No. 25 Wrestling Faces Illinois, Rider for Weekend Matches

Friday, February 7

7 PM

Rutgers University

Illinois

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

No. 25 Wrestling Faces Illinois, Rider for Weekend Matches

Feb 06 | Wrestling

BTNPlus: Illinois ESPN+: Rider Radio: WRSU (88.7 FM)Notes: Illinois & Rider

Scarlet Knights host Illini Friday at RAC

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling (8-5, 3-4) enters the final month of the dual season as it hosts Illinois (7-3, 4-2) on Friday night at 7 p.m., followed by a quick trip to Rider (9-2) on Sunday night in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Friday night's match against the Illini will stream live via BTNPlus, with Lou Brogno and Nick Kosko on the call.

What to Know
• Despite working a five-five match split, including a win from Billy Janzer (184) over a top-15 opponent, the Scarlet Knights lost to No. 25 Michigan, 21-16, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in their last time out.
• RU worked four consecutive victories out of intermission to take a 16-15 lead heading into the final match at heavyweight, but a pin from UM's No. 2 Mason Parris coupled with bonus-point wins at 141 and 149 pounds secured the dual for the Wolverines.
• Rutgers moved to No. 25 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll with its 8-5 dual record. The program will secure its 13th consecutive winning season under head coach Scott Goodale with one more win in its final four dual matches.
• Four Scarlet Knights - No. 10 Sammy Alvarez (133), No. 12 Janzer, No. 19 Jordan Pagano (197) and No. 25 Nicolas Aguilar (125) – are ranked by FloWrestling this week.
• Rutgers does not leave the Garden State for its next five events. The favorable travel slate includes two home duals, road tilts at in-state rivals Rider and Princeton and the 2020 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, held form March 7-8 at the RAC.

Projected Matchups: RV Illinois
125: 20/25/17 Nicolas Aguilar (18-7) vs. NR/21/22 Justin Cardani (12-6)
133: 9/10/9 Sammy Alvarez (20-6) vs. 7/7/7 Travis Piotrowski (19-2)
141: JoJo Aragona (10-7) OR Zach Firestone (5-7) vs. 14/12/13 Dylan Duncan (15-6)
149: Gerard Angelo (12-10) OR Nick Santos (6-2) vs. Mousa Jodeh (2-12)
157: Michael VanBrill (16-12) vs. Eric Barone (8-11)
165: Brett Donner (15-11) OR Jackson Turley (11-5) vs. 14/14/17 Danny Braunagel (17-6)
174: Willie Scott (7-5) OR Anthony Olivieri (5-1) vs. 15/23/19 Joey Gunther (13-5)
184: 12/12/15 Billy Janzer (17-5) vs. 15/15/26 Zac Braunagel (15-7)
197: 19/19/20 Jordan Pagano (19-6) vs. Matt Wroblewski (8-11)
HWT: Alex Esposito (15-11) vs. 2/2/2 vs. NR/NR/25 Luke Luffman (13-6)

Rankings: Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat

Scouting Illinois
• The Illini enter Friday with a 7-3 dual record and are coming off a 19-18 victory over then-No. 21 Northwestern on Sunday at Huff Hall. Trailing 18-15 heading into the final bout, freshman Luke Luffman came through with a 14-4 major decision over Jack Heyob in the heavyweight match to give the Illini the 19-18 dual win.
• Illinois is receiving votes in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll and are also ranked No. 15 in the country by Intermat.
• The Illini feature six wrestlers ranked by FloWrestling – No. 7 Travis Piotrowski (133), No. 12 Dylan Duncan (141), No. 14 Danny Braunagel (165), No. 15 Zac Braunagel (184), No. 21 Justin Cardani (125) and No. 23 Joey Gunther (174).
• Illinois finished 2-9 last season in dual action and sent six competitors to the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh. Emery Parker finished fifth at 184 pounds to secure the lone All-America accolade for the Illini. Barone, Duncan, Gunther and Piotrowski return as NCAA qualifiers this season.
• Rutgers is 1-2 all-time against Illinois, which includes a 24-11 loss to the Illini in their last meeting in 2018.

Projected Matchups: RV Rider
125: 20/25/17 Nicolas Aguilar (18-7) vs. NR/NR/31 Jonathan Tropea (15-9)
133: 9/10/9 Sammy Alvarez (20-6) vs. Anthony Cefolo (7-6) OR Richie Koehler (11-5) OR Chris Wright (10-6)
141: JoJo Aragona (10-7) OR Zach Firestone (5-7) vs. NR/25/29 Peter Lipari (9-3)
149: Gerard Angelo (12-10) OR Nick Santos (6-2) vs. Gino Fluri (11-13)
157: Michael VanBrill (16-12) vs. 6/7/6 Jesse Dellavecchia (23-2)
165: Brett Donner (15-11) OR Jackson Turley (11-5) vs. Joe Casey (11-10) OR Gary Dinmore (11-7)
174: Willie Scott (7-5) OR Anthony Olivieri (5-1) vs. NR/18/22 Dean Sherry (16-6)
184: 12/12/15 Billy Janzer (17-5) vs. George Walton (18-7)
197: 19/19/20 Jordan Pagano (19-6) vs. 11/7/12 Ethan Laird (20-5)
HWT: Alex Esposito (15-11) vs. 2/2/2 vs. Ryan Cloud (18-9)

Rankings: Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat

Scouting Rider
• The Broncs enter Sunday's match with a 9-2 dual record, which includes a 36-6 victory over George Mason on Jan. 25 in their last time out. Rider also faces Lock Haven on Friday before Sunday's matchup with the Scarlet Knights.
• Four Broncs are ranked in the latest polls from FloWrestling – No. 7 Jesse Dellavecchia (157), No. 7 Ethan Laird (197), No. 18 Dean Sherry (174) and No. 25 Peter Lipari (141). Lipari was a national qualifier for Rutgers last season.
• Rider sent four qualifiers to last year's NCAA Championships, where Laird picked up three victories and Dellavecchia added two.
• The Broncs lead the all-time series with Rutgers, 12-8. The Scarlet Knights defeated Rider, 28-6, last season at the RAC.

Up Next
Rutgers hosts its final dual of 2019-20 against No. 23 Northwestern on Friday, Feb. 14 at the RAC.

Rutgers Wrestling is presented by Eat Clean Bro, an Official Partner of Rutgers Athletics.

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