CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After winning six of their last seven duals to finish in a tie for fourth in the Big Ten, the Illini travel to Bloomington, Indiana for the 2017 Big Ten Championships. Held inside Assembly Hall, the action begins with opening round matches on Saturday, March 4 and concludes with the championship round Sunday, March 5 at 2 p.m. central time on Big Ten Network. The first three sessions of the tournament will be available with a subscription to BTN Plus and on the BTN2Go app.
Quick Hits
Eight Illini Receive Big Ten Pre Seeds
Eight Fighting Illini wrestlers received pre-seeds for the upcoming Big Ten Championships, held March 4-5 in Bloomington, Indiana. Two-time Big Ten champion Isaiah Martinez will be the top seed at 165 pounds, while Zane Richards (4th/133), Mousa Jodeh (14th/141), Eric Barone (7th/149), Kyle Langenderfer (5th/157), Zac Brunson (3rd/174), Emery Parker (6th/184) and Brooks Black (6th/HWT) are also seeded.
The Big Ten received 77 automatic bids to NCAA Championships, including nine at five different weight classes. For Big Ten weight classes with nine or more bids, the Big Ten seeded all fourteen starters. Bid allocations are determined based off of RPI, coaches rankings and win percentage against Division I opponents.
| Weight Class |
Big Ten Bids |
National At-Large Bids |
| 125 |
7 |
6 |
| 133 |
9 |
4 |
| 141 |
9 |
4 |
| 149 |
6 |
5 |
| 157 |
9 |
5 |
| 165 |
7 |
7 |
| 174 |
9 |
4 |
| 184 |
9 |
5 |
| 197 |
7 |
5 |
| HWT |
5 |
4 |
An additional 49 at-large qualifiers will be selected by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee on March 7 to bring all weight classes to a total of 33 wrestlers. The selection process for at-large bids will be made based on head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches' ranking, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage.
RPI and Coaches' Rankings
Eight Illinois wrestlers are ranked in either the RPI Rankings or the Coaches' Poll heading into conference tournaments.
Weight Classes to Watch
165 Pounds - No. 1 seed Isaiah Martinez
A top-heavy weight class, the 165-pound bracket will feature the top four ranked wrestlers in the country, but only received six automatic bids to NCAA Championships which is the second fewest among the 10 weight classes. Martinez (23-0) enters with victories against No. 2 Logan Massa, a 3-1 decision on January 20 in Champaign, and No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph, a 5-2 decision in University Park. Martinez has not faced No. 3 seed Isaac Jordan, while Jordan defeated Massa and lost to Joseph.
No. 5 seed Joey Gunther (Iowa) and No. 6 seed Nick Wanzek (Minnesota) are also ranked entering the tournament, checking in at 16th and 17th according to InterMat.
133 Pounds - No. 4 seed Zane Richards
One of the five weight classes to receive nine automatic bids to NCAA Championships, 133 pounds features both talent and depth. Richards has familiarity with two of the top wrestlers in the bracket, having a combined 12 previous matches against Cory Clark (Iowa) and Eric Montoya (Nebraska). Richards went 1-2 against Clark last season, but has not faced the Hawkeye senior this year. Richards and Montoya have wrestled six times in college, including twice this year. Richards defeated Montoya at the NWCA All-Star Classic, but dropped the Midlands title bout to the Husker senior.
The two new entrants to the class this year, No. 1 seed Nathan Tomasello and No. 5 seed Stevan Micic, split their duals against Richards this season. Tomasello earned a major decision against Richards in Columbus, while Micic lost by decision in Champaign earlier this season.
174 Pounds - No. 3 seed Zac Brunson
With 2016 Big Ten Champion Bo Nickal wrestling at 184 pounds this season, Brunson will try to get back to the title bout after finishing runner-up to Nickal last season.
A pair of newcomers to the weight class, No. 1 seed Bo Jordan (Ohio State) and No. 2 seed Mark Hall (Penn State), will be Brunson's biggest tests. Jordan was a two-time All-American and Big Ten runner-up at 165 pounds, while Mark Hall is a true freshman who became Penn State's starter beginning on January 21.
Brunson enters the weekend with a victory over both the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, defeating Myles Amine 3-2 on January 20 and Alex Meyer 9-5 in the third place match at Midlands. Brunson pinned Meyer (2:00) in the semifinals of last year's Big Ten Championships.
