Chambana Sun

The Illinois wrestling team is preparing for a challenging weekend as they face two ranked opponents. On Friday, February 9, the Fighting Illini will host No. 11 Minnesota at the State Farm Center in Champaign. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT and will be streamed online. This event marks the last home meet of the season for Illinois and will feature a Senior Day ceremony honoring Tony Madrigal, Jake Reicin, and Justin Cardani.

Madrigal recently achieved a successful weekend with victories over Michigan State's Jaden Crumpler and Nebraska's Jacob Van Dee, elevating him to No. 30 in the rankings at 133 pounds. Redshirt junior Edmond Ruth also had an impressive performance, winning both his matches last weekend and maintaining his No. 8 ranking at 174 pounds.

Minnesota comes into this matchup with an overall dual record of 8-2 and a Big Ten dual record of 3-2. The Golden Gophers have faced common opponents with Illinois this season, including Iowa and Nebraska, both resulting in losses for Minnesota.

Following their home meet against Minnesota, Illinois will travel to Madison to compete against No. 23 Wisconsin on Sunday, February 11, at noon CT at UW Field House. Wisconsin holds an overall record of 8-4 and is currently 2-3 in Big Ten duals.

Illinois head coach Mike Poeta is in his third season leading the team with an overall record of 12-21 and a conference record of 5-15 in Big Ten duals.

Edmond Ruth leads the team with a season record of 14-2 and has scored the most dual points (28) for Illinois this year without conceding any bonus points during his losses.

Danny Pucino ranks third on the team in dual points scored (14) while Joe Roberts follows closely behind with twelve points from five wins this season.

Tony Madrigal ranks fifth on the team scoring eleven points from three wins while Dylan Connell has reached double-digit scores as well being ranked No.31 among starters at184 pounds having won four matches so far during this campaign