11^th place on Illinois' all-time list.

Martinez will wrestle No. 16 seed, and 17^th-ranked Jonathon Chavez of Cornell on Thursday night in the second period.

Drawing Henry Pohlmeyer of South Dakota State in the opening round at 141 pounds, Carr won his NCAA Championships debut behind three takedowns and a second-period tilt. After a scoreless first half of the opening period, Carr scored two takedowns in the final 90 seconds of the frame to take a 4-1 lead.

The No. 11 seed for the Illini doubled his score with four more points in period two with a third takedown and two back points. Pohlmeyer proved tough on top in the third period, eliminating the 1:36 of riding time that Carr had built up, but was unable to trim the deficit.

141 | Mike Carr adds a third takedown in the second period with 2 NF points while extending RT to 1:36

Carr leads 8-1 after 5 minutes #Illini pic.twitter.com/JIolLpYygy

— Illini Wrestling (@IlliniWrestling) March 15, 2018

Carr (18-5) will wrestle two-time national champion, and No. 6 seed, Dean Heil (24-5) of Oklahoma State in Thursday evening's second round.

Three other Illini will look to bounce back in the opening rounds of wrestlebacks on Thursday evening, as No. 10 seed Emery Parker (184), Dylan Duncan (133) and Travis Piotrowski (125) each dropped their first match of the day.

Wrestling 18^th-ranked Chip Ness of North Carolina, Parker led 2-1 in the first period after a takedown in the first 30 seconds, and then nearly added a second takedown that was waved off after further review. Ness bounced Parker from the championship bracket with a takedown in the third period that Parker could not escape from.

Duncan dropped a 7-4 decision to No. 4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) at 133 pounds, while Piotrowski lost by fall (1:47) to No. 6 seed Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State).

The 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships resume this evening with the second round of the championship bracket and the first round of wrestlebacks at 6 p.m. central time. ESPN will carry coverage across the eight mats, while fans can access a stream for each of the eight mats on ESPN3.com.

For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.

Session II Matches:

141 2^nd Round: (11) #7 Mike Carr vs. (6) #5 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State)
165 2^nd Round: (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez vs. (16) #17 Jonathan Chavez (Cornell)
125 Consolation 1^st Round: Travis Piotrowski vs. Gage Curry (American)
133 Consolation 1^st Round: #19 Dylan Duncan vs. Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern)
184 Consolation 1^st Round: (10) #8 Emery Parker vs. Chaz Polson (Wyoming)

Illini Notes:

• Isaiah Martinez won his opening match of the Championships with a 20-5 tech fall. The previous two times Martinez opened the tournament by tech fall, Martinez went on to win the title.
• The tech fall was the ninth, tied for sixth this season in Division I despite only wrestling 15 matches
• Martinez improved to 15-1 all-time at NCAA Championships with seven wins by major decision, including three tech falls
• Isaiah Martinez moved into sole possession of 11^th place on Illinois' all-time wins list, recording his 113 victory. Martinez is two wins (115) behind Jordan Blanton (2008-13) for 10^th place.
• Mike Carr won his NCAA Championships debut, an 8-1 decision against Henry Pohlmeyer of South Dakota State
• Carr has won 14 of his last 16 matches, owning an 18-5 overall record this season

Illinois Match-By-Match Results

125 // Travis Piotrowski // 0-1
1^st Round: (6) #7 Nicholas Piccininni (Oklahoma State) def. Piotrowski by fall, 1:47
Cons. Round 1: vs. Gage Curry (American)

133 // #19 Dylan Duncan // 0-1
1^st Round: (4) #4 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) def. Duncan, 7-4
Cons. Round 1: vs. Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern)

141 // (11) #7 Mike Carr // 1-0
1^st Round: (11) Carr def. Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State), 8-1
2^nd Round: vs. (6) #5 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State)

165 // (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez // 1-0
1^st Round: (1) Martinez def. Zachary Carson (Eastern Michigan) by fall, 4:21
2^nd Round: vs. (16) #17 Jonathan Chavez (Cornell)

184 // (10) #8 Emery Parker // 0-1
1^st Round: #18 Chip Ness (North Carolina) def. (10 #8 Parker, 4-3
Cons. Round 1: vs. Chaz Polson (Wyoming)