After winning the Midlands Championships and starting the season 4-0, the fifth-ranked Illinois wrestling team is set to start Big Ten competition Friday.

The Illini will compete against the Purdue Boilermakers in their first home meet this season. Illinois leads the all-time border battle 53-29-2, defeating Purdue 24-9 last year.

Illinois comes off a victory against UT-Chatanooga and at the Midlands — the team’s first title at that competition since the 2005-06 season.

The Illini racked up 99.5 points during the two-day tournament in late December, placing five wrestlers in Northwestern’s premier meet. Virginia Tech finshed second with 97.5 points, while Oklahoma placed third with 85.

Sophomore Jesse Delgado (125 pounds) and senior B.J. Futrell (141) led the way for the Illini with second-place finishes. Jordan Blanton placed third in the 174 bracket, while Conrad Polz (165) and Mario Gonzalez (197) finished fifth in their respective weight classes.

“It’s good to have that kind of depth to win championships,” head coach Jim Heffernan said.

After a first-round bye, Delgado defeated Nebraska’s Tim Lambert by a 12-4 major decision and Iowa’s Thomas Gilman 7-2 to reach the quarterfinals. The No. 4-seeded Delgado then moved past North Dakota’s Trent Sparkle 5-3 and pinned No. 8-seeded Christian Cullinan of Central Michigan in 3 minutes, 28 seconds to reach the final.

After a scoreless first period against No. 2 Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech, Delgado chose down and escaped to take the lead 1-0. Garnett chose down in the third period and escaped Delgado to tie the score 1-1, forcing overtime. Garnett put Delgado on his back in the extra period to capture the 125 title 5-1.

Futrell began his tournament by defeating Eric Roach of Indiana by a 19-6 major decision. The No. 3-seeded Futrell then topped Gustavo Martinez of Grandview and Mike Mangrum of Oregon State to move to the semifinals, where he moved past No. 2-seeded Devin Carter of Virginia Tech by an 8-5 decision. No. 1 Kendric Maple of Oklahoma awaited Futrell in the 141-pound title match. After a scoreless first period, Maple immediately scored a reversal on Futrell for the only points of the second period. Maple then took control in the third with a takedown to extend his lead to 4-0, never looking back as he won the title 5-1.

“It meant a lot for our team to win this prestigious tournament, but even though we won the tournament, we weren’t completely satisfied with our performance,” Futrell said. “We feel like we didn’t reach our potential. It’s good preparation, it’s a grind facing good competition in each round and it’s a good simulation to what the Big Ten Tournament and what the national tournament will be like.”

After winning the Midlands title in Evanston, Ill., Illinois won seven of its 10 bouts against UT-Chatanooga. Futrell and Blanton both recorded pins to lead the Illini to their seventh straight victory over the Mocs 29-10.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @yaboybernie11.