CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Winners of its last five duals, No. 15 Illinois (9-3, 6-2) is set to host No. 8 Purdue (11-5, 4-4) on Sunday, February 16 at 1 p.m. at Huff Hall. The dual will be televised live on Big Ten Network.
Sunday's matchup will be Fighting Illini Fit Day at Huff Hall. Their will be a free Zumba class prior to the dual, and the first 150 fans will receive a free Illini blender bottle.
Probable Wrestlers
| No. 15 Illinois |
|
No. 8 Purdue |
| Wrestler |
Record |
Weight Class |
Wrestler |
Record |
| #21 Justin Cardani |
14-6 |
125 lbs. |
#6 Devin Schroder |
23-4 |
| #5 Travis Piotrowski |
21-2 |
133 lbs. |
Marshall Craig V -OR- Travis Ford-Melton |
7-9; 13-11 |
| #13 Dylan Duncan |
17-6 |
141 lbs. |
Parker Filius |
16-7 |
| Mousa Jodeh |
3-13 |
149 lbs. |
Nate Limmex -OR- #19 Griffin Parriott |
10-6; 13-8 |
| Eric Barone |
10-11 |
157 lbs. |
#6 Kendall Coleman |
25-7 |
| #13 Danny Braunagel |
18-6 |
165 lbs. |
Tanner Webster |
3-11 |
| #13 Joey Gunther |
14-5 |
174 lbs. |
#4 Dylan Lydy |
27-1 |
| #13 Zac Braunagel |
17-7 |
184 lbs. |
Max Lyon |
15-12 |
| #32 Matt Wroblewski |
15-6 |
197 lbs. |
#6 Christian Brunner -OR- Jared Florell |
22-5; 4-4 |
| #26 Luke Luffman |
15-6 |
285 lbs. |
#25 Thomas Penola -OR- David Eli |
18-12; 7-9 |
Quick Hits
*Illinois enters Sunday's match 9-3 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten Duals.
*The 6-2 conference mark has Illinois in fourth place in the Big Ten standings.
*The Illini head into Sunday's home match on a five dual win streak.
*Going into Sunday's matchup at Huff Hall against No. 8 Purdue, No. 15 Illinois is 5-0 in home duals this season.
*Illinois leads the all-time series with Purdue 58-28-2. The Illini won the last matchup in West Lafayette, 21-12, on January 21, 2018.
*No. 15 Illinois swept both of its duals last weekend, winning decisively at No. 25 Rutgers, 29- 6 (Feb. 7), and at Maryland, 31-9 (Feb. 9).
*The win at Rutgers on February 7 was the 100th for Jim Heffernan as head coach of the Fighting Illini.
*The Illini won eight bouts in each of last weekend's duals.
* Senior Travis Piotrowski (133) went 2-0 last weekend to move to 21-2, matching his career-high for wins in a season.
*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 No. 25 Rutgers on Friday, February 7 and Maryland on Sunday, February 9.
No. 15 Illinois wrestling won decisively, 29-6, at No. 25 Rutgers on February 7 for its fourth straight dual victory. Senior Travis Piotrowski (133), ranked seventh-nationally in his weight class, pinned ninth-ranked Sammy Alvarez in the first period (2:43) to extend the Illini lead at the time to 9-0. The Illini also saw wins Friday from redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125), redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141), redshirt senior Eric Barone (157), redshirt freshman Danny Braunagel (165), redshirt senior Joey Gunther (174), redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (185) and freshman Luke Luffman (285).
On February 9, the Illini won its fifth straight dual, defeating Maryland, 31-9. Illinois won bouts in eight of the 10 weight classes, with victories from junior David Riojas (174), redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (184), freshman Luke Luffman (285), redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125), senior Travis Piotrowski (133), redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141), redshirt senior Mousa Jodeh (149) and redshirt senior Eric Barone (157). WIth the victories last weekend, Illinois is now 9-3 on the season and 6-2 in Big Ten duals.
Coach Heffernan Notches 100th Victory
Illinois wrestling head coach Jim Heffernan achieved his 100th career victory as head coach of the Fighting Illini with No. 15 Illinois' decisive, 29-6, win at No. 25 Rutgers on February 7. Coach Heffernan joined the Fighting Illini coaching staff in 1992, serving as an assistant for 17 years before taking over as head coach in 2009. During Heffernan's time with the Illini, Illinois has finished in the top-10 at the NCAA championships on 13 occasions, and in the top-15 in 19 of the last 22 seasons. He has mentored 11 individual national champions. In 2005, Heffernan assisted Illinois in bringing home its first Big Ten Conference tournament championship in 53 years. Assistant coach Jeremy Hunter and athletic trainer Jeffrey Jahnel have worked on Heffernan's staff since 2009.
