Defending Big Ten champion Mario Gonzalez is the No. 3 seed at 197 and receives a first-round bye at the 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.

March 8, 2013

2013 Big Ten Championship Brackets | Championship Central | Illinois Notes

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The brackets for the 2013 Big Ten Championships have been drawn after pre-seeds for all weight classes were confirmed by the conference coaches on Friday. Four of the seven Illinois' seeded wrestlers have first-round byes.

The seeded Illinois wrestlers are as follows: No. 3 Jesse Delgado (125), No. 5 Daryl Thomas (133), No. 6 Caleb Ervin (149), No. 2 Conrad Polz (165), No. 6 Jordan Blanton (174), No. 6 Tony Dallago (184), and No. 3 Mario Gonzalez (197).

Complete brackets can be found in the PDF link above and first and second-round matches are listed below for the Illinois competitors.

This year is the 99th edition of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. Competition begins at 10 a.m. CT Saturday, March 9 and runs through Sunday, March 10. Get all the information for the conference championships on the championship central page here.

125: No. 3 Jesse Delgado (ILL) vs. Eric Coufal (NEB)
Winner takes on No. 6 Camden Eppert (PUR)

133: No. 5 Daryl Thomas (ILL) vs. Alonzo Shepherd (IND)
Winner takes on No. 4 Jordan Conaway (PSU)

141: Steven Rodrigues (ILL) vs. No. 7 Pat Greco (NU)
Winner will take on No. 2 Nick Dardanes (MINN)

149: No. 6 Caleb Ervin (ILL) receives first-round bye
Faces winner of No. 3 Dylan Ness (MINN) / Dylan Marriott (NU)

157: Matt Nora (ILL) vs. No. 2 Jason Welch (NU)
Winner takes on No. 7 Ryan Watts (MSU)

165: No. 2 Conrad Polz (ILL) receives first-round bye
Faces winner of No. 7 Ryan LeBlanc (IND) / No. 10 Pat Robinson (PUR)

174: No. 6 Jordan Blanton (ILL) vs. No. 11 Jordan Wohlfert (MSU)
Winner takes on No. 3 Robert Kokesh (NEB)

184: No. 6 Tony Dallago (ILL) receives first-round bye
Faces winner of No. 3 Josh Ihnen (NEB) / Chris Heald (MICH)

197: No. 3 Mario Gonzalez (ILL) receives first-round bye
Faces winner of No. 6 Nathan Burak (IOWA) / No. 11 Caleb Kolb (NEB)

HWT: No. 11 Christopher Lopez (ILL) vs. No. 6 Adam Chalfant (IND)
Winner takes on No. 3 Connor Medbery (WIS)