Brackets | Photos
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Illinois 184-pounder wrestler Emery Parker will wrestle for a Midlands title on Saturday night at the Sears Centre after defeating (2) #9 Nicholas Gravina of Rutgers in his semifinal bout, 2-1. Illini 133-pound redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan remains alive in the consolation bracket and will wrestle for fifth place tonight. Tonight's first-, third- and fifth-place matches will be streamed live on BTN Plus and FloWrestling at 7 p.m. central time. A subscription is required for both platforms.
Prior to finals, current Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan and former Illini head coach Mark Johnson will be inducted into the Midlands Hall of Fame.
For the fifth time in the last six seasons, the Orange and Blue will have a wrestler on the center mat for finals at Midlands. Dating back to the 2012 championship team, Jesse Delgado (2012), B.J. Futrell (2012), Steven Rodrigues (2013), Isaiah Martinez (2014, 2016) and Zane Richards (2014, 2016) have each reached the tournament final. Martinez won the title in both 2014 (157 pounds) and 2016 (165 pounds).
Emery Parker grinded out a victory against Big Ten foe Nicholas Gravina in his semifinal bout, using two escapes to advance. After the two ranked grapplers fought to a scoreless tie through one period, the two 184-pounders traded escapes over the next two periods. Tied 1-1, Parker took Gravina to the mat for a potential takedown midway through the third, but action was stopped due for an injury timeout called by the Rutgers wrestler. Per NCAA rules, Parker was then awarded the choice of starting position coming out of the timeout. Choosing the down position, Parker worked his way to his feet and out of the grasps of Gravina for the one-point escape. From there, Parker fended off final advances by Gravina to hold on for the 2-1 decision.
Parker will meet an old foe in tonight's 184-pound Midlands final when he wrestles Nate Jackson from Princeton. A two-time All-American at Indiana, Jackson and Parker met four times last season with Jackson getting the best of Parker in three of those matches. However, Parker's three losses came by a combined seven points with one of the matches going to sudden victory.
Also wrestling for a spot on the podium on Saturday night will be redshirt freshman Dylan Duncan in the 133-pound fifth place match. Pitted against Northwestern's Colin Valdiviez, Duncan dropped both of his session three matches after going 3-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinal round of the championship bracket.
In the championship semifinal, Duncan ran into the buzz saw of No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) in the 133-pound semifinal. Duncan managed an escape after Gross' first takedown, but gave up 12 back points on the way to a 16-1, first-period tech fall. Gross has won all of his matches by tech fall or fall, scoring 83 points in his five matches.
Duncan returned later in the session in the consolation semifinal against No. 7 seed Mickey Phillippi (Unat. Pittsburgh). Trailing 4-2 late in the third period, Duncan scrambled for a takedown as time expired to send the match into sudden victory. After a scoreless one minute period, Mickey earned an escape to start the first tiebreaker and then rode out Duncan to win the match, 5-4.
125-pounder Travis Piotrowski dropped his lone match of the day, an 8-4 decision to No. 9 seed Zeke Moisey that eliminated the Illini sophomore for competition. Moisey built an early 4-1 lead on the backs of two takedowns, and then pushed his riding time past the one-minute mark. Piotrowski got to his offense in the third period, netting a takedown to cut the deficit to 5-4, however, Moisey rebounded with another takedown to fend off Piotrowski's comeback.
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Illini Notes:
- The Illini have qualified a wrestler for the finals at Midlands in five of the last six seasons. Isaiah Martinez won an individual title in 2016 and 2014. Steven Rodrigues placed runner-up in 2013, while Jesse Delgado and B.J. Futrell took second in 2012. In 2015, the Illini did not send their regular starters to the tournament.
- Emery Parker will wrestle top-seeded Nate Jackson (Unat. Princeton) in the 184-pound title bout. Parker and Jackson met four times last season when Jackson was a senior at Indiana, going 1-3 against the two-time All-American.
- Parker will be wrestling in his first-place match at Midlands after going 2-2 last season at the tournament. Parker placed runner-up at the Roadrunner Open on November 18.
- Head coach Jim Heffernan and former Illini head coach Mark Johnson are the first and second Illini to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday night.
- Emery Parker (4-1), Dylan Duncan (3-2) and Travis Piotrowski (3-2) each surpassed their win total from last year's Midlands where each wrestler won two matches.
Illinois Finalists (Seed in parentheses):
184: (3) #12 Emery Parker (r-Jr.) // 4-0
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: Parker dec. Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan), 8-5
Semifinals: Parker dec. (2) #9 Nick Gravina (Rutgers), 2-1
1st Place Match: vs. (1) Nate Jackson (Unat. Princeton)
Illinois in Fifth Place Matches (Seed in parentheses):
133: (4) #20 Dylan Duncan (r-Fr.) // 3-2
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: Duncan dec. Paul Glynn (Iowa), 6-1
Semifinals: (1) #1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) tech fall Duncan, 16-1
Cons. Semifinals: (7) Mickey Phillippi (Unat. Pittsburgh) dec. Duncan, 5-4 (TB-1)
5th Place Match: vs. Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern)
Illinois in Consolation Brackets (Seed in parentheses):
125: (7) #15 Travis Piotrowski (So.) // 3-2
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: Piotrowski medical forfeit (4) #14 Ryan Millof (Arizona State)
Cons. Round 4: Piotrowski dec. (15) Kyle Akins (Buffalo), 2-1
Cons. Round 5: vs. (9) #19 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) dec. Piotrowski, 8-4
Travis Piotrowski eliminated
