Illinois Wrestling History

From its inaugural season in 1910 to Isaiah Martinez's back-to-back NCAA titles, the Fighting Illini wrestling program has been a model of consistency in collegiate wrestling. Over the course of the 110-year history, the Illini have crowned the second-most Big Ten team titles (17) and the fourth-most Big Ten individual champions (77) while competing in the nation's toughest conference.

On the national stage, the Illini have totaled 24 individual NCAA titles, four of which have come in the last five seasons. With at least two Illini earning All-American honors in each of the past three seasons, the program extended its streak to 29 straight seasons with at least one All-American.

In that 29-year span, led by former Head Coach Mark Johnson and current Head Coach Jim Heffernan, the Orange & Blue have crowned 12 NCAA champions, put 24 grapplers in an NCAA title match and have earned 69 All-American honors. As a team, the Illini have had 13 top-10 finishes at NCAA Championships.

In 2018, Isaiah Martinez gave Illinois it's sixth straight season with an NCAA Finalist, while Emery Parker gave the Illini another season with multiple All-Americans as the redshirt junior won seven straight matches in wrestlebacks to take third place at 184-pounds. Parker became a two-time All-American in 2019 with a fifth-place finish at 184-pounds at NCAA Championships.

Head Coach Jim Heffernan came to Illinois in 1992 after being a four-time All-American at the University of Iowa that helped lead the program to three NCAA titles. From 1992-2009, Heffernan coached under the tutelage of then Illinois Head Coach Mark Johnson, including 2005 when he helped lead the Orange & Blue to their first Big Ten title in over 50 years.

Since taking over as head coach in 2009, Heffernan has guided the program to two top-10 finishes at NCAA Championships, eight individual Big Ten titles, 19 All-American honors and four individual NCAA titles. On February 7, 2020, Heffernan earned his 100th victory as head coach of the Fighting Illini.