HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Fighting Illini wrestling sends seven wrestlers to tonight's quarterfinal bouts at the 56th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Junior Travis Piotrowski (125), unattached freshman Justin Cardani, redshirt sophomore Dylan Duncan (133), redshirt juniors Eric Barone (157), Joey Gunther, (165) Carver James (174) and redshirt senior Andre Lee (197) all move on to tonight's quarterfinal matchups. Additionally, six UI wrestlers remain alive in the consolation brackets. Session II will begin at 7 p.m. CT. Fans can watch the tournament with subscriptions to either BTN + or FloWrestling. 

Redshirt senior Andre Lee had a dominant start to his final Midlands Championships. The Chicago native cruised to an 12-2 major decision over Campbell's Austin McNeill in the first round. He followed up the solid start by pinning Tyler Hall of Penn in the second period of the second round matchup. In the round of 16, Lee won a 10-5 decision over Martin Mueller to advance to the 197-pound quarters. Lee outscored his opponents 22-7 in the opening round and improved his season record to 14-4. He has a tough test in the quartefinal matchup, squaring off against FloWrestling No. 3 and tournament No. 1 seed Patrick Brucki.

Redshirt junior Joey Gunther also had a strong start to his first Midlands action as an Illini. Gunther wrestled to major decsion victories in his first two rounds, defeating Neil Antrassian of Penn in the first round 13-4 and then blanking Indiana's Dillion Hoey 8-0 in the second round. Gunther wrestled to a hard fought victory in the round of 16, defeating Phil Spadafora of Maryland in a 9-7 decision. In tonight's 165-pound quarterfinal matchup, Gunther will take on Midlands No. 3 and FloWrestling No. 12 Josh Shields.

Junior Travis Piotrowski heads to the Midlands quarterfinals for the first time in his career. After receiving a first round bye, Piotrowski was victorious in consecutive decisions to advance to tonight's 125-pound quarterfinal bouts. He defeated Ryan Hetrick of Army in an 8-1 dec. in the second round, and then bested Northern Iowa's Jacob Schwarm 5-1 in the round of 16. He'll square off against tournament No. 4 and FloWrestling No. 14 Pat Glory in this evening's quarterfinals.

Competing unattached, freshman Justin Cardani advances to his first Midlands quarterfinals. He won his first match by injury default over Arizona State's Ryan Milhoff in the second period. Next, he defeated Perez Perez of Iowa in a 4-2 decision. He capped off the afternoon and booked a trip to the 125-pound quarters with an upset over 14-seed Brandon Courtney of Arizona State, holding on to win the match in an 8-7 decision. Cardani will meet the sixth-seeded Connor Brown of Wisconsin in tonight's quarterfinal. 

Redshirt sophomore Dylan Duncan won his first two matches to advance to his second consecutive Midlands quarterfinals. After a first round bye, Duncan won his first matchup of the day in a 6-2 decision over Lukus Stricker of Harvard. He then advanced to the 133-pound quarterfinals with an 11-5 decision against Bobby Jordan of Johnson & Wales in the round of 16. Duncan will face off against a Big Ten rival and the Midlands No. 6 seed Colin Valdivez in the Session II quarterfinal.   

Redshirt juniors Eric Barone and Carver James kept their rolls going at Midlands Session I, both advancing to the quarterfinals at 157 and 174-pounds, respectively. After receiving a first round bye, Barone earned a 9-8 decision victory over Penn's Joe Oliva. He advanced to the quarterfinal by shutting out Colin Whitesell of Maryland in a 6-0 decision. Barone faces the No.4 seed Mike D'Angelo in tonight's 157-pound quarterfinal. 

After a first round bye, James started his day at Midlands with a strong performance, wrestling to a 14-4 major decision over Brian Krasowski of Penn. He advanced to the 174-pound quarterfinal after a medical forfeit by opponent Joe Grello of Rutgers in the round of 16. James will be tested in the quarters by tournament No. 2 seed and FloWrestling No. 8 Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa. 

Six additional Illini are still alive in the consolation brackets of their respective weight classes. Redshirt freshman Abdullah Assaf (133), junior Christian Kanzler (149), unattached freshmen Danny Braunagel (165) and Zac Braunagel (184), redshirt freshman Matt Wroblewski and junior Brian Burns (285) will all wrestle in wrestlebacks at Session II later tonight. 

For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Wrestling, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@illiniwrestling) and Instagram (illiniwrestling) and like Fighting Illini Wrestling on Facebook.

Full Illinois Results:
 

Illini Quarterfinalists

125: #12 Travis Piotrowski (Jr.) // 2-0

Champ. Round 1 - Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) won by decision over Ryan Hetrick (Army West Point) (Dec 8-1)
Champ. Round 3 - Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) won by decision over Jacob Schwarm (Northern Iowa) (Dec 5-1)

125: Justin Cardani (Unattached) (Fr.) // 3-0

Champ. Round 1 - Justin Cardani (Illinois - UNAT) won by injury default over Ryan Millhof (Arizona State) (Inj. 3:56)
Champ. Round 2 - Justin Cardani (Illinois - UNAT) won by decision over Perez Perez (Iowa) (Dec 4-2)
Champ. Round 3 - Justin Cardani (Illinois - UNAT) won by decision over Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) (Dec 8-7)

133: (4) #15 Dylan Duncan (r-So.) // 2-0

Champ. Round 1 - Dylan Duncan (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Dylan Duncan (Illinois) won by decision over Lukus Stricker (Harvard) (Dec 6-2)
Champ. Round 3 - Dylan Duncan (Illinois) won by decision over Bobby Jordan (Johnson & Wales) (Dec 11-5)

