Updated Brackets

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Illinois wrestling advanced two wrestlers to the quarterfinal round of the 55^th Ken Kraft Midlands tournament on Friday afternoon inside the Sears Centre. Redshirt junior Emery Parker (184 pounds) and redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan (redshirt freshman) each won twice in the first session to advance to tonight's quarterfinal round, while eight other Illini remain alive in consolation brackets. Session two begins tonight at 7 p.m. central time and can be streamed live with a subscription to BTN Plus or FloWrestling.

The third seed at 184 pounds, Parker survived a first round scare before a dominating second round victory punched his ticket into the quarterfinals. Trailing Anthony Mancini (Unat. Franklin) 5-3 with a minute remaining in the third period, Parker pushed the match into sudden victory with a takedown, riding Mancini out to keep the match tied. With the momentum back in his corner, Parker put Mancini away with a takedown early in the extra one-minute period to stave off the upset bid. The redshirt junior carried the momentum of the overtime victory into his second-round match against Purdue's Max Lyon, using a nine-point second period to pace him to a 16-4 major decision and a spot in the round of eight. Parker will look to put an end to upset-minded Kayne MacCallum of Eastern Michigan after MacCallum picked off 11^th-seeded Kordel Norfleet (Arizona State) and sixth-seeded Joe Hayob (Penn) in the opening two rounds.  

Outscoring his opponents 14-3 between his two matches in session one, fourth-seeded No. 20 Dylan Duncan advanced to the quarterfinal round on the backs of a decision and major decision. In round one, Duncan posted a shutout of Noah Gonser (Eastern Michigan). Duncan, then, got to his offense against second round foe Caleb Richardson (Old Dominion) with three takedowns and a four-point nearfall to spur the win. Duncan draws Iowa's Paul Glynn in Friday night's quarterfinal bout.

Four Illini won their first matches of the day, but were foiled by tough second-round opponents that ended their run in the championship bracket.

Narrowly missing the quarterfinals, 149-pounder Eric Barone wrestled in the tightest match of the morning session, dropping the decision in the second tiebreaker to Arizona State's Jason Tsirtis. Tied 2-2 through seven minutes, Barone and Tsirtis battled through two scoreless sets of one-minute sudden victory rounds and two tiebreakers, only conceding escape points. At the end of the second tiebreaker the score remained tied, 4-4, but Tsirtis' 19 seconds of riding time advantage earned him the spot in the quarterfinals.  

At 125 pounds, seventh-seeded No. 15 Travis Piotrowski extended his winning streak to start his sophomore season to eight victories with a dominating 18-1 tech fall over Dan Utterback of Northwestern, finishing the Wildcat off with a pair of four-point near falls. Facing a strong 10^th seed in unattached Iowa freshmen Spencer Lee in round two, Piotrowski saw his winning streak come to an end with a 17-2 tech fall by the three-time Pennsylvania state champion.

Redshirt freshman Mike Carr advanced to the second round in his first Midlands tournament by way of an 8-4 decision against Pete Lipari (Rutgers) in his opening bout. Meeting the top seeded No. 20 Mason Smith (Central Michigan), Carr held the Chippewa grappler scoreless through two periods, but Smith broke through for an escape and a takedown in the third frame to win the match, 3-0.

At heavyweight, Duece Rachal earned a pair of pins on Friday, advancing to the second round of the championship bracket with a 4:16 pin of Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State). With a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, Rachal battled fourth seed No. 10 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) for seven minutes, but fell 4-2 to the ranked Terrapin. Once in the consolation bracket, Rachal again got another wrestler on his back, this time earning the fall of Northern Illinois' Ross Sealby at the 4:05 mark.

Four other Illini also remain alive in wrestlebacks this evening after bouncing back following first-round losses. 157-pounder Kyle Langenderfer rebounded from an opening-round loss  by earning three takedowns in route to a 6-4 decision over Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois). Likewise,  Lee went 1-1 at 197 pounds with a pair of close 3-2 decisions to begin his Midlands tournament. A pair of unattached Illini true freshmen remain alive in wrestlebacks, as Abdullah Assaf (133 pounds) went 1-1 in session one, while Matt Wroblewski (197 pounds) went 0-1 and will begin consolation action on Friday evening.

Not making the trip due to illness, two-time champion Isaiah Martinez is not competing this weekend after winning the 165-pound title in 2016 and the 157-pound championship in 2014.