First RPI Rankings Announced
The first NCAA ratings percentage index (RPI) rankings of the 2019-20 season were announced on Thursday. The RPI is a calculation that considers a wrestler's winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at a designated weight class are considered for the RPI, and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked in the RPI. Illinois has eight wrestlers ranked across the weight-classes in the RPI rankings, with three wrestlers in the top-10 of their weight-class and six in the top-15.
Weight: Wrestler-RPI
125: Justin Cardani - 9
133: Travis Piotrowski - 6
141: Dylan Duncan - 11
165: Danny Braunagel - 15
174: Joey Gunther - 12
184: Zac Braunagel- 9
197: Matt Wroblewski - 30
285: Luke Luffman - 30
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. 5 Travis Piotrowski (133, WrestleStat), No. 13 Dylan Duncan (141, FloWrestling, InterMat) No. 13 Danny Braunagel (165, InterMat, Trackwrestling), No. 13 Joey Gunther (174, InterMat), No. 13 Zac Braunagel (184, InterMat), No. 21 Justin Cardani (125, FloWrestling, OpenMat, Trackwrestling), No. 26 Luke Luffman (OpenMat) and No. 32 Matt Wroblewski (197, Trackwrestling).
Piotrowski Power
Senior Travis Piotrowski went 2-0 in bouts last week to move to 21-2 this season and extend his match win streak to 10 straight victories. In a battle of top-10 opponents at 133-pounds, No. 7 Piotrowski made a statement winning by Fall in the first period (2:43) against No. 9 Sammy Alvarez of Rutgers. The win was the second pin fall for Piotrowski this season, both of which have now come in Big Ten duals. Piotrowski would defeat Maryland's King Sandoval on Sunday, shutting Sandoval out in a 4-0 decision. Piotrowski's 21 wins is tied for the most he's had in a season in his career.
Starting Duals Strong
Cardani, Piotrowski and Duncan have been able to get the Illini out to early leads in dual matches this season. 11 of 12 duals the Illini have contested this season have started at 125-pounds, and Cardani (125) and Piotrowski (133) and Duncan (141) are a combined 30-4 in dual bouts this season. In the February 7 match at Rutgers which started at 125-pounds, wins by Cardani, Piotrowski and Duncan put the Illini ahead, 13-0, through the first three bouts of the dual. Piotrowski is undefeated in duals at 12-0, and Cardani has now won 10 of his last 11 dual bouts to put his record in duals at 10-2. Duncan is 7-2 in duals this season.
A Look At The Boilermakers
No. 8 Purdue enters this weekend with a record of 11-5 and a 4-4 mark in Big Ten duals. The Boilermakers lost their last matchup vs. No. 6 Nebraska, 31-9, in West Lafayette. The Purdue probable lineup for Sunday's match with Illinois features six wrestlers ranked in the top-25 nationally by FloWrestling, four of which rank in the top-10 of their respective weight-classes. The Boilermakers are led by redshirt senior Dylan Lydy, who is ranked fourth at 174-pounds and enters Sunday with a record of 27-1 for the season.
Illini To Watch
141: Dylan Duncan
Redshirt junior Dylan Duncan has won his last five bouts heading into Sunday's dual against Purdue. Duncan scored bonus points in both of his matches last weekend. In the dual against Rutgers, Duncan shutout JoJo Aragona in an 8-0 major decision to score four points for Illinois. Then on Sunday against Maryland, Duncan achieved the victory by Fall in the second period against Quinn Devaney (4:54), to earn six dual points for the Illini. Ranked 13th nationally, Duncan (17-6) is set to take on Purdue's Parker Filius (16-7) on Sunday.
285: Luke Luffman
Freshman Luke Luffman has won his last four bouts, including dual clinchers against Michigan State and No. 8 Northwestern. Last weekend, Luffman picked up both of his victories by major decision. He tallied five takedowns against Alex Esposito of Rutgers, going on to win an 11-3 major decision. Against Maryland's Parker Robinson, Luffman scored with four takedowns, a four-point nearfall, a reversal and the riding time point to take a 15-2 major decision. Ranked 26th nationally, Luffman (15-6) will be opposed in the dual against Pudue by No. 25 Thomas Penola (18-12) or David Eli (7-9).
Up Next
No. 15 Illinois will compete in its final dual of the season, hosting Fresno State on Friday, February 21 at 4 p.m. at Huff Hall. Illinois wrestling will honor seven seniors for Senior Day prior to the dual.
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