Updated Brackets

ST. LOUIS – Isaiah Martinez advanced to his third NCAA title match with a 2-1 victory against a defensive-minded Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin in the semifinal round of NCAA Championships on Friday night at Scottrade Center. Improving to 31-0 on the season, Martinez will wrestle Penn State's (3) Vincenzo Joseph in the 165-pound title bout on Saturday evening. Also clinching All-America honors along with Martinez on Friday were seniors Zac Brunson (174) and Zane Richards (133), while the Illini sit in 10^th place entering Saturday.

"The match, Jordan is no secret," Martinez on the victory. "Very solid defensive wrestler, good position wrestler. I was hoping that I could open it up, but you know, I'm learning that when you're the top guy, everyone has got a plan for you, and it's hard for guys just to go out there and wrestle you. I wish it was that way again, but I'm going to do what I have to do. So it was a good match."

Martinez and Joseph will meet for the third time this season on Saturday night, Martinez having controlled the first two encounters. Having never trailed to Joseph in their 14 combined minutes on the mat, Martinez won the match in State College by a 5-2 margin, and then took the Big Ten semifinal by way of an 8-5 decision. 

"You know, the great thing about Vincenzo is he goes out there and he shoots and he wrestles a lot," Martinez said of his opponent in tomorrow's title match. "So he's really the only wrestler -- him and Massa go out there and try to wrestle me, so they`re always good matches. I had a feeling Vincenzo was going to beat him. He`s been looking good recently. His tendencies are to keep shooting until the other guy can't defend himself anymore, but that works right into my plan. I have great reshots, and I don't wear out like those other guys, so I'm excited, another Penn State guy in the finals, and it should be a brawl."

Martinez and Jordan felt each other out for the first three minutes, neither getting in on any shots as the first period ended in a scoreless tie. Starting down in the second frame, Martinez quickly took the lead with an escape and held the 1-0 advantage to end the period. With Jordan needing an escape to tie the match, Martinez rode the Badger for over a minute and a half of the third to clinch the riding time point. Jordan managed an escape late in the period to tie the match, but was too late to overcome the riding time point.

The win was the 98^th of Martinez's career, which ties the redshirt junior with former Illini Carl Perry for 25^th on Illinois' all-time wins list.

With seniors Zac Brunson and Zane Richards winning blood round matches on Friday evening, the Fighting Illini clinched three All-Americans for the third consecutive year. The honor is the second of Richard's career and the first of Brunson's. Brunson advances to the consolation semifinals, while Richards will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday morning.

Senior Zac Brunson clinched his first All-America honor in his first match Friday night with a dominating 12-2 major decision against Navy's Jaeden Bernstein of Navy. Bernstein briefly tied the match with a reversal, but Brunson escaped and another take down to led 7-2 after two periods. Starting the second period on top, Brunson got the quick turn for four near-fall points to stretch the lead to 11-2. An escape by the Illini 174-pounder in the third period finished off the major decision.

Brunson advanced to the consolation semifinals later in the evening with an 8-5 decision against (7) Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State). Brunson used two takedowns to take a 4-1 lead, but Crutcher battled back to tie it 5-5 after two periods. An escape by Brunson and a takedown with 10 seconds left in the period sealed the victory over the Cowboy.

Brunson will wrestle No. 1 Zahid Valencia in the consolation semifinal round tomorrow morning.

Zane Richards clinched his second All-America honor by dominating the first and third periods against Minnesota's Mitch McKee to win 14-6. Richards earned three takedowns in both the first and third periods, leading wire-to-wire. After Richards led 6-1 after the first period, McKee cut the lead to 6-4 at the end of the second period only to have the Illini senior outscore him 8-2 in the final two minutes.

Tonight's victory was the 110^th of Richards' career, moving him into a tie with Jevon Herman (1995-98) for 12^th place on the Illinois all-time list. Brunson's 107 victories is tied for 15^th with Pat Quirk.  

Richards dropped his second match of the evening session, a 6-5 decision to Michigan's (6) Stevan Micic. Richards will wrestle Scotty Parker for seventh place on Saturday morning. Richards defeated Parker 7-6 in sudden victory on Thursday in round two.

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

Saturday 1^st Place Match:
165: (1) Isaiah Martinez (ILL) vs. (3) Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State)

Saturday Consolation Semifinal:
174: (10) Zac Brunson (ILL) vs. (1) Zahid Valencia (Arizona State)

Saturday 7^th Place Match:
133: (8) Zane Richards (ILL) vs. (9) Scotty Parker (Lehigh)

Illini Championships Notes

• The Illini have three All-Americans for the second straight season, as Isaiah Martinez, Zane Richards and Zac Brunson each clinched spots on the podium on Friday. Martinez, Richards and Steven Rodriguez were All-Americans last year for Illinois.
• Isaiah Martinez advanced to his third straight NCAA title match with a 2-1 victory over Bo Jordan. 14-0 at NCAA Championships, Martinez will wrestle Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph on Saturday for the 165-pound title.
• With the victory over Jordan, Martinez ties Carl Perry for 25^th place on Illinois' all-time list with 98 career victories.
• With his win over Mitch McKee, Richards' three victories this weekend gives him 110 for his career, tying former Illini Jevon Herman (1995-98) for 12^th all-time.
• Brunson's two victories on Friday night give him 107 for his career, moving him into a tie with Pat Quirk for 15^th all-time.

Team Scores:

1.Penn State – 121.0
2.Ohio State – 89.5
3.Oklahoma State – 86.0
4.Missouri – 81.5
5.Iowa – 74.0
6.Minnesota – 60.0
7.Cornell – 57.5
8.Virginia Tech – 53.5
9.Nebraska – 50.0
10. ILLINOIS – 41.5

Match-By-Match Results (number in parentheses indicates seed)

125 // Travis Piotrowski // Freshman // 1-2 - Eliminated

133 // (8) Zane Richards // R-Senior // 3-2

149 // Eric Barone // R-Freshman // 0-2 - Eliminated

157 // Kyle Langenderfer // R-Junior // 2-2 - Eliminated

165 // (1) Isaiah Martinez // R-Junior // 4-0

174 // (10) Zac Brunson // R-Senior // 4-1

184 // (11) Emery Parker // R-Sophomore // 2-2 - Eliminated