HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Five Illinois wrestlers advanced to Sunday night's quarterfinal rounds during Session 1 at the Midlands Championships Sunday afternoon. Senior Travis Piotrowski (133), redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141), redshirt freshman Danny Braunagel (165), redshirt senior Joey Gunther (174) and redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (184) each went undefeated in the first session and will wrestle in quarterfinal bouts tonight in their respective weight classes. No. 18 Illinois is currently in fourth place out of 35 teams with 33 points. Session II at the Sears Centre begins tonight at 7 p.m. CT.
Senior Travis Piotrowski began his day competing in the Round of 32 against Wisconsin's Dominic Dentino. Piotrowski was dominant in his first bout of the day, tallying three takedowns and two four-point nearfalls en route to a 15-0 tech. fall victory. He then went on to defeat Brock Bergelin of Central Michigan in a 6-1 decision in the Round of 16 to advance to tonight's 133-pound quarterfinal match. Ranked ninth nationally by FloWrestling, Piotrowski will take on No. 10 Noah Gosner of Campbell in the quarterfinal bout.
Redshirt junior Dylan Duncan recorded pins in his first to matches at 141-pounds. He defeated Lawrence Saenz of Fresno State with a fall time of 4:08, and then took down Harvard's Lukus Stricker in the next round with a fall time of 5:26. Duncan then controlled his Round of 16 matchup against No. 16 Matt Kazimir of Columbia, achieving an 8-2 decision to advance. Duncan will meet Midlands 141-pound No. 1 seed (No. 7, FloWrestling Max Murin of Iowa in tonight's quarterfinal.
Redshirt freshman Danny Braunagel heads to tonight's quarterfinal with two impressive performances in Session I. In his first match of the day he won by fall against Army's Mason Smith, recording the fall time at 4:27. He then went on to upset No. 15 Shayne Oster in the Round of 16, using four takedowns to help secure a 10-6 decision. Tonight in the 165-pound quarterfinal bout, Braunagel will take on No. 6 David McFadden of Virginia Tech.
Redshirt senior Joey Gunther heads to tonight's quarterfinals after securing victories in each of his first two bouts at 174-pounds. He started the day with an 8-4 decision over Lennox Wolak of Columbia. He then defeated Brandon Martino of Fresno State, 2-1 in Tiebreaker-2, to move on to the quarterfinal round. No. 22 Gunther will wrestle against Wisconsin's Jared Krattiger tonight for a spot in the semifinals.
Redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel outscored his opponents by a combined total of 32-6, dominating his way into the quarterfinals at 184-pounds. He defeated Army's Jed Smith by tech. fall, 20-2, in the Round of 32, tallying four takedowns and two four-point nearfalls. Braunagel then won by major decision against Anthony Orozco of Menlo, 12-4. Ranked No. 21 nationally, Braunagel will have a quarterfinal showdown with No. 9 Nelson Brands of Iowa for the semifinal spot.
Nine Illini remain in the tournament in the consolation brackets. Redshirt freshman We Rachal pinned Anthony Gibson of Northern Illinois nine seconds into the match to win his first wrestlebacks matchup at 141-pounds. Redshirt sophomore Nikita Nepomnyashchiy defeated Carson Berryhill of Oklahoma by decision, 12-7, to move on in the consolation bracket at 184-pounds. The remaining seven Illini will wrestle their first consolation matches of the tournament tonight during Session II.
All sessions of the 2019 Midlands Championships can be streamed with a subscription to FloWrestling. Live results are also available with a subscription to FloWrestling.
Full Illinois Session I Results:
133: #9 Travis Piotrowski (Sr.) | 2-0
Champ Round of 32: #9 Travis Piotrowski tech. fall Dominic Dentino (Wisconsin), 15-0
Champ Round of 16: #9 Travis Piotrowski dec. Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan), 6-1
141: Dylan Duncan (r-Jr.) | 3-0
Champ Round of 64: Dylan Duncan Fall Lawrence Saenz (Fresno State), 4:08
Champ Round of 32: Dylan Duncan Fall Lukus Stricker (Harvard), 5:26
Champ Round of 16: Dylan Duncan dec. #23 Matt Kazimir (Columbia), 8-2
165: Danny Braunagel (r-Fr.) | 2-0
Champ Round of 32: Danny Braunagel Fall Mason Smith (Army), 4:27
Champ Round of 16: Danny Braunagel dec. #15 Shayne Oster (Northwestern), 10-6
174: #22 Joey Gunther (r-Sr.) | 2-0
Champ Round of 32: #22 Joey Gunther dec. Lennox Wolak (Columbia), 8-4
Champ Round of 16: #22 Joey Gunther TB-2 Brandon Martino (Fresno State), 2-1
184: #21 Zac Braunagel (r-Fr.) | 2-0
Champ Round of 32: Zac Braunagel tech. fall Jed Smith (Army), 20-2
Champ Round of 16: Zac Braunagel major dec. Anthony Orozco (Menlo), 10-4
125: Justin Cardani (r-Fr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: Justin Cardani dec. Ryan Chauvin (Army), 6-5
Champ Round of 16: #13 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) major dec. Justin Cardani, 10-2
133: Lucas Byrd* (Fr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: Lucas Byrd Fall Marshall Craig (Purdue), 2:08
Champ Round of 16: Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec. Lucas Byrd, 4-3
141: We Rachal (r-Fr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 64: Zach Sherman (North Carolina) dec. We Rachal, 5-0
Cons. Round of 32: We Rachal Fall Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois), 0:09
157: #22 Eric Barone (r-Sr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: #22 Eric Barone dec. Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa), 3-2
Champ Round of 16: #9 Anthony Artalona (Penn) major dec. #22 Eric Barone, 6:02
174: David Riojas (Jr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: David Riojas major dec. Logan Stanley (Ohio), 8-0
Champ Round of 16: #4 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) dec. David Riojas, 4-0
174: Trey Sizemore* (Fr.) | 0-1
Champ Round of 16: #20 Jacob Covaciu (Indiana) inj. default Trey Sizemore, 4:32
184: Nikita Nepomnyashchiy (r-So.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: Johnny Sebastian (Wisconsin) major dec. Nikita Nepomnyashchiy, 9-0
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Nikita Nepomnyashchiy dec. Carson Berryhill (Oklahoma), 12-7
197: Matt Wroblewski (r-So.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: Matt Wroblewski major dec. Dylan Anderson (Minnesota), 10-2
Champ Round of 16: #8 Christian Brunner (Purdue) major dec. Matt Wroblewski, 14-1
285: Luke Luffman (Fr.) | 1-1
Champ Round of 32: Luke Luffman dec. Brandon Streck (Indiana), 5-4
Champ Round of 16: #4 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec. Luke Luffman, 4-0
157: Johnny Mologousis (r-So.) | 0-2
Champ Round of 32: AC Headlee (North Carolina) dec. Johnny Mologousis, 5-2
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) dec. Johnny Mologousis, 4-3
Johnny Mologousis is eliminated
174: DJ Shannon* (Fr.) | 0-2
Champ Round of 32: Victor Marcelli (Virginia) dec. DJ Shannon, 5-1
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Elijah Joseph (Oklahoma) dec. DJ Shannon, 2-1
DJ Shannon is eliminated.
#- National ranking from FloWrestling
*- Competing unattached
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