CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 15 Illinois wrestling travels East this weekend for duals against No. 25 Rutgers and Maryland. The Illini will take on Rutgers on Friday, February 7 at 6 p.m. CT, and then will head to Maryland for a dual with the Terrapins scheduled for Sunday, February 9 at 1 p.m. CT. Both duals will be broadcast on BTN +.
Probable Wrestlers
| #15 Illinois |
|
#25 Rutgers |
| Wrestler |
Record |
Weight Class |
Wrestler |
Record |
| #21 Justin Cardani |
12-6 |
125 lbs. |
#17 Nicolas Aguilar |
18-7 |
| #7 Travis Piotrowski |
19-2 |
133 lbs. |
#9 Sammy Alvarez |
20-6 |
| #11 Dylan Duncan |
15-6 |
141 lbs. |
JoJo Aragona -OR- Zach Firestone |
10-7; 5-7 |
| Mousa Jodeh |
2-12 |
149 lbs. |
Gerard Angelo -OR- Nick Santos |
12-10; 6-2 |
| Eric Barone |
8-11 |
157 lbs. |
Michael Van Brill |
16-12 |
| #13 Danny Braunagel |
17-6 |
165 lbs. |
Brett Donner |
15-11 |
| #14 Joey Gunther |
13-5 |
174 lbs. |
Willie Scott -OR- Anthony Olivieri |
7-5; 5-1 |
| #14 Zac Braunagel |
15-7 |
184 lbs. |
#12 Billy Janzer |
17-5 |
| #30 Matt Wroblewski |
8-11 |
197 lbs. |
#19 Jordan Pagano |
19-16 |
| #25 Luke Luffman |
13-6 |
285 lbs. |
Alex Esposito |
15-11 |
Quick Hits
*Illinois enters the weekend 7-3 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten Duals
*The Illini head into the weekend on a three-match win streak.
*Illinois leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 2-1. The Illini won its most recent matchup with the Scarlet Knights, 23-12, on February 4, 2018 at Huff Hall.
*The Illini are 7-0 all-time against Maryland. The Orange and Blue took the last meeting by a score of 25-18 on January 28, 2018 at Huff Hall.
*Illinois was victorious in both of its duals last weekend at Huff Hall, defeating Michigan State, 18-12, on Friday, January 31 and pushing past No. 8 Northwestern, 19-18, on Sunday, February 2.
*The Illini are now 5-0 at home this season.
*Freshman Luke Luffman (285), senior Travis Piotrowski (133) and redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141) each won both of their bouts in last weekend's duals.
*Eight Illinois wrestlers are nationally-ranked across the various weekly rankings.
Illini Notes
Last Time Out
Illinois swept its weekend matchups last week with wins over Michigan State on Friday, January 31 and No. 8 Northwestern on Sunday, February 2.
No. 15 Illinois wrestling pushed past Michigan State with an 18-12 victory Friday night at Huff Hall. With the score tied at 12-12 heading into the final two bouts, redshirt sophomore Matt Wroblewski (197) and freshman Luke Luffman (285) were able to pick up wins in the final matches to give Illinois the dual win. The Illini also saw wins on Friday night from senior Travis Piotrowski (133), redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141), redshirt freshman Danny Braunagel (165) and redshirt senior Joey Gunther (174). With the win, Illinois moved to 6-3 on the season, 3-2 in Big Ten Duals, and still undefeated at Huff Hall at 4-0.
No. 15 Illinois then edged past No. 8 Northwestern, 19-18, Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall. Trailing 18-15 heading into the final bout, freshman Luke Luffman came through with a 14-4 major decision over Jack Heyob in the heavyweight match to give the Illini the 19-18 dual win. Illinois also saw wins on Sunday from redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125), senior Travis Piotrowski (133) redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141) and redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (184). Sunday' victory puts the Illini record at 7-3 overall this season, 4-2 in Big Ten duals and 5-0 at Huff Hall.
