Final Notes | Final Season Stats
For the second straight season, Coach Heffernan and staff put three wrestlers on the podium at NCAA Championships. Isaiah Martinezl led the way with a runner-up finish, his third All-America honor in as many seasons. Zac Brunson earned his first All-America honor with a sixth place finish, while Senior Zane Richards notched his second All-America with a seventh-place finish. As a team, the Illini scored 43.5 points and finished 11th in the team standings.
Headlines
Isaiah Martinez Places Runner-up at NCAA Championships
Isaiah Martinez concluded the 2017 wrestling season as national runner-up, going 4-1 at NCAA Championships. Martinez was pinned with 1:35 remaining in the third period against No. 3 seed Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State in the 165-pound title match at Scottrade Center. Just the second loss of his career, Martinez finishes as the national runner-up with a 31-1 record on the season. Martinez defeated Shaun'Qae McMurtry (NIU), Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) and Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) on his way to the title match.
Zac Brunson Earns First All-America Honor
Brunson earned his first All-America honor by placing sixth at 174 pounds with four wins at NCAA Championships. On day one, Brunson defeated Purdue's Jacob Morrissey (12-1) and SIU-Edwardsville's Jake Residori (6-2) to advance to the quarterfinal round. After losing to No. 2 seed Brian Realbuto (Cornell) in the quarterfinals, Brunson won his blood round match against Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) by a 12-2 decision to clinch the All-America honor, and then defeated No. 7 seed Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) to advance to the consolation semifinal round. Brunson dropped his final two matches to No. 1 seed Zahid Valencia and No. 2 seed Brian Realbuto.
Zane Richards Finishes Career as Two-Time All-American
Richards won his opening two matches of the championships with a forfeit win against Alex Madrigal (Old Dominion) and Scotty Parker (Lehigh). After dropping a hard-fought match to top seed Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State), Richards defeated Mitch McKee (Minnesota) by a 14-6 major decision in the blood round to clinch a spot on the podium. Richards won by a 14-4 major decision in the 7th place match in a rematch of his second-round victory.
Isaiah Martinez Grabs Third B1G Crown
No. 1 Isaiah Martinez defeated No. 2 Logan Massa (Michigan) 10-4 in the 165-pound title bout to win his third career Big Ten title on March 5 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Winning two titles at 157 pounds before moving up to 165 pounds this season, the Illini redshirt junior becomes the third Illini grappler to win three conference crowns in their career.
Placing sixth as a team, the Orange and Blue put six other Illini on the podium: Travis Piotrowski (4th/125), Zane Richards (4th/133), Zac Brunson (4th/174), Emery Parker (5th/184), Kyle Langenderfer (8th/157) and Eric Barone (8th/149).
Illini Tie for Fourth Place in B1G Duals
The Orange and Blue racked up six Big Ten dual victories, while dropping just three, to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten dual standings. The Illini tallied victories against Maryland, No. 13 Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue. The three losses all came against ranked opponents: No. 13 Rutgers, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 1 Penn State.
Richards, Brunson Conclude Two of Greatest Illinois Careers
Seniors Zane Richards (133 pounds) and Zac Brunson (174) will graduate as one of the most accomplished Illinois wrestlers in program history. Both ranking in the top-25 on the school's all-time wins list, Richards currently has the 12th most wins (111), while Brunson is tied for 15th (107) on the list.
I-Mar All-Time Win-Percentage Leader
With Martinez's first match at Midlands being the 75th of his career, the Illini redshirt junior became eligible for the Illinois all-time win percentage list. Upon entering the list, the Illini redshirt junior took over as the record holder with a current win percentage of .980.
Pinning It Down
Zac Brunson finishes his career one pin shy of the Illini career falls all-time list, as he tallied 19 falls over his four-year career. Brunson's most recent pin was one of his most memorable, as the 174-pounder put Braxton Cody (Northwestern) on his back in just 16 seconds in the opening round of Big Ten Championships, tying a conference championships record for fastest fall. Tony Dallago owns the school record with 40 pins from 2009-13.
Emery Parker Emerges
Taking over 184 pounds following the graduation of Jeff Koepke last season, Parker totaled the third-most victories on the team, reaching the 30-win plataeu as a redshirt sophomore. Parker came on strong at the end of the season, taking fifth at Big Ten Championships and then upset No. 6 seed, and defending champion, Myles Martin (Ohio State) at NCAA Championships.
Heffernan Inks Two to Class of 2017
Illinois Wrestling Head Coach Jim Heffernan finalized two national letters of intent Monday afternoon, as the program will welcome 125-pounder Justin Mejia and 165-pounder Johnny Mologousis for the 2017-2018 season. Both signees have Illini ties, as Mejia wrestles under Illinois all-time wins leader, Adam Tirapelle at Clovis High School and Mologousis is coached by All-American Griff Powell at Lyons Township High School.
Richards, Brunson Win at All-Star Classic
Fighting Illini wrestlers earned a sweep of their two matches at the 51st annual All-Star Classic in Cleveland, Ohio, as seniors Zane Richards (133) and Zac Brunson (174) each earned decisions. Richards defeated Nebraska's Eric Montoya by a decision of 9-7, while Brunson took down Ethan Ramos of North Carolina by decision, 5-4. The two victories improve the all-time mark by Illinois wrestlers at the Classic to 12-8.
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