ILLINI WRESTLE-OFFS

[NOTE: Sorry for the tardiness of this post. It's sometimes hard to get internet access when you live under an overpass in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I rely on wifi from passing cars. I do have a trained monkey who dances at the intersection. That usually gives me an extra thirty seconds of fast-typing, but the stupid monkey only knows one dance. Stupid Monkey! In any event, better late than never!] 

LUKE LUFFMAN - THIRD PLACE

Nathan Taylor of Lehigh was Luuuuuke's opponent in the third-place match. He's taking a redshirt year after winning a Pennsylvania state championship last season. After his Matmen Open finish, Taylor has an 18-9 record that includes wins over Penn's Ben Goldin and Ryan Catka of Navy.

At forty-seven seconds into the match, Luke has attempted two knee snatches while his opponent has done nothing. Taylor is all of 285 if he misses a meal or two. He's big boned. Luke has a more serious high-crotch attempt in the first period, but that was all the action until the whistle blew.

Taylor chooses bottom to start the second. Claw ride for Luke. Taylor gets to his feet and Luffman puts him back down. The announcer: "Big mat return for Luffman. Huge mat return for the ILLINI." That was actually a small, gentle mat return compared to others by the ILLINOIS big man:

The Lehigh kid gets an escape shortly after that. Luke has :24 in riding time. Taylor tried a leg shot and got stuffed by the ILLINI, who goes behind and, as his opponent stands up, uses a real ILLINI mat return to score the two--takedown! 

Luke continues to ride until Taylor gets up again. He tries a granby roll, but Luke follows him into the position you see below:

From the position you see above, Taylor grabbed Luke's leg, then stood all the way up and Luke just threw him to the mat like a grown man would do to a very naughty kid. A very bad child. I have to say that this Lehigh kid is pretty athletic as well as super bulky. He looks and wrestles like a long lost Nevills brother. 

Luke was just a little too quick for him and a little too strong. "Somehow, some way, Luke Luffman continues to wrestle," is what the announcer excitedly announced. After a lot of shouting, much more than you'd expect in a heavyweight match, but certainly deserved by that action-packed sequence, the commentator said, "Great movement by these big guys here."

The second period ends with Luke leading 2-1 and with 1:44 of riding time.

Luffman is on bottom to start the third period. He's quickly hitting a sit out/switch that catches his opponent off guard, securing the reversal! Taylor spent a long time on the bottom catching his breath, but he eventually gets to his feet, and tries another granby roll. 

Luke follows again! Haha! This is pretty cool watching heavyweights hitting standing granby rolls and then following the guy. With :31 seconds left, stalling is called on Taylor on the bottom. That's the second, making the score 5-1 with 2:59 in riding time. The big boy from Lehigh gets to his feet one last time:

He gets launched, but he rolls into a granby, but Luke again follows. The 3:30 of riding time is converted to a point making the final 6-1 for the good guy!

CONCLUSION:  The Lehigh wrestler is very bulky but still athletic. He has a package of skills and abilities that will win him a lot of matches over the years. However, Luuuuuke Luffman had each of those skills and each of those abilities covered. Every time Taylor played a king, Luke laid down an Ace. Those kings will win a lot of poker matches, but not against somebody holding Aces. This was a very enjoyable match for heavyweights, with a lot of rolling around and movement. C'mon! Standing granbys, then following the opponent! Wow! Skill was on display as well. 

I should note for Jay's benefit that Luke lost an ankle band during the match. He's something like 9-1 against ankle bands this year. GO ILLINI!!!

THE BRAWLNAGELS

I'm not going to cover Danny and Zac Braunagel's final placing matches because Danny was injured and Zac had a short one. But I did want to say quite a lot about them and their respective tournaments. Zac ended up placing fourth, while Danny finished eighth. 

They wrestled in the two toughest brackets in the tournament.

During last season and the start of this one, Danny has been a hot and cold wrestler. He's cold when he's injured, and he's hot when he's injury-free. Last year, it was the broken hand or arm bone that hit right when he was ranked something like #6 in the country. In this tournament, he's chugging along and hurts his ankle. 

He does have issues facing the long-armed wiry wrestlers like Wick and Hamiti, who can use those long appendages to attack angles. Something to work on as he heals up his ankle. 

I would say that the most beautiful wrestling match in the whole tournament was Lucas Byrd's win in the finals. I think I can back up that statement at least until Byrd got his eye scratched. That was total skill, agility, strength and Spiderman-like proprioception. 

But the best wrestling match for ILLINI fans may have been Zac's win over All-American Brit Wilson. That was a masterwork, as the Brawlnagel ended up with three takedowns and a huge win.

He has obviously taken the time out with a shoulder injury to build back that shoulder with additional muscle. He seemed light last year compared to some wrestlers like Max Lyon and Rocky Jordan. This year, he's got more muscle. Like his twin, though, he'll need to figure out how to handle the long-armed fellows (like Bernie Truax) who can attack from angles. Still, a fourth-place finish in this bracket was monumental. 

CHRISTIAN KANZLER

Again, this was an injured ILLINI who went out and fought nearly an entire match while limping along. Even with the injury, Kanzler managed to snag an eighth-place finish and valuable points for the ILLINI in the team race. 

WE RACHAL

We Rachal had a seventh-place match, and he won it! But let's tell the story before the ending. His opponent from Penn, Carmen Ferrante, was an NCAA qualifier three years ago, ending up with a 25-10 record. Last year, he was a Penn team captain. 

Early in the match, Ferrante snatches a single. He spends some time trying to convert it. Alas, his efforts proved fruitless:

Shortly after that, We took matters into his own hands with a high crotch that he adjusted to a double-leg, lifted and squashed the Penn upperclassman for two! This is a show of dominance:

The ILLINI starts off with a strong claw ride, but after a restart, puts in a leg. Then two. Riding time goes over a minute, and that Ferrante fellow doesn't appear to be able to get out. To make matters worse for our friend from Penn, We Rachal pulls out a leg so he can stick in an arm and lock up a cradle. 

I don't think I've ever seen a cradle locked up with a leg in. Pretty smart stuff there! As you can see in the picture above, Rachal's own body is in the way of a pinfall, so he moves his body away (compare to image below) from Ferrante, and voilà, a super-quick, no-nonsense pin!

The ref is holding out 4 fingers, but not to worry, the pin is called at :06. The cheers that Rachal receives might have been the loudest of the tournament. 

CONCLUSION: The ILLINI are so lucky to have We Rachal in the lineup. He goes out there when needed and beats NCAA qualifiers. His four wins at the ILLINOIS Matmen Open gave the ILLINI a lot of team points, and he got bonus on two occasions. 

Rachal could be starting all year in somebody else's lineup and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Of course, as a Greco stud, he might want to stick around and see what he can do with the IRTC--after he gets a primo education. Cheers! 

NEXT UP: Final Thoughts About the Matmen Open and