CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –After sweeping their two dual meets last weekend at Huff Hall, the Orange and Blue conclude their three-match home stand with Michigan State (4-7, 1-4) on Friday, January 27. Following their match against Michigan State, the Illini travel to Tempe, Arizona for a dual against No. 19 Arizona State at 5 p.m. CST on Sunday, January 29. 

The Illini will host 'WrestleMania' on Friday night against the Spartans. The first 200 fans through the door will receive free pizza, while 250 singlet t-shirts will be given out as well. Students entering with a University of Illinois ID will be entered into a raffle for a 40" smart TV.

	#13 Illinois vs. Michigan State
When	Friday, January 27 // 7 p.m. CST
Where	Huff Hall // Champaign, IL
Follow Live	Live Results
Watch	Live Stream (Free)
Team Information	Meet Notes | Season Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts
Social Media	@IlliniWrestling  | #Illini | @Illinwrestling  | Facebook | YouTube

	#13 Illinois at #19 Arizona State
When	Sunday, January 20 // 5 p.m. CST (4 p.m. MT)
Where	Wells Fargo Arena // Tempe, AZ
Follow Live	Live Results
Watch	Live Stream (Free)
Team Information	Meet Notes | Season Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts
Social Media	@IlliniWrestling  | #Illini | @Illinwrestling  | Facebook | YouTube

Probable Wrestlers

Quick Hits

*The Illini will host 'WrestleMania' on Friday night against Michgian State. The first 300 fans through the door will receive free pizza, while 250 singlet t-shirts will be given out as well. Students entering with a University of Illinois ID will be entered into a raffle for a 40" smart TV.

*Michigan State leads the all-time series against the Illini, 40-19-3 dating back to 1946. However, the Orange and Blue have won each of the last three meetings, including a 32-10 victory in East Lansing. Illinois is 2-0 all-time against Arizona State, both victories coming in the last three years.

*Six Illini are currently ranked in their respective weight classes according to Intermat: #1 Isaiah Martinez (17-0), #6 Zane Richards (16-2), #12 Zac Brunson (21-4), #13 Emery Parker (20-4), #15 Brooks Black (7-3) and #18 Kyle Langenderfer (157). The team checks in at #13 in the latest Intermat dual rankings and #11 in the tournament index.

*Zac Brunson entered the Illinois' all-time wins list with a 3-2 upset victory over No. 8 Myles Amine (Michigan) on Friday, January 20. His 96 career victories tie him with former Illini Nate Patrick who has 96 wins. 

*Kyle Langenderfer (16-4) is ranked for the first time this season, debuting at No. 18 in the latest Intermat rankings. The redshirt junior is coming off of a 2-1 overtime victory against No. 9 Brian Murphy (Michigan), and has more than doubled his win total from last season (7) since moving up a weight class.

*Isaiah Martinez officially qualified for Illinois' all-time win percentage record, overtaking Matt Lackey (0.896) with his record of 84-1 (.988). Lackey tallied 120 wins in 134 matches for a 0.896 win-percentage from 2000-03. Zane Richards (98-22) sits in 11th place on the all-time win-percentage list with a .817 mark. 

*Redshirt senior Zane Richards moved into a tie for 23rd place on Illinois' all-time career win list with his tech fall of Alijah Jeffery of Northern Illinois on Jan. 22, 2017. Next up is Jesse Delgado with 101 wins.  

Series History

Michigan Series History: MSU Leads 40-19-3

Meeting for the 63rd time, the Spartans hold the upper hand with 40 wins against the Orange and Blue.

However, the Illini have won each of the last three matches. Last season, the Illini beat the Spartans 32-10 in East Lansing on January 17. Current Illini Zac Brunson, Brooks Black, Zane Richards, Kyle Langenderfer and Isaiah Martinez each picked up victories for Coach Heffernan. 

ASU Series History: ILL Leads 2-0

Illinois will be facing Arizona State for the first time in Tempe on Sunday. Illinois first faced the Sun Devils back in 2013, beating them 27-11 in Frankforf, Illinois. The two schools matched up again last season in Champaign where the Illini won by a score of 27-9.

Weight Classes to Watch: Michigan St.

141

Coming off of a win against Angel Velasquez, Mousa Jodeh (10-11) will wrestle Michigan State's Javier Gasca III on Friday evening.  Gasca (20-6) is Michigan State's most notable wrestler this season. Moving up from 133 pounds, the redshirt junior began his season by winning both the Eastern Michigan Open and Michigan State Open. In a dual aganst Lock Haven, Gasca picked up his lone ranked win of the season, defeating No. 16 Ronnie Perry by a 9-7 decision.  Jodeh and Gasca both enter with common victories against Angel Velasquez (NIU) and Jhared Simmons (Maryland).

