CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 19 Illinois wrestling heads to Minneapolis for the Big Ten Championships this weekend. The conference meet will begin on Saturday, March 9 at 10 a.m. All Session information is listed below.
Big Ten Championships Schedule and TV Information (All Times Central)
Sat., March 9 Session I- 10 a.m. BTN2Go
Sat., March 9 Session II- 6 p.m. BTN2Go
Sun., March 10 Session III 12 p.m. BTN2Go
Sun., March 10 Session IV (Finals, Third, Fifth)- 3 p.m. Big Ten Network
* Individual rankings from final Coach's Poll
* Big Ten Championships Pre-Seed in parentheses
Quick Hits
* No. 19 Illinois Wrestling Heads to Minneapolis for the Big Ten Championships this weekend. The conference meet will begin on Saturday, March 9 at 10 a.m.
*Redshirt sophomore Mike Carr headlined the seven Illini B1G Championships Pre-Seeds, earning the No. 1 seed at 141-pounds.
*Redshirt senior Emery Parker and junior Travis Piotrowski also earned top-five seeds, with Parker coming in as the No. 4 seed at 184-pounds and Piotrowski competing as the No. 5 seed at 125-pounds.
*Illini also receiving Pre-Seeds include No. 8 Dylan Duncan (133), No. 8 Eric Barone (157), No. 9 Joey Gunther (165) and No. 11 Carver James (174).
*The final coach's poll and RPI rankings were released by the NCAA on March 1, with six Illini ranked in the coach's poll and four UI wrestlers ranked in the RPI. Mike Carr received the highest rank in the coach's poll, as he was voted to No. 5 at 141-pounds. Travis Piotrowski ranked sixth in the RPI rankings.
* Coach's Poll Rankings: No. 5 Mike Carr (141), No. 7 Emery Parker (184), No. 10 Eric Barone (157), No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (125), No. 20 Joey Gunther (165), No. 22 Dylan Duncan (133).
*The Illini dropped their last two duals of the regular season at Northwestern and vs. Penn State on Feb. 15 and 17, respectively. Emery Parker picked up wins in both duals, a pin vs. Brendan Devine of Northwestern and a 7-3 decision over Penn State's Mason Manville in the final home match of his career.
* Illini qualifiers will begin prepping for NCAA Championships, which will be held March 21-23 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The NCAA Championships Selection Show will be broadcast Wednesday, March 13 at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
Illini Notes
Seven Illini Receive Big Ten Pre Seeds
The Big Ten announced pre-seeds for this weekend's Big Ten Championships on Monday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore Mike Carr will head to Minneapolis as the No. 1 seed at 141-pounds. Seven Illini were tabbed with pre-seeds. Joining Carr with top five seeds are No. 4 Emery Parker at 184-pounds, and fifth-seeded Travis Piotrowski at 125-pounds. No. 8 Dylan Duncan (157), No. 8 Eric Barone (157), No. 9 Joey Gunther (165) and No. 11 Carver James (174), round out the Illini pre-seeds.
The pre-seeds, which are determined through a vote by Big Ten coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in three weight classes. Seven weight classes seeded all 14 starters due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes.
The Big Ten leads the NCAA with 78 automatic qualifying spots for this year's NCAA Championships. The conference totals 25 more automatic bids than the second place Big 12 Conference. With at least five automatic bids at every weight class, the Big Ten received nine automatic bids at 125 pounds, 141 pounds, 157 pounds and 165 pounds.
NCAA Bid Allocations Per Weight Class for the Big Ten
125-9
133-8
141-9
149-6
157-9
165-9
174-8
184- 8
197- 5
HWT- 7
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet to select the remaining 44 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12. Brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. CT on March 13. All weight classes will feature 33 wrestlers. 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.
RPI and coaches' Rankings
Six Illinois wrestlers are ranked in the final Coach's Poll heading into conference tournaments. Four Illini are ranked in the RPI Rankings. Wrestlers must have wrestled at least 17 matches against Division I opponents to qualify.
Wrestler Coach's Poll RPI
Travis Piotrowski 12 6
Dylan Duncan 22 18
Mike Carr 5 --
Eric Barone 10 16
Joey Gunther 20 14
Emery Parker 7 --
Illinois Big Ten History
The Fighting Illini continue to rank second all-time in team Big Ten titles with 17 behind Iowa's leading 35. The Illini also own 77 individual Big Ten titles,including one in each of the last seven tournaments. Last year, Isaiah Martinez won his fourth Big Ten title, becoming just the 16th wrestler to accomplish the feat in the 106-year history of the conference. The Illini placed eighth with 62.5 points.
Last Time Out
The Illini dropped their last two duals of the regular season against Northwestern and Penn State. Emery Parker led the Illini at Northwestern, winning by fall in the second period (4:50) of his matchup against Brendan Devine. Dylan Duncan and Christian Kanzler also secured victories for UI at Northwestern. Parker also was solid on Senior Day versus Penn State, winning his last dual at Huff Hall in a 7-3 decision against Mason Manville. Parker finishes his Illini career 13-1 in home matches. Travis Piotrowski started the dual off strong for the Orange and Blue with a first period pin (1:06) of Devin Schnupp in the 125-pound matchup against the Nittany Lions.
Six Illini Ranked Nationally
The Fighting Illini are currently No. 19 in the latest InterMat 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 (W.I.N. Magazine, OpenMat, Trackwrestling), No. 9 Eric Barone (FloWrestling) No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (FloWrestling, InterMat), No. 17 Joey Gunther (W.I.N. Magazine) and No. 20 Dylan Duncan, (W.I.N. Magazine).
Illini to Watch
141: Mike Carr
No. 5 in the National Coach's Poll, Mike Carr heads into Big Ten Championships as the No. 1 seed at 141-pounds. Carr eyes the title after finishing as the runner-up last season at Big Ten Championships to Ohio State's Joey McKenna. Carr earned the No. 1 seed after going a perfect, 7-0, in conference duals this season. He tallied wins over the course of the season against No. 6 Kanen Storr, No. 7 Mitch McKee and No. 8 Tristan Moran.
184: Emery Parker
Redshirt senior No. 7 Emery Parker enters his final Big Ten Championships as the fourth seed at 184-pounds. Parker ended the regular season in dominant fashion, with a pin against Northwestern's Brendan Devine on Feb. 15, and then winning his final career match at Huff Hall in a 7-3 decision over Penn State's Mason Manville. Parker finished the regular season with a 14-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in Big Ten duals.
125: Travis Piotrowski
Piotrowski (No. 12 Coach's, No. 6 RPI) made a statement to close out his regular season by securing a win by fall in the first 1:06 of 125-pound bout against Devin Schnupp in the Penn State dual on Feb. 17. Piotrowski heads to Big Ten Championships as the No. 5 seed at 125-pounds. He finished the regular season with a record of 16-8 and a final tally of 6-3 in Big Ten duals. His 16 victories ties for the third most on the team.
Up Next
Illini qualifiers will begin prepping for NCAA Championships, which will be held March 21-23 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The NCAA Championships Selection Show will be broadcast Wednesday, March 13 at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
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.
