Reno Tournament Notes

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –  The Fighting Illini will compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions this Sunday, their first bracket-style competition of the season. The Champaign-Urbana grapplers enter the weekend with a perfect 8-0 record to start the season, an accomplishment last accomplished in 2004-2005 when they won the Big Ten Championship. No. 6 Oklahoma State headlines the list of opponents for the Illini, creating a field that will test the Orange and Blue as they prepare Midlands and the Big Ten. The Illini open Big Ten duals with the defending NCAA National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes at Huff Hall on January 3.

Isaiah Martinez continued his dominance on the mat, netting consecutive wins 48-50 in New York, including a dual-changing technical fall against No. 25 Princeton that gave the Illini a 10-9 lead. For his performance over the course of the weekend, Martinez was honored with Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, the second time in his career he has received the weekly recognition.

Junior Zac Brunson (174) continues to pile up the pins, adding his fifth on the season against Josh Snook of Maryland at Madison Square Garden. His next fall will mark the same number of pins in his first three seasons combined (6).

Since switching to 165 pounds, Steven Rodrigues has started the season 8-0, his best start since his freshman year at Rutgers. The senior has won six of his eight bouts by major decision or more, two of which were technical falls.

The Fighting Illini enter Reno with six wrestlers ranked in the top-20 in their respective classes, four of whom are ranked inside the top-10. No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (8-0), No. 3 Zane Richards (8-0), No. 9 Steven Rodrigues (8-0) and No. 4 Zac Brunson (7-0) have combined for a perfect 31-0 record through the season's first month.

Steven Rodrigues (#8) and Zac Brunson (#4) enter the Reno Tournament with the highest ranking of their careers, and both of them holding claim to perfect records through the first month of the season.

The 10th ranked Illini will be joined by Big 12 power #6 Oklahoma State and Big Ten foe Indiana along with 21 other teams in the bracket-style tournament. #5 Kilmara and #1 Dean Heil of Oklahoma State enter as favorites at 125 and 141 pounds, while #1 Isaiah Martinez and #3 Zane Richards will be the favorite to win their respective classes for the Illini. #9 Steven Rodrigues and #4 Zac Brunson will look to dethrone Oklahoma State's top-ranked Alex Dieringer and Kyle Crutchmer as the top wrestlers at 165 and 174 pounds. 184 pounds will be up for grabs with #16 Jeff Koepke the lone ranked competitor, while 197 features three wrestlers in the top-20. Concluding the weight classes, Brooks Black will take on his toughest competition yet as #4 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon St.) and #5 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma St.) also look to make their way through the bracket.

No. 1 Isaiah Martinez received the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week award after he notched wins 6-8 in New York on November 29.  He recorded 16 total points scored against Maryland, Drexel, and No. 25 Princeton, but his biggest moment came with the Illini down 9-5 against Princeton. Martinez sparked a 15-0 run with a 17-2 technical fall against Francesco Frabozzi to regain the lead for the Orange and Blue. This is the second time Martinez's has received this honor.

The Fighting Illini improved to 8-0 on the season with three victories as part of the Grapple at the Garden, beating a Big Ten foe and a top-25 opponent. After beating Maryland (34-9) and Drexel (31-9) at the Garden, the Orange and Blue took down No. 25 Princeton at the NY Athletic Club. Trailing 9-5 entering 157 pounds, Martinez, Rodrigues, Brunson, and Koepke combined for 15 points to put away the Tigers 20-15, the team's second top-25 win on the season

The Fighting Illini opened the home slate of the season with two dual victories over Arizona State and SIU Edwardsville. The victory over the Sun Devils was a back-and-forth battle for the first half of the duals, but Rodrigues (MD) and Brunson (Fall) put away the match, combining for 11 points as Illinois won 28-9. The Orange and Blue disposed of SIUE 41-3, a match that featured falls from Martinez, Brunson, and Black.

The Fighting Illini swept their opening weekend of competition, defeating Olivet College, Utah Valley, and Clarion by scores of 42-3, 32-6, and 34-6. The team combined for a 108 dual points, with the team combining for eight pins on the day.

The Orange and Blue moved up to No. 9 in the latest W.I.N Magazine top-25 poll after beginning the season at No. 10. Seven Illini are in the top-20 at their respective weight classes, with Richards (133), Martinez (157), and Brunson (174) in the top-10.

Isaiah Martinez and Jeff Koepke both won for the fifth time in an Illini singlet. Martinez earned his against Utah Valley's Morgan Way (TF 22-7), his 44th straight win. Koepke finished off his 50th career win against Clarion's Dominic Rigous (D 7-4).

After wrestling at 141 pounds for most of his career, Steven Rodrigues will make the jump up to 165 pounds for his senior season. Jeff Koepke also makes a switch this season, moving from 197 pounds to 184.

After going 12-11 during the 2013-14 wrestling season for Coach Heffernan, the sophomore transferred to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. He began his SIUE career last weekend with a perfect record, winning the 149-pound bracket at the Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa.
 

Illinois is led by defending 157-pound champion, Isaiah Martinez after his undefeated redshirt-freshman season. Joining him are Zane Richards (133), Kyle Langenderfer (149), Steven Rodrigues (165), Zac Brunson (184), Jeff Koepke (184), and Brooks Black (HWT). 

In July, the NCAA approved drop-down, neutral position stalling rules after they were experimented with last season.  The rule states that:

 "The referee will immediately begin a five-second count for stalling once the offensive wrestler positions himself with one or both hands below the buttocks of the defensive wrestler. The referee will stop the count when the offensive wrestler improves his position, moves his hold above the buttocks of the defensive wrestler or releases the hold. If the referee reaches a five-count, the offensive wrestler will be called for stalling. Additionally, if the offensive wrestler lifts the defensive wrestler's leg off the mat and both wrestlers reach the standing position, the referee will stop the five-second count. But if the offensive wrestler does not continue to attempt to return the defensive wrestler to the mat, the referee can call stalling, as in the past, without the five-second count."

For near falls, the offensive wrestler will be awarded two points if the referee gets to a two-count and four points if the referee reaches a four-count.

The Big Ten Conference enters the 15-16 campaign with ten teams inside the top-25 across multiple polls. The conference is coming off a year where Ohio State and Iowa tied for the Big Ten title, and then Buckeyes brought home the national title as well. The defending champs enter the season ranked as high as fifth (USA Today) with Iowa as high as second (W.I.N.) Joining the reigning champs will be Penn State and Michigan, both ranked among  the top-five in Intermat and USA Today to begin the season, after they posted top-five team finishes at Big Ten Championships last March. Wisconsin and Nebraska also don a top-10 ranking to begin play this year, with Illinois just behind them. The Orange and Blue will face off against eight of the nine other ranked Big Ten foes this season, five of which will come at Huff Hall.

With a veteran squad, the Fighting Illini will play host to a Big Ten Conference slate that is one of the best in recent memory. The home schedule begins with consecutive top-10 matchups against 2015 Co-Big Ten and NCAA Champion Ohio State (Jan. 3) and Co-Big Ten Champion Iowa (Jan. 8). Later in the month the Orange and Blue will welcome in top-ranked Penn State for a January 23 dual on Big Ten Network. The Illini wrap up the regular season with home meets against preseason top-25 Northwestern and Minnesota, Feb. 7 and 12 respectively.