CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 7 Illinois hosts No. 13 Purdue at Huff Hall at 7 p.m. in a Big Ten dual on Friday night. The Illini look to build upon their strong start to the 2021 campaign following a pair of ranked wins last Sunday over No. 8 Ohio State and No. 22 Wisconsin. Friday night's dual will feature several ranked matches between the Fighting Illini and the Boilermakers, and all of the action will be streamed on BTN+.
PROBABLE STARTERS
| No. 7 Illinois |
|
No. 13 Purdue |
| Wrestler |
Record |
Weight Class |
Wrestler |
Record |
| No. 15 Justin Cardani |
2-1 |
125 lbs. |
No. 3 Devin Schroder |
1-0 |
| No. 15 Lucas Byrd |
3-0 |
133 lbs. |
Nate Cummings |
0-1 |
| No. 12 Dylan Duncan |
1-0 |
141 lbs. |
No. 19 Parker Filius -OR- Bjorn Schroeder |
0-0; 1-0 |
| No. 7 Mike Carr |
2-1 |
149 lbs. |
No. 9 Griffin Parriott -OR- Trey Kruse |
0-0; 0-1 |
| Johnny Mologousis |
1-2 |
157 lbs. |
No. 5 Kendall Coleman |
1-0 |
| No. 8 Danny Braunagel |
3-0 |
165 lbs. |
Gerrit Nijenhuis |
0-0 |
| DJ Shannon |
0-2 |
174 lbs. |
No. 12 Emil Soehnlen |
1-0 |
| No. 8 Zac Braunagel |
2-1 |
184 lbs. |
No. 14 Max Lyon -OR- Macartney Parkinson -OR- Mitch Hutmacher |
0-0; 1-0; 0-0 |
| Matt Wroblewski |
3-0 |
197 lbs. |
No. 22 Thomas Penola -OR- Trevor Blue |
1-0; 0-0 |
| No. 6 Luke Luffman |
3-0 |
HWT |
Jamarcus Grant -OR- Dorian Keys |
0-0; 1-0 |
|
QUICK HITS
- No. 7 Illinois hosts No. 13 Purdue in a Big Ten dual meet on Friday night.
- Illinois is 58-29-2 all time against the Boilermakers. The last matchup was in Champaign last season when the Illini fell to the Boilermakers, 18-14.
- The Illini are ranked in the top ten (No. 10) of the NWCA D1 Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017.
- Seven Illini wrestlers are ranked in the top-25 across multiple ranking websites. Their highest respective rankings are as follows: Justin Cardani (No. 15), Lucas Byrd (No. 15), Dylan Duncan (No. 12), Mike Carr (No. 7), Danny Braunagel (No. 8), Zac Braunagel (No. 8), Luke Luffman (No. 6).
- Sophomore Luke Luffman jumped up to No. 6 in the national rankings following ranked wins over Wisconsin's No. 5 Trent Hillger and Ohio State's No. 6 Tate Orndorff.
- Four Illini wrestlers are off to 3-0 starts in Lucas Byrd (133-pounds), Danny Braunagel (165-pounds), Matt Wroblewski (197-pounds), and Luke Luffman (HWT).
- Illinois is ranked on all major ranking websites, with their highest ranking being No. 7 on the FloWrestling team dual rankings.
- The Illini will start freshman Luke Odom at 165-pounds.
ILLINI NOTES
Last Time Out
The Illini hosted No. 8 Ohio State and No. 22 Wisconsin last Sunday in a tri-meet at State Farm Center. Illinois picked up wins over both opponents, and multiple Illini wrestlers picked up multiple wins going 2-0 on the afternoon. The Illini are off to a 3-0 start to the Big-Ten only 2021 season.
Illini Wrestlers in the National Rankings
Illinois has seven wrestlers ranked in the top-25 across multiple ranking websites. Their highest respective rankings are as follows: Justin Cardani (No. 15), Lucas Byrd (No. 15), Dylan Duncan (No. 12), Mike Carr (No. 7), Danny Braunagel (No. 8), Zac Braunagel (No. 8), Luke Luffman (No. 6).
Illinois Wrestling Returns to Top Ten
For the first time since 2017, Illinois is ranked in the top ten of the NWCA D1 Coaches Poll, sitting at No. 10 after jumping up 14 spots from No. 24. The Illini are also ranked No. 7 in the FloWrestling dual team rankings which were released on Wednesday.
Illini to Watch
Sophomore Luke Luffman is ranked No. 5 in FloWrestling's individual national rankings after he picked up two impressive wins in Sunday's tri-meet, defeating Wisconsin's No. 5 Trent Hillger and Ohio State's No. 6 Tate Orndorff. Sophomore Luke Byrd is off to a hot start for the Illini this season, starting the season 3-0 and moving up the national rankings to No. 15 at 133-pounds. Justin Cardani will have his hands full on Friday night, going up against Purdue's No. 3 Devin Schroder. Cardani is 2-1 on the season with a ranked win over Indiana's Brock Hudkins on January 10.
Scouting the Boilermakers
No. 13 Purdue has two top-five wrestlers in No. 3 Brock Hudkins (125-pounds) and No. 5 Kendall Coleman (157-pounds). Last time out, the Boilermakers took eight of 10 matches from No. 22 Northwestern in both teams' season debuts Friday.
*Opponent rankings from FloWrestling
UP NEXT FOR THE ILLINI
Illinois heads to Iowa City for a tri-meet with the No. 1 Hawkeyes and No. 2 Michigan on January 31. The Illini will square off with the Wolverines at 1 p.m., followed by Iowa at 3 p.m. Both meets will be streamed on BTN+.
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.
