Luffman sets pace for freshman season
By Andrew Medina, Contributing Writer
December 12, 2019
Luke Luffman’s freshman campaign has taken off this season. Luffman began wrestling at seven-years-old when a wrestling coach spotted him at his brother’s football practice. The coach encouraged Luffman to take up wrestling. And, soon after joining, Luffman dominated the wrestling mat, eventually...
Illinois bests Northern Illinois in first home meet of the season
By Andrew Medina, Contributing Writer
December 9, 2019
The Illinois wrestling team defeated Northern Illinois in a 22-15 victory at Huff Hall Friday in the team’s first home meet of the season. Freshman Justin Cardani won the first match of the night at 125-pounds, 5-2. He took his opponent down twice and successfully controlled the match all six minute...
Illini face Huskies at home in dual-meet this Friday
By Josh Pietsch, Staff Writer
December 4, 2019
Friday, the Illinois wrestling team will square off against Northern Illinois University in a dual meet at Huff Hall. The dual marks the first home match for the Illini this season. Illinois currently has an overall record of 2-1, while Northern Illinois sits at 4-2. The Illini are coming off of an over thr...
Luffman leads Illini to victory
By Josh Pietsch, Staff Writer
November 16, 2019
The Illini wrestling team traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, Thursday to face the No. 13-ranked Missouri Tigers at Francis Howell High School. In a hard-fought and dramatic battle, the Illini were able to pull off the upset in come-from-behind fashion to defeat the Tigers 19-14. Once again the Illini w...
Illinois splits weekend at Chattanooga Duels
By Josh Pietsch, Staff Writer
November 12, 2019
The Illini traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee this weekend to compete in the Chattanooga Duels, where they split the match 1-1 Sunday. Illinois was defeated by Army West Point to start the day but earned its first dual-match win of the season by defeating the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to end the w...
Illinois opens season at Michigan State Open with two first-place victories
By Andrew Medina, Contributing writer
November 5, 2019
The Illinois wrestling team had a successful start to their season Saturday at the Michigan State Open. Eight of the wrestlers placed within the top six in their weight classes at the tournament, and two of them secured first place. Illinois arrived at 6:30 a.m. to exercise before weigh-i...
Martinez drives Illini toward upcoming season
By JJ Kim, Assistant Sports Editor
October 7, 2019
Having just competed for a spot in the United States’ World Championships team this past summer, former Illinois wrestler and current volunteer assistant coach Isaiah Martinez will assist the 2019 Illinois wrestling team in getting a competitive edge with less than a month to go before the season c...
Former Illini Isaiah Martinez Wins Second U.S. Open Title
By JJ Kim, Assistant Sports Editor
April 30, 2019
Former Illini wrestler and current volunteer coach Isaiah Martinez collected back-to-back U.S. Open Freestyle titles in Las Vegas this past weekend. After his victory at South Point Arena, the 74-kilogram wrestler qualified for the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament Wrestle-Off. If he con...
Senior earns All-American honors at championship
By Brendyn Jones, Staff writer
March 25, 2019
Six Illinois wrestlers competed in this year’s NCAA Championships at PPG Paint Arena in Pittsburgh. Out of the six wrestlers, redshirt senior Emery Parker was the only one to earn All-American honors by placing fifth in the tournament. This year marked the 28th year in a row Illinois had at least on...
Illinois bound for Big Ten Championships
By Brendyn Jones, Staff writer
March 7, 2019
The Illini wrestling team (2-9) will head to Minneapolis to compete in the Big Ten Championships this weekend. This will be Illinois’ first action in almost three weeks after dropping its last dual meet to No. 1 Penn State and it will be its first tournament action since the Midlands Championship...
Double trouble: Brothers share first-year experience
By Brendyn Jones, Staff writer
February 28, 2019
For the Braunagel twins, freshmen Danny and Zac, wrestling is the one true thing they’ve shared throughout their lives. The twins started wrestling at 5 years old as a way to keep in shape for their other athletic interests: baseball and football. In those early years, they weren’t as serious, but ...
Parker gets last win at Huff Hall; Illini drop both weekend meets
By Brendyn Jones, Staff writer
February 19, 2019
The No. 20-ranked Illinois wrestling team competed in its last two dual meets of the season this weekend when they traveled to No. 11 Northwestern on Friday and hosted No.1 Penn State on Sunday. The Illini dropped both matchups over the weekend, losing 25-12 against Northwestern and 39-9 against Penn State. ...
