The poster made for the 2011-12 Illinois wrestling season shows seven wrestlers overlooking the St. Louis Arch. The top of the poster reads, “March to the Arch.”

That poster was made months ago. The march is over. The destination is front and center.

Thursday marks the first of the NCAA Championships, in which the Illini coincidentally will have seven wrestlers competing.

“I think obviously we’re really prepared, and I think up until this point we’ve wrestled our best in the best competition, so I don’t expect anything different from this,” Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. “I think they all got a great chance. We got seven matches in the first round, and our goal is to be 7-0 after the first round.”

Of the seven Illini competing, juniors B.J. Futrell and Jordan Blanton are vying for their second All-American honors.

The top eight finishers are considered All-Americans, and Futrell finished in the eighth spot last season.

“We’re looking to bring home multiple All-Americans, a few national champions,” Futrell said. “I’m not going there to be an All-American, I’m going there to win it.”

Blanton earned his All-American status in 2010, when he placed fifth. He suffered a season-ending back injury against Purdue in December of the following season.

It’s been two years since he last stepped on a mat at the NCAA Championships, and the junior is ready to make another appearance.

“In the future it’s going to be nice to look back and say I was an All-American, but I won’t be satisfied unless I’m a national champ two times,” Blanton said. “I’ve worked my whole life for this. I don’t train to lose, and I really just want to go out there and showcase my skills and leave it all on the mat.”

At last year’s NCAA Championships, Futrell and since-graduated three-time All-American Jimmy Kennedy were the only Illini to place.

Of this year’s crop of seven NCAA qualifiers, freshman Jesse Delgado, Futrell, Blanton and 2012 Big Ten Champion Mario Gonzalez all are seeded in the top eight.

Junior Conrad Polz is not far out of contention with a nine seed. He’s wrestled above his ranking all season, recording numerous victories over higher-ranked opponents.

“Conrad wrestled in the junior world championships,” Heffernan said. “That’s a pretty big event in itself.”

Polz, along with Delgado and Gonzalez, is making his NCAAs debut, but if anything, Illinois’ schedule has prepared the Illini for high-level national competition.

“Part of the reason we wrestled the schedule we did is so that those things wouldn’t be obstacles when we get to the national tournament,” Heffernan said. “I’m not at all concerned about those guys getting starry eyed.”

Also qualifying for the Illini are senior Eric Terrazas and sophomore Tony Dallago, who are both unseeded.

While the Illini have seven qualifiers, the goal was to have 10. The tournament’s 10 weight classes each contain 33 wrestlers.

“I think the current qualification allocation system is ridiculous and I don’t understand it,” Heffernan said. “I don’t think it gets the top 33 kids, which is what you’re after.

“In a league like ours, where our schedule is as competitive as anybody in the country, it’s not a fair assessment of our guys’ RPI,” he added. “I’ve been a critic of the system and I will continue to be a critic of the system until it shows me it can work.”

Eighty of the 330 wrestlers competing in the NCAAs come from Big Ten schools. Seventy-four of the bids were automatic qualifiers.

“This is my 25th year of college coaching and this is the deepest I’ve ever seen the Big Ten Tournament and maybe the most competitive I’ve seen the national tournament,” Heffernan said.