CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 20 Fighting Illini Wrestling will wrestle in its final two duals of the season this weekend. The Illini head to No. 11 Northwestern on Friday, February 15, for a showdown beginning at 7 p.m. Illinois then returns home for Senior Day, hosting No. 1 Penn State at Huff Hall Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Both duals can be streamed on BTN2Go. Sunday's dual vs. Penn State will also be Hail to the Orange Day at Huff Hall, with fans receiving both Hail to the Orange t-shirts and rally towels. 

	#20 Illinois at #11 Northwestern
When	Friday, February 15 // 7 p.m. CT
Where	Welsh-Ryan Arena // Evanston, Ill.
Watch	BTN2Go
Live Results	Trackwrestling
Illinois Information	Illini Notes | Illini Media Guide | Illini Quick Facts
Social Media	@IlliniWrestling  | #Illini | @Illinwrestling  | Facebook | YouTube

	#20 Illinois vs. #1 Penn State
When	Sunday, February 17 // 1 p.m. CT
Where	Huff Hall // Champaign, Ill.
Live Results	Trackwrestling
Watch	BTN2Go
Team Information	Illini Notes | Illini Media Guide | Illini Quick Facts
Promotions	Hail To The Orange T-Shirts & Rally Towels
Social Media	@IlliniWrestling  | #Illini | @Illinwrestling  | Facebook | YouTube

Probable Wrestlers

Rankings from FloWrestling

Quick Hits

* No. 20 Illinois will wrestle in its final two duals of the season this weekend. The Illini head to No. 11 Northwestern on Friday, February 15, for a showdown beginning at 7 p.m. Illinois then returns home for Senior Day, hosting No. 1 Penn State at Huff Hall Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

*The Illini lead the all-time series vs. Northwestern, 48-32-2. UI won last year's matchup on January 7, 2018, 18-17. Down 17-15 heading into the final match, Deuce Rachal threw Conan Jennings for a takedown with 37 seconds to go, which ultimately won Rachal a 3-2 decision and the Illini the dual, 18-17. 

* Illinois leads the all-time series with Penn State 9-7. The Illini dropped its last meeting with Penn State on February 10, 2017, 34-7.

*Redshirt sophomore No. 5 Mike Carr has won all three of his matches against top-10 B1G opponents at 141-pounds. He will look to make it 4-0 for the regular season against No. 2 Nick Lee Sunday vs. Penn State.

* Illinois dropped a narrow decision in its last dual, losing at No. 14 Wisconsin, 17-16 on criteria last Sunday. 

*The Illini are 2-7 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten after dropping duals after losing to No. 2 Ohio State, 23-14, on February 1. 

*FloWrestling National Rankings: 125: No. 12 Travis Piotrowski, 141: No. 5 Mike Carr, 157: No. 9 Eric Barone, 165: No. 18 Joey Gunther, 184: No. 5 Emery Parker. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Duncan is ranked No. 20 by W.I.N. Magazine. 

* The Illini will take a couple weeks in the room to prep for Big Ten Championships. Big Ten's this year will be hosted by the University of Minnesota, and will be held on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10 in Minneapolis.   

Illini Notes

Illini To Honor Seniors Sunday

Redshirt seniors Emery Parker, Andre Lee, Deuce Rachal and Nick Gasbarro, along with redshirt juniors Carver James and Tim McCarthy will be honored for their time spent with the UI program. The group has totaled over 170 wins on the mat representing the Orange and Blue.  

Six Illini Ranked Nationally
The Fighting Illini are currently No. 20 in the latest FloWrestling national rankings. Here are the Illini's best ranks across the national rankings: No. 4 Mike Carr, (W.I.N. Magazine), No. 4 Emery Parker (OpenMat),  No. 9 Eric Barone (FloWrestling) No. 11 Travis Piotrowski (FloWrestling, InterMat, OpenMat), No. 17 Joey Gunther (W.I.N. Magazine) and No. 20 Dylan Duncan, (W.I.N. Magazine).

Last Time Out

Illinois dropped a narrow decision in its last dual, losing to at No. 14 Wisconsin, 17-16 on criteria last Sunday. Redshirt sophomore Mike Carr defeated his third top-10 opponent of the season in the match, taking a 2-1 decision over No. 8 Tristan Moran in the 141-pound bout. At 174-pounds redshirt junior Carver James wrestled to a 12-3 major decision against Anders Lantz. The Illini also earned wins from junior Travis Piotrowski, redshirt junior Eric Barone, and redshirt senior Emery Parker. With the score tied at 16 after the final bout, the match would be decided on total match points. The Badgers held a slight two-point advantage over the Illini in match points, 68-66, giving Wisconsin the point on criteria to win dual over Illinois. 

Sizing Up The Wildcats  

No. 11 Northwestern is led by three ranked wrestlers, each ranked in the national top-10 by FloWrestling, including two in the top-3 of their respective weightclasses. No. 1 Sebastian Rivera holds a 20-1 record at 125-pounds, and Ryan Deakin ranks No. 3 at 157-pounds with a 22-2 record. Heavyweight Conan Jennings sits at No. 10 in the latest poll with a 2018-19 record of 13-8. The Wildcats are 3-10 overall an 1-7 in Big Ten duals. Northwestern is coming off a 30-9 loss at No. 4 Michigan in its last matchup.   

 A Look At the Nittany Lions

 Penn State enters Sunday's dual as the consensus No. 1 team in the NCAA. The Nittany Lions are 11-0 overall and 7-0 in Big Ten duals. Penn State has eight wrestlers in the top-10 of the national rankings, including four wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes. National No. 1 wrestlers Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174) and Bo Nickal (197) lead the Nittany Lions, each of whom are undefeated this season. The Nittany Lions most recent result was a 28-9 victory over No. 2 Ohio State on Feb. 8 in Columbus, Ohio.  

Illini to Watch

141: Mike Carr

No. 4 Mike Carr is still undefeated at 7-0 in Big Ten Duals heading into the final weekend of the regular season. He defeated his third top-10 nationally ranked opponent last weekend in Wisconsin's No. 8 Tristan Moran with a 2-1 decision. Carr now has wins against No. 8 Moran, No. 7 Mitch McKee of Minnesota and No. 6 Kanen Storr to his credit. He will try to make it four-for-four against top-10 B1G opponents on Sunday afternoon against No. 2 Nick Lee of Penn State. 

184: Emery Parker

Redshirt senior No. 5 Emery Parker was strong from the outset in his dual against Mason Reinhardt en route to a 10-4 decision. With the victory, Parker moves to 12-2 on the season and 5-2 against Big Ten opponents. Parker will have a top-10 test against No. 7 Shakur Rasheed, looking to hand the Nittany Lion wrestler his first loss of the season. Parker will be honored for an illustrious Illini career Sunday afternoon at Senior Day. A 2018 All-American at 184-pounds, Parker enters his final weekend of regular season competition with a 74-20 lifetime record.    

125: Travis Piotrowski

Piotrowski has won three consecutive matches dating back to the dual at Nebraska and the 6-5 decision win over Zeke Moisey on January 27. He defeated Ethan Rotondo to start the afternoon matchup against Wisconsin last Sunday in a 12-6 decision. Piotrowski will look to carry the momentum into Friday night's dual at Northwestern, with a chance to knock off No. 1 Sebastian Rivera on the line.     

Up Next

The Illini will take a couple weeks in the room to prep for Big Ten Championships. Big Ten's this year will be hosted by the University of Minnesota, and will be held on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10 in Minneapolis.   

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.