For complete coverage of Fighting Illini wrestling, go to FIGHTINILLINI.com and follow @IlliniWrestling on Twitter and Instagram.

Illinois Quarterfinalists (Seed in parentheses):

184: (3) #12 Emery Parker (r-Jr.) // 2-0

Champ Round 1: Parker dec. Anthony Mancini (Unat. Franklin), 7-5 (SV-1)
Champ Round 2: Parker major dec. Max Lyon (Purdue), 16-4
Quarterfinals: Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan)

133: (4) #20 Dylan Duncan (r-Fr.) // 2-0

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Duncan major dec. Noah Gonser (Eastern Michigan), 11-3 
Champ Round 3: Duncan dec. (13) Caleb Richardson (Old Dominion), 3-0 
Quarterfinals: Paul Glynn (Iowa)

Illinois in Consolation Brackets (Seed in parentheses):

125: (7) #15 Travis Piotrowski (So.) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Piotrowski tech fall Dan Utterback (Northwestern), 18-1
Champ Round 3: (10) Spencer Lee (Unat. Iowa) tech fall Piotrowski, 17-2
Cons. Round 3: (4) #14 Ryan Millof (Arizona State)

133: Abdullah Assaf (Unattached) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: (3) #13 Korbin Myers (Edinboro) major dec. Assaf, 11-3
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3: Dec. Joe Lobeck (Unat. Lehigh), 13-6
Cons. Round 4: (9) Markus Simmons (Iowa State)

141: Mike Carr (r-Fr.) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Carr dec. Pete Lipari (Rutgers), 8-4
Champ Round 3: (1) #20 Mason Smith (Central Michigan) dec. Carr, 3-0
Cons. Round 3: Sa'Deria Perry (Eastern Michigan)

149: (12) Eric Barone (r-So.) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Barone dec. Nicholas Palumbo (Buffalo), 3-0
Champ Round 3: (5) Jason Tsirtis (Arizona State) dec. Barone, 5-4 (TB-2)
Cons. Round 3: Dante Rodriguez (Iowa State)

157: (8) #13 Kyle Langenderfer (r-Sr.) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Hunter Willits (Oregon State) dec. Langenderfer, 5-4
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3: Langenderfer dec. Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois), 6-4
Cons. Round 4: Luke Weber (Nebraska)

197: Andre Lee (r-Jr.) // 1-1

Champ Round 1: Cade Belshay (Arizona State) dec. Lee, 3-2
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2: Lee dec. Zachary Chakonis (Northwestern), 3-2
Cons. Round 3: Regis Durbrin (Northwestern)

197: Matt Wroblewski (Unattached) // 0-1

Champ Round 1: (1) #6 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) dec. Wroblewski, 8-3
Cons. Round 1: Bye
Cons. Round 2:

HWT: Deuce Rachal (r-Jr.) // 2-1

141: Dylan Thurston (r-Fr.) // 0-2

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: (7) Cole Martin (Wisconsin) dec. Thurston, 4-1
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3:  Jack Hathaway (Oregon State) dec. Thurston, 8-4
Dylan Thurston is eliminated

149: Isaac Reinemann (r-Jr.) // 1-2

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: (10) Patrick Lugo (Unat. Iowa) dec. Reinemann, 7-4
Cons. Round 2: Reinemann dec. Nolan Saxton (Unat. Central Michigan), 7-6
Cons. Round 3: Tyler Meisinger (Michigan) dec. Reinemann, 4-0
Isaac Reinemann is eliminated

157: Johnny Mologousis (Unattached) // 1-2

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Mologousis tech fall  Anthony Petrone (Northwestern)
Champ Round 3: (12) Jordan Laster (Unat. Princeton) dec. Mologousis, 7-4
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3: Spencer Nagy (Edinboro) dec. Mologousis, 5-2
Johnny Mologousis is eliminated

157: Nick Gasbarro (r-So.) // 0-2

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: (7) John Vanschenkbri (Rutgers) tech fall Gasbarro, 15-0
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3: Alex Smythe (Unat. Buffalo) dec. Gasnbarro, 3-2
Nick Gasbarro is eliminated

174: David Riojas (Fr.) // 0-2

Champ Round 1: Bye
Champ Round 2: Myles Terry (Oregon State) dec. Riojas, 11-5
Cons. Round 2: Bye
Cons. Round 3: Jake Lanning (Unat. Buffalo) dec. Riojas, 10-8
David Riojas is eliminated