Final Brackets

MINNEAPOLIS - Redshirt senior Emery Parker placed third at 184-pounds to lead the Illini at Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis this weekend. The third-place finish is the best of Parker's career at Big Ten Championships. This is the third time Parker has placed at the conference meet, after finishing fifth at 184-pounds the previous two seasons. The Illini finshed with four place-winners at the 2019 Big Ten Championships, with Parker finishing third, junior Travis Piotrowski placing fifth at 125-pounds, and redshirt sophomores Dylan Duncan (133) and Mike Carr (141) finishing eighth. The Illini finished 11th at Big Ten Championships with 39.5 points. 

"Our results were disappointing, frankly," said head coach Jim Heffernan. "I think we lacked some fire and competitiveness at times, and that is on me. We will need to compete with way more emotion in a couple of weeks at the NCAA tournament. There has been a standard in this program for a long time that we did not meet, and our goal in the next 10 days is to try and get this right. Parker did a great job, and we had some good wins, just not enough."

Emery Parker, the No. 4 seed at 184-pounds, was opposed by No. 3-seeded Taylor Venz of Nebraska in the third-place match. After a scoreless first period, Venz took the initial 1-0 lead with an escape to start the second period. Parker would take the advantage late in the second on a takedown, and took a 2-1 lead into the third. Parker extended his lead to 3-1 after an escape to start the final period. In the closing seconds of the match, Parker would tack on his second takedown of the bout to push his lead over Venz to 5-1. Parker would win the match by that tally, a 5-1 decision, avenging his regular season loss to Venz and taking third-place at Big Ten Championships. 

Parker finishes the tournament with a 4-1 record, winning matches against Kyle Jasenski (Maryland) and Cash Wilcke (Iowa) yesterday, and then advancing in today's wrestlebacks after a medical forfeit by Nick Gravina (Rutgers) before winning the third-place match against Venz this afternoon. His overall career record at Big Ten Championships will stand at 11-5.

With his two victories in Session I yesterday, Parker earned an automatic bid to NCAA Championships, as the two wins guaranteed himself a top-eight finish at the conference meet and, subsequently, one of the weight class's automatic qualifying spots. This is Parker's third time qualifying for the national competition. Parker was an All-American last season at 184-pounds, placing third at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.  

Travis Piotrowski placed fifth at 125-pounds for the second time in his career at Big Ten Championships. Piotrowski was awarded fifth-place after a medical forfeit by opponent RayVon Foley of Michigan State in the fifth-place match. Piotrowski went 4-2 at the Championships, with three wins by decision and a dominant, 17-0 tech fall against Penn State's Devin Schnupp in the opening round of the conference meet. His career record at Big Ten Championships now stands at 11-6. 

Additionally, Piotrowski secured an automatic bid to nationals later this month with his top-8 finish at Big Ten Championships. Piotrowski is a three-time qualifier for the national meet. 

Redshirt sophomores Dylan Duncan and Mike Carr also both qualified for NCAA Championships at the conference meet. Both wrestlers placed eighth at 133-pounds, and 141-pounds, respectively at this year's conference tournament. This is the second consecutive year that both Duncan and Carr have qualified for nationals. 

Redshirt juniors Eric Barone (157) and Joey Gunther (165) both were defeated in the finals of the ninth-place matches in their weight class, which were wrestled to determine the final automatic NCAA Championships bids for those weight classes. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet to select the remaining 44 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12. At-large selections will be made based on head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches ranking, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage. 

Up next, Illinois' four NCAA Championships automatic qualifiers will begin preparation for the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 21-23 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Remaining Illinois wrestlers will wait to see if they earn an at-large bid to nationals, announced on Tuesday, March 12.  

Team Results: 

1. Penn State- 157.5
2. Ohio State- 122.5
3. Iowa- 107.5
4. Minnesota- 101.5
5. Nebraska- 96.5
6. Michigan- 76.5
7. Wisconsin- 76
8. Northwestern- 53.5
8. Rutgers- 53.5
10. Purdue- 42
11. Illinois- 39.5
12. Indiana- 31
13. Indiana- 29.5
14. Maryland- 13

Full Results (All Sessions) 

125: #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski | 4-2
Champ Round 1: #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski  tech fall (12) Devin Schnupp (Penn State), 17-0
Quarterfinal: #8 (4) RayVon Foley (Michigan State) dec. #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski, 7-3
Cons. Round 2: #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski dec. (14) Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin), 8-4
Cons. Round 3: #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski dec. #18 (9) Devin Schroder (Purdue), 7-4 
Cons. Round 4: #6 (3) Sean Russell inj. default #12 (5) Travis Piotrowski, 0:06
5th Place Match: #12) (5) Travis Piotrowski MFF #8 (4) RayVon Foley (Michigan State), MFF
Travis Piotrowski places 5th.

