Session Two of the Matmen Open

It's Picture Day!

This was not good news. Joe was still limping as he fought through the match. Looks like a swollen knee tonight. 

Taking an angle on the Brawlnagels equaled gold for Hamiti and Truax. Truax got the benefit of a bad call on a takedown, and Brawny got screwed by the timekeeper, who stole time from him. That was escape time that Zac could've used. This person was more of a timeTAKER, not a timekeeper. To add insult to injury, they spelled his name wrong. 

Lucas Byrd with a nasty fall in the quarters. 

Justin Cardani with a quick and beautiful shot and finish! He rode that takedown to victory. He'll need to bring more tomorrow, but he'll have less of a problem making weight than his opponent. 

Luke Luffman handled Penn's Ben Goldin. Remember how I said that Luuuuke had the highest amplitude mat returns in the NCAA during the first session? Well, Cory Clark was doing the commentary for this mat, and he specifically remarked about the Luffman mat returns. Luke had a nice setup to snatch single, and he gained riding time of over two minutes with about 10 mat returns (not hyperbole). 

ILLINI to the semis:  Luuuuke Luffman, Lucas Byrd and Justin Cardani. 

Cardani has Antonio Lorenzo of Cal Poly. Cardani is 4-4 against common opponents, while Lorenzo is 0-8 against the same guys. Lorenzo lost to Tristan Lujan at the MSU Open in overtime, while Cardani beat the same guy by a point. This should be a close match, but of course wrestlestat.com predicts a 7-3 win for the Cal Poly guy. 

Which means Justin will win!

Lucas Byrd has Drew Mattin from Michigan, one of the 40,000 Mattin brothers. They have very similar records against common opponents. The only difference is that Byrd's losses occurred back in 2019. Still, wrestlestat.com predicts a one-point win for the ILLINI. Mattin is in his fifth year at Michigan. He's been a National Qualifier three times, making it to the Round of 16 twice. He's got an 11-2 record this year. 

Luuuuke Luffman has Ethan Laird in the semis. Laird is from Rider, and he's started for the school for four years--but this year he's taking a redshirt! WTF? 

Oh, yeah. 

Covid.

He's got a perfect 10-0 record on the year, and he's a three-time NQ, reaching the Round of 12 once and the Round of 16 once. There's abundant hope for the ILLINI, as wrestlestat.com predicts a 6-5 win for Laird.