CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois senior Isaiah Martinez makes his return home to California as Illinois wrestling prepares for a dual on Friday night, November 18, at Fresno State followed by the Roadrunner Open tournament on Sunday in Bakersfield. Wrestling 30 miles north of his hometown of Lemoore, Illini senior Isaiah Martinez will be seeking his 100th career win on Friday night in front of friends and family. Both the Fresno State dual and Sunday's Roadrunner Open can be streamed on FloWrestling.com with a FloPro subscription.
| Illinois Probables |
|
Fresno State Probables |
|
| Wt. Class |
Wrestler |
Record |
Wrestler |
Record |
| 125 |
#14 Travis Piotrowski |
1-0 |
Sean Williams
-OR- Jeremy Trinh |
0-0 |
| 133 |
#17 Dylan Duncan |
0-1 |
Emilio Saavedra
-OR- Trevor Williams |
0-0 |
| 141 |
Mike Carr |
0-1 |
Chris De Loza |
1-1 |
| 149 |
#19 Eric Barone |
0-1 |
Kristian Olivas |
2-0 |
| 157 |
#16 Kyle Langenderfer
|
0-1
|
Greg Gaxiola |
2-0 |
| 165 |
#2 Isaiah Martinez |
1-0 |
Isaiah Hokit |
2-0 |
| 174 |
TBA |
0-1 |
Dominic Kincaid |
1-1 |
| 184 |
#8 Emery Parker |
1-0 |
Angel Solis |
1-1 |
| 197 |
Andre Lee
|
0-1 |
Richie Brandt |
1-1 |
| HWT |
Duece Rachal
|
1-0
|
A.J. Nevills |
2-0 |
Quick Hits
*Illinois will take on a revived Fresno State wrestling program that was previously discontinued following the 2005-06 season.
*Isaiah Martinez is seeking his 100th career win as he returns to his home state, growing up 30 miles south of Fresno in Lemoore. Martinez was a three-time California state champion in high school.
*The Roadrunner Open, held in Bakersfield, California, will feature Power Five schools Wisconsin, Stanford and Maryland in addition to Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield and Fresno State.
*The Illini are 2-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Illini wrestled the Bulldogs first in 1999 and most recently in 2006, winning 39-6 and 33-3, respectively.
*Illinois returns eight of its ten starters from last season's 11th place finish at NCAA Championships, including All-American Isaiah Martinez and NCAA qualifiers Travis Piotrowski, Eric Barone, Kyle Langenderfer and Emery Parker.
*Seven of Illinois' ten projected starters for Friday's dual at Fresno State are ranked by one or more of Intermat's Win Magazine's or FloWrestling's preseason rankings. Isaiah Martinez leads the Illini with his No. 2 ranking, while Emery Parker is also in the top-10 with a No. 8 ranking.
*Illinois is 47-12 in non-conference duals under head coach Jim Heffernan.
Meet Notes
Sizing Up the Bulldogs
For the first time since the 2005-06 season, Fresno State has a wrestling program. After discontinuing the team a decade ago, the Bulldogs are making their return to Division I this season. After splitting duals with San Francisco State (W, 35-12) and Nebraska-Kearney (L, 17-19), Fresno State will wrestle at home for the first time in more than a decade. Coached by Troy Steiner, the Bulldogs feature a ranked wrestler at 133 pounds in Emilio Saavedra who ranks No. 14 according to WIN Magazine. Saavedra wrestled at Old Dominion the last three years before transferring to Coach Steiner's team.
Roadrunner Open
Making their first appearance at the tournament in three years, the Orange and Blue will compete against seven other programs, highlighted by Wisconsin, Stanford and Maryland, in the bracket-style tournament. The Illini return three wrestlers to the meet in seniors Isaiah Martinez, Kyle Langenderfer and Brooks Black. In route to his undefeated redshirt freshman season Martinez went 4-0 to win the 157-pound bracket, while Langenderfer and Black both placed runner-up.
Illini to Watch
165: Isaiah Martinez
Growing up just 30 miles south of Fresno, Friday's dual will be a homecoming for the Illini senior who's seeking his 100th win of his career. Entering with a .980 (99-2) win percentage that is tops in Illinois history, Martinez owns two national titles and three Big Ten titles. The 100th win would make Martinez the 25th to do so in program history. Friday's match will be Martinez's last collegiate competition before he heads to U-23 Worlds next week in Poland.
125: Travis Piotrowski
After a thrilling overtime win to start the season at Missouri, the Illini sophomore will likely draw a pair of ranked wrestlers at the Roadrunner Open. Stanford will feature the No. 7 grappler in the country in Connor Schram, while Wisconsin touts No. 16 Johnny Jimenez. Piotrowski pinned Jimenez in sudden victory at Big Ten Championships last March.
133: Dylan Duncan
After nearly knocking off a top-10 wrestler in his Illini debut, a 5-4 decision in favor of John Erneste of Missouri, the Illini redshirt freshman will get a chance to prove it was no fluke this weekend in California. On Friday night, Duncan will wrestle Old Dominion transfer, and 14th-ranked, Emilio Saavedra. On Sunday, Maryland's Tyler Goodwin will likely be in Duncan's path to winning the 133-pounder bracket at the Roadrunner Open.
I-Mar To Compete at U-23 Worlds Next Week in Poland
Illinois redshirt senior wrestler Isaiah Martinez earned a spot on Team USA for Under-23 World Championships with an 8-2, 7-6 sweep of Chance Marsteller (Titan Mercury) in the 74kg (163 lbs) best-of-three series on October 8. Team USA will compete at U-23 World Championships November 21-26 in Bydgoszcz, Poland with Martinez competing on the 26th.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.