157: #12 Eric Barone (r-Jr.) // 2-0

Champ. Round 1 - Eric Barone (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Eric Barone (Illinois) won by decision over Joe Oliva (Penn) (Dec 9-8)
Champ. Round 3 - Eric Barone (Illinois) won by decision over Adam Whitesell (Maryland) (Dec 6-0)

165: #16 Joey Gunther (r-Jr.) // 3-0

Champ. Round 1 - Joey Gunther (Illinois) won by major decision over Neil Antrassian (Penn) (Maj 13-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Joey Gunther (Illinois) won by major decision over Dillion Hoey (Indiana) (Maj 8-0)
Champ. Round 3 - Joey Gunther (Illinois) won by decision over Phil Spadafora (Maryland) (Dec 9-7)

197: Carver James (r-Jr.) // 2-0

Champ. Round 1 - Carver James (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Carver James (Illinois) won by major decision over Brian Krasowski (Penn) (Maj 14-4)
Champ. Round 3 - Carver James (Illinois) won by medical forfeit over Joe Grello (Rutgers) (MFF)

197: Andre Lee (r-Jr.) // 3-0

Champ. Round 1 - Andre Lee (Illinois) won by major decision over Austin McNeill (Campbell) (Maj 12-2)
Champ. Round 2 - Andre Lee (Illinois) won by fall over Tyler Hall (Penn) (Fall 4:28)
Champ. Round 3 - Andre Lee (Illinois) won by decision over Martin Mueller (South Dakota State) (Dec 10-5)

Illinois in Consolation Brackets:

133: Abdullah Assaf (r-Fr.) // 2-1

Champ. Round 1 - Noah Gonser (Campbell) won by decision over Abdullah Assaf (Illinois) (Dec 13-8)
Cons. Round 1 - Abdullah Assaf (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Abdullah Assaf (Illinois) won by fall over Lukus Stricker (Harvard) (Fall 1:56)
Cons. Round 3 - Abdullah Assaf (Illinois) won by major decision over David Campbell (Bucknell) (Maj 12-4)

149: Christian Kanzler (Jr.) // 1-1

Champ. Round 1 - Christian Kanzler (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Shayne Oster (Northwestern) won by decision over Christian Kanzler (Illinois) (Dec 5-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Christian Kanzler (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Christian Kanzler (Illinois) won by medical forfeit over Cole Aaron (Franklin & Marshall) (MFF)

165: Danny Braunagel (Unattached) (Fr.) // 2-1

Champ. Round 1 - Danny Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) won by decision over Adam Kemp (Fresno State - UNAT) (Dec 10-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Danny Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) won by major decision over Noah Grover (Buffalo) (Maj 15-7)
Champ. Round 3 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) won by major decision over Danny Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) (Maj 12-2)

184: Zac Braunagel (Unattached) (Fr.) // 1-1

Champ. Round 1 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) won by decision over Austin Andres (SIU Edwardsville) (Dec 5-0)
Champ. Round 3 - Kevin Parker (Princeton) won by fall over Zac Braunagel (Illinois - UNAT) (Fall 6:56)

197: Matt Wroblewski (r-Fr.) // 2-1

Champ. Round 1 - Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) won by fall over Steven Mercadante (Franklin & Marshall) (Fall 4:29)
Champ. Round 2 - Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) won by decision over Kevin Snyder (Ohio State) (Dec 5-4)
Champ. Round 3 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) won by decision over Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) (Dec 6-1)

285: Brian Burns (Jr.) // 2-1

Champ. Round 1 - Brian Burns (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Ben Sullivan (Army West Point) won by decision over Brian Burns (Illinois) (Dec 5-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Brian Burns (Illinois) won by major decision over Jack Heyob (Northwestern - UNAT) (Maj 8-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Brian Burns (Illinois) won by decision over Nicholas Jenkins (Central Michigan) (Dec 5-2)

149: Mousa Jodeh (Sr.) // 0-2

Champ. Round 1 - Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) won by major decision over Mousa Jodeh (Illinois) (Maj 17-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Mousa Jodeh (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Cole Aaron (Franklin & Marshall) won by decision over Mousa Jodeh (Illinois) (Dec 14-11)
Mousa Jodeh is eliminated.

165: Nick Gasbarro (r-Sr.) // 0-2

Champ. Round 1 - Kenny O`Neil (South Dakota State - UNAT) won by decision over Nick Gasbarro (Illinois) (Dec 4-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Nick Gasbarro (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 2 - Logan Peterson (South Dakota State) won by decision over Nick Gasbarro (Illinois) (Dec 5-2)
Nick Gasbarro is eliminated.

174: Jake DiBenedetto (So.) // 0-2

Champ. Round 1 - Jake DiBenedetto (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell - UNAT) won by fall over Jake DiBenedetto (Illinois) (Fall 4:08)
Cons. Round 2 - Jake DiBenedetto (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Grant Cuomo (Princeton) won by major decision over Jake DiBenedetto (Illinois) (Maj 14-2)
Jake DiBenedetto is eliminated.

HWT: Deuce Rachal (r-Sr.) // 1-2

Champ. Round 1 - Deuce Rachal (Illinois) won by decision over Jack Heyob (Northwestern - UNAT) (Dec 8-2)
Champ. Round 2 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa - UNAT) won by fall over Deuce Rachal (Illinois) (Fall 2:20)
Cons. Round 2 - Deuce Rachal (Illinois) received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Blake Wolters (South Dakota State) won by decision over Deuce Rachal (Illinois) (Dec 4-2)
Deuce Rachal is eliminated.