NCAA Release

INDIANAPOLIS - Fighting Illini wrestling redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125) was awarded an at-large bid to the 2020 NCAA Championships by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee on Tuesday. A total of 48 at-large bids were announced on Tuesday, rounding out the NCAA Championships field of 330 student-athletes.

Cardani joins the six Illinois wrestlers that qualified automatically for nationals through wins at the Big Ten Championships this past weekend: senior Travis Piotrowski (133), redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141), redshirt senior Eric Barone (157), redshirt freshman Danny Braunagel (165), redshirt senior Joey Gunther (174) and redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (184). The last time Illinois qualified at least seven wrestlers for NCAA Championships was in the 2016-17 season.

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee met on Monday to select the remaining 48 at-large qualifiers. At-large selections were made based on head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches ranking, results against common opponents, RPI, conference tournament placement and winning percentage.

A native of Champaign, Cardani enters his first national tournament with an overall record of 16-10. He went 7-2 this season in Big Ten dual bouts, and 11-3 overall in dual matches. Cardani picked up four ranked wins during the 2019-20 campaign, including a top-10 win against No. 9 Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern on February 2 with a 4-2 decision victory.

Brackets and seeding for the national tournament will be announced during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Selection Show on Wednesday, March 11 at 5 p.m. CT on ncaa.com. The 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, from Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21. 

Illini NCAA Championships Qualifiers 

125: Justin Cardani (r-Fr.) | 16-10 | First NCAA Championships Appearance
133: Travis Piotrowski (Sr.) | 26-4 | 4x NCAA Qualifier
141: Dylan Duncan (r-Jr.) | 19-10 | 3x NCAA Qualifier
157: Eric Barone (r-Sr.) | 15-13 | 3x NCAA Qualifier
165: Danny Braunagel (r-Fr.) | 23-9 | First NCAA Championships Appearance
174: Joey Gunther (r-Sr.) | 17-9 | 4x NCAA Qualifier
184: Zac Braunagel (r-Fr.) | 21-10 | First NCAA Championships Appearance

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