CLEVELAND, OH – Illinois redshirt senior wrestler Isaiah Martinez became the first four-time All-American in program history with a 10-1 major decision victory against No. 9 seeded Chance Marsteller of Lock Haven in Friday morning's quarterfinal round. With the win, Martinez advances to wrestle No. 5 seeded Alex Marinelli of Iowa on Friday evening at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Friday night semifinal round will begin at 7 p.m. central time and will be broadcast live on ESPN with a live stream also available through Watch ESPN. The session will begin with 125 pounds, putting Martinez's match around the midpoint of the session. Two rounds of consolation matches will also be contested in the Friday evening session.
Outscoring his opponents 40-11 so far in the tournament, Martinez tallied his second win over a ranked wrestler on Friday morning and his second win with bonus points. Leading wire-to-wire, Martinez scored two takedowns in the first period and added a takedown in each of the final two periods. Tough on top, the four-time All-American racked up three minutes, 45 seconds of riding time to keep Marsteller at bay.
Continuing to dominate in the first period this weekend, Martinez has outscored opponents by a combined 26-7 tally in the first three minutes of matches.
Wrestling Marinelli tonight in the semifinal round, Martinez met Marinelli a year ago at the 2016 Midlands holiday tournament when Marinelli was wrestling unattached during his redshirt season. Martinez won the match with bonus points, defeating the Hawkeye by a score of 14-5.
With the win on Friday morning, Martinez formed a new section of Illinois All-Americans, becoming the first four-timer in program history. Including Martinez, 15 Illini wrestlers have won the honor three times.
In addition to the four All-America honors, Martinez also moved into a tie for 10th place on Illinois' all-time list, joining former Illini Jordan Blanton (2008-13) with 115 career victories.
Still alive in consolation brackets, No. 10 seed Emery Parker and No. 11 seed Mike Carr each won two matches on Friday afternoon to remain alive.
Emery Parker stayed alive in wrestlebacks with a pair of victories over seeded opponents. Parker defeated No. 8 seed Drew Foster of Northern Iowa in a high octane, 13-10 decision, and then No. 16 seed Jordan Ellingwood by major decision, 17-6, behind 12 first-period points and 2:40 of riding time.
Carr won both of his matches in come-from-behind fashion, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to Virginia Tech's Brent Moore, winning 8-5, and then a third-period, 4-2 deficit to No. 14 seed Nicholas Gil of Navy with a takedown with 39 seconds left in the match for a 5-4 decision.
Despite being knocked out of the tournament in his second match of the day by No. 11 seed Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), sophomore Travis Piotrowski upset No. 5 seed Sean Fausz of North Carolina State in his first match of the day.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.
Session IV Semifinal Matches:
165: (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez vs. (5) #7 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
Session IV Consolation Matches:
141: (11) Mike Carr vs. Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan)
184: (10) #8 Emery Parker vs. (3) #3 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh)
Attendance:
Session I: 18,660
Session II: 18,680
Session III: 18,680
Illini Notes:
- Martinez becomes Illinois' first four-time All-American, defeating No. 9 seed Chance Marsteller, 10-1, in the quarterfinals
- Martinez tallied 3:45 of riding time in his win over Marsteller
- Martinez is outscoring his opponents 40-11 through three matches at NCAA Championships this season, including a 26-7 advantage in first periods.
- Martinez improves to 17-1 all-time at NCAA Championships with eight wins with bonus points, including three tech falls
- Martinez moved into a tie with former Illini Jordan Blanton (2008-13) for 10th place on Illinois' all-time list with 115 career wins.
- Mike Carr and Emery Parker are each one win away from clinching All-America honors
- Emery Parker added another win to his team-leading total of 23 victories to just four losses this year.
- With the two wins on Friday, Carr tied fellow redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan for the second most wins on the team this season, recording his 19th and 20th wins during session three.
- Travis Piotrowski defeated the highest ranked opponent of his career, upsetting No. 5 Sean Fausz (NC State) by an 8-1 decision
- The win for Piotrowski was the 19th of his career, tying his total from last year
- Mike Carr and Dylan Duncan made their NCAA Championships debut on Thursday
Illinois Match-By-Match Results
125 // Travis Piotrowski // 2-2
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: Piotrowski def. (5) #5 Sean Fausz (NC State), 8-1
Cons. Round 3: (13) #11 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) def. Piotrowski, 5-0
Travis Piotrowski is eliminated
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 // 3-1
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: (11) Carr def. Brent Moore (Virginia Tech), 8-5
Cons. Round 3: (11) Carr def. (14) #19 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 5-4
Cons. Round 4: vs. Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan)
165 // (1) #1 Isaiah Martinez // 3-0
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: (1) Martinez def. (9) #5 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven), 10-1
Semifinals: vs. (5) #7 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
184 // (10) #8 Emery Parker // 3-1
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: (1) #8 Parker def. (8) #10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), 13-10
Cons. Round 3: (16) #17 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan)
Cons. Round 4: vs. (3) #3 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh)