125

Illinois' Travis Piotrowski (11-8) will look to bounce back after a tough loss to Kirk Johansen of Northern Illinois last Sunday when he wrestles either redshirt freshman Logan Griffin (16-8) or redshirt junior Mitch Rogaliner (11-8).

Prior to the loss, Piotrowski had won three Big Ten matches in a row, including an upset of No. 12 Jose Rodriguez (Ohio State) on January 15.

Griffin has been the starter at 125 pounds for each of the Spartan's Big Ten duals, going 3-1, with wins over Skyler Petry (Minnesota), Anthony Rubinetti (Northwestern) and Alex Vargas (Maryland).

165

After defeating No. 2 Logan Massa (Michigan) last Friday night to remain unbeaten this season, No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (17-0) will battle Drew Hughes on Friday night.

While Hughes (20-4) is not ranked entering the match, the redshirt freshman does hold claim an 8-3 record in duals and an upset of No. 12 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Martinez and Hughes have common opponents in Cody Burcher (Ohio State), Logan Massa (Michigan), Andrew Scott (NIU) and Joe Tavoso (Princeton). Hughes is 3-1 in those matches, his lone defeat coming in a 8-4 decision to Massa. 
 

Weight Classes to Watch: Arizona St.

Much like the dual against Michigan, the Illini and Sun Devils are evenly matched as both squads entering with ranked wrestlers at 157, 165, 174 and heavyweight. No. 6 Zane Richards (133) is the only ranked grappler who won't be opposed by a ranked wrestler.

157

Ranked for the first time this season, Kyle Langenderfer (16-4) is coming off of the highest ranked victory of his career, a 2-1-overtime decision against No. 9 Briana Murphy (Michigan). Checking in a No. 18 in the last InterMat rankings, Langenderfer will get another top-10 test on Sunday in Tempe, as he faces No. 6 Josh Shields (27-6).

Shields has placed at two major tournaments this season, taking third at Midlands and fifth at Cliff Keen. Shields has wins over common opponents with Langenderfer in Brian Murphy (Michigan), Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) and John Van Brill (Rutgers).

165

The No.1 Isaiah Martinez (17-0) and No. 9 Anthony Valencia (26-4) bout will be a rematch of this year's Midlands semifinal round. On December 30, Martinez used a big second period to overcome the Sun Devil, a 10-1 major decision. Valencia has not dropped a match since their last meeting and is 10-0 in dual matches. One of Valencia's other three loses came in to Logan Massa in the Cliff Keen semifinals, a 6-3 decision, on December 3.
 

HWT

The heavyweight bout will again be a battle between ranked foes, as No. 15 Brooks Black (7-3) wrestles No. 7 Tanner Hall (22-5) in a rematch of last season's 4-3 victory by Black at Huff Hall.

Following a three-match absence due to injury, Brooks Black returned to the Illini lineup last weekend and promptly pinned both of his opponents in less than 40 seconds.

In contrast, Hall is coming off of his fifth loss of the season, a 4-2 decision in the second sudden victory against No. 11 Nathan Butler (Stanford). Prior to the loss, Hall had won 10 straight matches, including a Midlands title before the New Year.

Brunson Joins Richards on All-Time Wins list

With a 3-2 upset of No. 8 Myles Amine, Zac Brunson entered Illinois' all-time wins list with his 96th career victory. Tied with Nate Patrick, Brunson joins fellow classmate Zane Richards (98) on the list. Richards tied Carl Perry with his technical fall of Alijah Jeffery (NIU) on Jan. 22.

I-Mar All-Time Win-Percentage Leader

With Martinez's first match at Midlands was the 75th of his career, making him eligible for the Illinois all-time win percentage list. Upon entering the list, the Illini redshirt junior took over as the record holder with a current win percentage of .988. Richards also ranks in the top-15 of the list with a .817 percentage.
 

Pinning It Down

Zac Brunson continues to move closer to joining the school's all-time career pins list. After scoring his sixth pin of the season against Maryland's Sam Rowell, Brunson is two pins away from entering the top-10 on Illinois' all-time list. With six this season, Brunson has 18 for his career, two behind No. 10 Troy Tirapelle (2006-09) who finished his career with 20. Tony Dallago owns the school record with 40 pins from 2009-13.
 

Kyle Langenderfer Enters Ranks

After beginning the season 16-4, the Illini redshirt junior made his debut in the 157-pound rankings at No. 18. Langenderfer spent his first two seasons at 149 pounds before moving up a weight class this season. The Mokena, Illinois native dropped his opening match of the season, and then rolled off 10 wins in a row. Despite going 2-2 at Midlands, Langenderfer has bounced back with a 3-1 start in Big Ten duals and has won his last 4 matches.
 

Illini Host Indiana on BTN Feb. 12 

The Fighting Illini will make their lone dual meet appearance on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, February 12 when they host Indiana at 3 p.m. The meet is the regular season finale for the Orange and Blue and will serve as senior day for Zane Richards, Zac Brunson and Bill Barbour.