133: #22 (8) Dylan Duncan | 2-3

Champ Round 1: #22 Dylan Duncan SV-1 Anthony Tutolo (Michigan State), 3-1
Quarterfinal: #1 (1) Stevan Micic (Michigan) dec. #22 (8) Dylan Duncan, 9-4
Cons. Round 2: #22 (8) Dylan Duncan dec. (10) Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern), 6-3
Cons. Round 3: #9 (4) Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec. #22 (8) Dylan Duncan, 3-2
7th Place Match: #20 (7) Ben Thornton Purdue SV-1 #22 (8) Dylan Duncan, 3-1
Dylan Duncan places 8th.

141: #5 (1) Mike Carr | 1-3
Champ Round 1: #5 (1) Mike Carr receives BYE
Quarterfinal: #23 (8) Chad Red Jr. dec. #5 (1) Mike Carr, 8-4
Cons. Round 2 #5 (1) Mike Carr dec. #27 (10) Nate Limmex (Purdue), 6-2
Cons. Round 3 #8 (4) Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) dec. #5 (1) Mike Carr, 9-4
7th Place Match: #18 (7) Max Murin (Iowa) dec. #5 (1) Mike Carr, 3-1
Mike Carr places 8th. 

149: Christian Kanzler | 0-2
Champ Round 1: #14 (5) Cole Martin (Wisconsin) Fall Christian Kanzler, 2:35
Cons. Round 1: Jaden Enriquez (Michigan State) dec. Christian Kanzler, 3-1
Christian Kanzler is eliminated.

157: #10 (8) Eric Barone | 2-3
Champ Round 1: #10 (8) Eric Barone TB-1 #13 (9) Griffin Parriott (Purdue), 5-4
Quarterfinal: #1 (1) Jason Nolf (Penn State) Fall #10 (8) Eric Barone, 2:14
Cons. Round 2: #7 (7) Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) dec. #10 (8) Eric Barone, 3-1
9th Place Semifinal: #10 (8) Eric Barone major dec. (13) Garrett Model (Wisconsin), 10-2
9th Place Final: #13 (9) Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. #10 (8) Eric Barone, 5-2

165: #20 (9) Joey Gunther | 2-3
Champ Round 1: #20 (9) Joey Gunther TB-2 #28 (8) Carson Brolsma (Minnesota), 3-2  
Quarterfinal: #1 (1) Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) tech fall #20 (9) Joey Gunther, 21-6
Cons. Round 2: (10) Tyler Morland (Northwestern) dec. #20 (9) Joey Gunther, 7-4
9th Place Semifinal: #20 (9) Joey Gunther (Illinois) dec. (13) Austin Hiles (Michigan State), 7-3 
9th Place Final: #28 (8) Carson Brolsma (Minnesota) dec. #20 (9) Joey Gunther, 3-1 

174: (11) Carver James | 2-3
Champ Round 1: #20 (6) Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec. Carver James, 5-2
Cons. Round 1: (11) Carver James tech fall (14) Braxton Cody (Northwestern), 20-5
Cons. Round 2: #8 (4) Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) Fall (11) Carver James, 2:22
9th Place Quarterfinal: (11) Carver James Fall (14) Braxton Cody (Northwestern), 1:10
9th Place Semifinal: #29 (10) Mitch Bowman (Iowa) dec. Carver James, 8-2 

184: #7 (4) Emery Parker | 4-1 
Champ Round 1: #7 (4) Emery Parker dec. (13) Kyle Jasenski (Maryland), 7-3
Quarterfinal: #7 (4) Emery Parker dec. (5) #13 Cash Wilcke (Iowa), 3-2
Semifinal: #1 (1) Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. #7 (4) Emery Parker, 8-3
Cons. Round 4: #7 (4) Emery Parker MFF (9) Nick Gravina (Rutgers), MFF
3rd Place Match: #7 (4) Emery Parker dec. #4 (3) Taylor Venz (Nebraska), 5-1
Emery Parker places 3rd.

197: Andre Lee | 1-2
Champ Round 1: (7) Dylan Anderson (Minnesota) dec. Andre Lee, 4-1
Cons. Round 1: Andre Lee dec. Matt Correnti (Rutgers), 10-6
Cons. Round 2: (8) Brad Wilton (Michigan State) dec. Andre Lee, 5-3
Andre Lee is eliminated.

285: Deuce Rachal | 0-2 
Champ Round 1: #7 (6) Conan Jennings (Northwestern) dec. Deuce Rachal, 1-0
Cons. Round 1: #8 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) major dec. Deuce Rachal, 13-4  
Deuce Rachal is eliminated.

#- Coach's Poll Ranking
()- Seed/School 

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