After becoming a Big Ten champion a season ago, 197-pound Mario Gonzalez will look to defend his title when the Illini wrestling team hosts the Big Ten Championships at Assembly Hall on March 9-10.
“I know what I have do to win,” Gonzalez said. “Last year, I went out there and let myself go and let loose and good things happened and I won.”
The No. 12 Illini have four wrestlers seeded in the top-five of their respective weight classes. Senior Conrad Polz holds the highest seed for Illinois at No. 2 in the 165-pound weight class, as he finished the regular season with a 20-5 overall record, winning seven of his eight Big Ten dual matches.
Seven other Illini received pre-seeds, including Gonzalez and 125-pound Jesse Delgado, who both grabbed three seeds in their respective weight classes. Daryl Thomas, who wrestles at 133 pounds, holds the fifth seed, while 174-pound Jordan Blanton and 184-pound Tony Dallago are seeded sixth in their weight classes. Caleb Ervin earned the No. 7 seed at 149 pounds, while Chris Lopez is seeded No. 11 at heavyweight.
“Seedings can help as far as making the tournament easier,” Polz said. “In the end, you’re gonna wrestle who you’re gonna wrestle and the competition is just great all the way through. I don’t think of it that way, I just sort of have a job to do and get to the finals and hopefully I can win that match too.”
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With five out of the top-10 wrestling squads in the nation, the Big Ten is easily the toughest in the nation. The Illini have already wrestled six of the top-10 teams in the country this season.
The Illini, who have not wrestled at full-strength throughout conference play, will still be without senior heavyweight Pat Walker and two-time All-American B.J. Futrell. Despite these injuries, holding the tournament in Champaign may contribute to the Illini’s success this weekend. Assembly Hall will host the tournament for the first time since 2002.
“Most of these guys are from Illinois, they wrestled in the state tournament here and that’s a big deal,” head coach Jim Heffernan said. “It’s good that we’re on our own campus. I think it’s something we have been looking forward to and I expect them to wrestle hard and compete at their best.”
Delgado has a good shot to capture the 125-pound title. The Gilroy, Calif., native recorded a 6-1 Big Ten record this season, with his only loss coming to the hands of No. 2-seed Nico Megaludis of Penn State. Delgado defeated the top-seeded Matt McDonough of Iowa earlier in the season, breaking his 42 consecutive match-winning streak.
“We’ve seen everybody,” Delgado said. “We know what to expect.”
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