Clutch Luffman
True-freshman heavyweight Luke Luffman clinched both dual wins for the Illini last weekend. On Friday against Michigan State, After Wroblewski's win at 197 gave Illinois the lead, Luffman looked to close out the dual win in his matchup with Christian Rebottaro. Luffman scored two in the second with a reversal, and that would prove to be the difference. Tacking on a takedown in the third along with the riding time point, Luffman won the heavyweight bout, 5-1, and clinched an 18-12 match victory for the Illini. Luffman followed up his Friday performance with an even more crucial effort on Sunday against the Wildcats. After falling behind, 18-15, with a loss at 197-pounds, Illinois needed a bonus-points win at heavyweight to win the dual. Luffman was able to deliver taking on Jack Heyob. Luffman tallied four takedowns en route to his 14-4 major decision victory over Heyob, which gave Illinois four team points to win the dual, 19-18.
This is the third time Luffman has clinched Illinois a dual victory with his win at heavyweight. He took a 9-7 decision at heavyweight to give Illinois a 19-14 win over No. 13 Missouri on November 14. Luffman is now 13-7 on the season.
Starting Duals Strong
Cardani, Piotrowski and Duncan have been able to get the Illini out to early leads in dual matches this season. Every dual the Illini have contested this season has started at 125-pounds, and Cardani (125) and Piotrowski (133) and Duncan (141) are a combined 24-4 in dual bouts this season. Piotrowski is undefeated in duals at 10-0, and Cardani has won eight of his last nine dual bouts to put his record in duals at 8-2. Duncan is 5-2 in duals this season.
Illinois And Illini Wrestlers In the National Rankings
The Illini rank at No. 15 in the latest InterMat Dual National Rankings. The Illinois lineup features five wrestlers ranked in the top-15 nationally. Here are the highest national-rankings for each ranked Illini wrestler entering the weekend: No. 7 Travis Piotrowski (133, InterMat, FloWrestling, Trackwrestling, OpenMat), No. 11 Dylan Duncan (141, Trackwrestling) No. 13 Danny Braunagel (165, InterMat, Trackwrestling), No. 14 Joey Gunther (174, WIN Magazine), No. 14 Zac Braunagel (184, FloWrestling), No. 21 Justin Cardani (125, FloWrestling), No. 25 Luke Luffman (OpenMat) and No. 30 Matt Wroblewski (197, Trackwrestling).
Scouting The Scarlet Knights
No. 25 Rutgers enters the weekend with an overall record of 8-5 and a 3-4 mark in Big Ten duals. The Scarlet Knights were defeated their last time out by Michigan, 21-16, on Saturday, February 1. Rutgers' projected lineup features four wrestlers ranked in the national top-25. They are led by No. 9 Sammy Alvarez at 133-pounds, who is 20-6 on the season.
A Look At The Terrapins
Maryland heads into Sunday's matchup with Illinois with a 2-13 record overall and an 0-7 mark in conference duals. The Terrapins were defeated their last time out at No. 2 Penn State, 40-3. Maryland is led by Philip Spadafora, who is ranked No. 25 at 174-pounds by FloWrestling and is 14-11 on the season.
Illini to Watch
133: Travis Piotrowski
Undefeated in Big Ten duals this season, senior Travis Piotrowski will have a top-10 test at 133-pounds against Sammy Alvarez of Rutgers on Friday night. Ranked seventh nationally, Piotrowski enters with an overall record of 19-2, including 10-0 in dual matches and 6-0 in Big Ten bouts. Alvarez is ranked ninth nationally and enters with an overall record of 20-6 and a mark of 6-1 in Big Ten duals. Piotrowski is coming off a dominant performance in the Northwestern dual, defeating Dylan Utterback by tech. fall, 20-3. On Sunday, Piotrowski will be opposed by Maryland's King Sandoval, who is 10-12 this season.
184: Zac Braunagel
Nationally-ranked No. 14 Zac Braunagel (15-7) is set to take on No. 12 Billy Janzer (17-5) of Rutgers on Friday night in the 184-pound bout. Braunagel won by major decision last time out against Northwestern, defeating Jack Jessen, 13-2. On Sunday, Braunagel will be opposed by redshirt sophomore Kyle Jasenski, who is 9-13 this season for Maryland.
Up Next
No. 15 Illinois will host No. 7 Purdue on Sunday, February 16 at Huff Hall. The dual will begin at 1 p.m. CT and will air live on Big Ten Network. The matchup will be Fighting Illini Fit Day at Huff Hall. Their will be a free workout class prior to the dual, and the first 150 fans will receive a free Illini blender bottle.
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