It’s the Midlands Championships’ fourth place team against the fifth place team. It’s the nation’s No. 11 versus No. 12.
It’s Rutgers facing Illinois on Friday night at the RAC starting at 7:00 pm.
With an early season schedule filled with tournaments, the Illini are just 1-0, a 30-10 victory over SIU-Edwardsville in early December. The Knights wrestled both tournaments and duals, entering Friday’s contest at 6-1, 1-0 B1G.
Illinois has five ranked wrestlers in its projected starting lineup, including No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (165) and No. 2 Zane Richards (133).
At 125 Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale will look for a spark to kick off the match.