CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 18 Illinois wrestling hosts Northern Illinois for its first home dual of the 2019-20 campaign on Friday, December 6 at Huff Hall. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and can be streamed live with a subscription to BTN +. The promotion is the Showdown, and the first 100 fans in attendance will win free popcorn.

	vs. Northern Illinois
When	Friday, December 6 // 7 p.m. CT
Where	Huff Hall // Champaign, Ill.
Watch	BTN +
Live Results	Trackwrestling
Illinois Information	Illini Notes | Illini Season Stats | Illini Quick Facts
Social Media	@IlliniWrestling  | #Illini | @Illinwrestling  | Facebook | YouTube

Probable Wrestlers

Individual Rankings from FloWrestling

Quick Hits

*Friday's matchup with the Huskies at Huff Hall is the first of seven home duals for the Illini this season.

*Illinois is 21-9 all-time against NIU. The Illini won the last meeting a season ago in DeKalb on December 7, 2018 by a score of 24-9.

*Last time out, Illinois upset No. 13 Missouri,19-14, at Francis Howell High School in St. Louis on November 14. 

*The Illini have won their last two duals, defeating No. 13 Missouri and before that, UT-Chattanooga by a score of 21-10 at the Chattanooga Duals on November 10. 

*Urbana, Ill, native and true-freshman Luke Luffman is 7-0 to start the season.

* Illinois has four wrestlers with seven wins and no more than two losses to start the season: Travis Piotrowski (133, 7-1), Danny Braunagel (165, 8-1), Zac Braunagel (184, 7-2) and Luffman (285, 7-0).  

Illini Notes

Last Time Out

Fighting Illini wrestling secured a dramatic, 19-14 victory over No. 13 Missouri on November 14 at Francis Howell High School in St. Louis. Trailing, 11-6, at intermission, the Illini won four of the last five bouts of the night to take the dual. With the score at 16-14, the match came down to the heavyweight bout, and Illini freshman Luke Luffman delivered with a come-from-behind, 9-7, decision victory over Rodrigo Diaz to win Illinois the match and send the Illini to 2-1 on the season.  

Luffman improved to 7-0 on the season and earned the biggest victory of his young collegiate career thus far with his dual-winning, 9-7, decision over Rodrigo Diaz. At the end of the first period, the score was tied 3-3, but Diaz tallied three points in the second to make the score 6-3 heading into the final period. With the match on the line Luffman took over in the third, escaping and forcing a takedown to tie the score at 6-6. Luffman would tack on another takedown late to go-ahead, and with the point for riding time, won the bout, 9-7, over Diaz, securing a 19-14 Illinois victory over No. 13 Missouri.

Also instrumental in the Illini victory was Joey Gunther's come-from-behind upset win over No. 8 Connor Flynn at 174-pounds. After a scoreless first period, Flynn scored two points in the second to take a 2-0 lead into the third. Trailing late in the third, Gunther secured a takedown to tie the match at 2-2 and force overtime. In Sudden Victory-1, Gunther tacked on a second takedown to win the bout over Flynn, 4-2. The win by Gunther put the Illini back in front, 12-11, ahead of the Tigers. 

Redshirt freshmen Danny Braunagel (165) and Zac Braunagel (184) won bouts after the intermission to help put fuel in the Illini comeback victory. Redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125) and senior Travis Piotrowski (133), earned victories in the first two matchups of the night to help Illinois jump out to the early, 6-0, lead. 

Gunther Named B1G Wrestler of the Week

Illinois redshirt senior Joey Gunther was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday, November 19. This is the first-career Big Ten weekly accolade for Gunther.

Gunther earned the honor with his come-from-behind, upset victory over No. 8 Connor Flynn at 174-pounds that helped lead Illinois to a 19-14 win over No. 13 Missouri on November 14 at Francis Howell High School in St. Louis.

Gunther moved to 4-1 on the season with the, 4-2, Sudden Victory-1 decision over Flynn. He earned his first two wins of the season at the MSU Open on November 2, then shutout UT-Chattanooga's Hunter Fortner in a 4-0 decision to help Illinois earn its first win of the season, 22-10, over UT-Chattanooga on November 10. Gunther is now ranked No. 10 in the December 3 InterMat National Rankings for 174-pounds.

A native of Libertyville, Ill., Gunther is in his second season with Illinois after transferring from Iowa before the 2018-19 campaign. Last season, he qualified for NCAA Championships at 165-pounds, his third time qualifying for the national tournament. He finished tied for third on the team in wins with 20. Gunther is studying Communications at Illinois. 

Sizing up the Huskies

NIU is 4-2 to start the 2019-20 season. They were defeated in their last matchup at Purdue, 31-8. The Huskies are led by redshirt sophomore Bryce West, who holds a 9-4 record and is ranked No. 23 at 125-pounds in the latest FloWrestling national rankings.

Illini Wrestlers In The National Rankings

An Illini wrestler is ranked nationally in each weight class this week.. Their highest rankings are the following: No. 9 Travis Piotrowski(133, FloWrestling WIN Magazine,), No. 10 Joey Gunther (174, InterMat), No. 11 Mike Carr (149, InterMat) No. 12 Zac Braunagel (184, WIN Magazine), No. 15 Eric Barone (157, FloWrestling) No. 15 Luke Luffman (285, WrestleStat)  No. 17 Dylan Duncan (141, Open Mat), No. 24 Justin Cardani (125, FloWrestling) No. 25 Danny Braunagel (165, FloWrestling) and No. 32 Matt Wroblewski (197, Trackwrestling).

Illini To Watch

285: Luke Luffman

Freshman Luke Luffman is perfect to start his collegiate career, winning all seven bouts he's contested thus far. Without a doubt, his biggest victory of the season came in the dual against Missouri, trailing going into the third period and coming back to win the 285-pound bout and, subsequently, the match for Illinois. After the victory against Missouri he launched himself into several national rankings, and has worked his way as high as No. 15 in the latest poll from WrestleStat. Luffman will look to stay undefeated Friday night, as the Urbana native will make his first-career appearance at Huff Hall in the dual versus NIU. Luffman will go up against either Terrese Aaron (5-1) or Max Ihry (5-4) in the heavyweight bout. 

125: Justin Cardani

Redshirt freshman No. 24 Justin Cardani will have the lone-ranked bout of the evening, taking on No. 23 Bryce West in the matchup at 125-pounds. Cardani has won his last two matchups, first beating Fabian Gutierrez of UT-Chattanooga in a 5-2 decision on November 10, and then shutting out Missouri's Dack Punke, 4-0 on November 14. Cardani will look to make it three-in-a-row on Friday night at Huff Hall.

Up Next

The Illini will spend the next few weeks preparing for the 57th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands, hosted by Northwestern at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. on Sunday, December 29 and Monday, December 30.   

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.