RECAP: The ILLINI versus Stupid Minnesota

THE OVERALL SHOW

I think most people will be happier with the way the ILLINI came to wrestle tonight. There was more of that Sumo "Fighting Spirit." The result was not satisfying, of course, as Minnesota won by the score of 22-12. 

The spotlights and the wrestler introductions and walk-out tunes before each match were excellent, and the ILLINI do have an excellent matside announcer with a great, amplified voice. 

The worst part of the night was wasting Christian Kanzler's huge 13-8 upset over Michael Blockhus, as the ILLINI lost the lead by losing the last four matches of the night. Here's the box score:

125: Patrick McKee (MINN) over Justin Cardani (ILL) (Dec 4-0)

133: Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Jake Gliva (MINN) (Dec 8-3)

141: Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Marcos Polanco (MINN) (Dec 4-1)

149: Christian Kanzler (ILL) over Michael Blockhus (MINN) (Dec 13-8)

157: Brayton Lee (MINN) over Joe Roberts (ILL) (Dec 10-4)

165: Danny Braunagel (ILL) over Cael Carlson (MINN) (SV-1 8-6)

174: Bailee O`Reilly (MINN) over DJ Shannon (ILL) (MD 12-4)

184: Isaiah Salazar (MINN) over Zac Braunagel (ILL) (Dec 8-4)

197: Michial Foy (MINN) over Matt Wroblewski (ILL) (Dec 8-7)

285: Gable Steveson (MINN) over Luke Luffman (ILL) (Fall 1:16)

THE ANNOUNCING CREW

I always like to give a shout out to the BTN+ student announcers. No Trey Sizemore on the mic last night, but Jake Reicin proved a worthy substitute. I hope that the play-by-play fellow reads this, as I will provide a little constructive criticism. 

For the most part, he did an excellent job. Alec Gilmore has a place behind the microphone. This is what I'd tweak: Call them "periods" and not "rounds," pronounce "Cael" as if it was the word "Kale," and not like the name "Cal." 

And never, ever use the word "play" at a wrestling meet. Never. Ever. 

Jake Reicin was very informative and kept the dialogue going well. He was attuned to time and score, and provided expert information about what the wrestlers needed to do (or not do) next. I would give the pair an -A. I hope they're back on Sunday for the Indiana dual. Or, if Reicin is wrestling, they slot in Trey Sizemore. 

THE FUNK ROLL

Maybe the ILLINI should close the chapter on the funk roll. It proved very costly multiple times last night. Or, get Jesse Delgado in for a weekend to run through the endless permutations. Mostly, it was a problem in initiating the funk roll. So, maybe we just need Delgado to fly in for one day.

MATCHUPS

Cardani vs. Mckee.  This was a typical Cardani match, as he got to the legs often and never finished. McKee won 4-0, widening the gap between them. I would love to see Justin try his usual takedown but instead of holding onto the leg, just keep moving past his opponent. We should call that move a "duck under." McKee's winning takedown was off an over-extended shot from Cardani, who tried to pull back and the Gopher threw him by.

Byrd vs. Gliva.  I told you that Gliva was a smaller, blonder Braunagel. He wrestled tough against the ILLINI All American. However, after Lucas ran his head-in-the-hole series, the Gopher tried to awkwardly back out and this happened:

  

Don't get off-balance against Lucas Byrd. He will strike hard. The ILLINI rode out Gliva to end the first period up 2-0. 

Starting on bottom in the second, Lucas did his cartwheel escape that led immediately (chain-wrestling!) into his head-in-the-hole series. Byrd accepts the escape, though, and goes up 3-0. Later in the second period, the ILLINI puts Gliva off balance and grabs an ankle for TWO! 

This was the second best takedown of the dual. 

In the third period, Lucas let Gliva up in order to try for the major decision. If you have followed him all season, you know that he is very greedy for his own points, and that he's equally stingy with his opponent's. 

But he's a team guy. 

The ILLINI did everything he could to put the Gopher on his back but ended up giving up a takedown. But only a few seconds later, Byrd gets the reversal. He tries the bow and arrow but time runs out on his 8-3 victory. 

Duncan vs. Polanco.  The Gopher is a very stingy defensive wrestler. Last year, he was the starter and an NCAA qualifier for Minnesota, and he only gave up three major decisions, one each to Iowa's Eierman, Rutger's Rivera and ILLINOIS' Dylan Duncan.  

Halfway through the first period, the All American gets real low in changing his level and hits a single leg:

One of the better top guys in the country, Duncan rides out Polanco and takes a 2-0 lead and about 1:30 in riding time into the second. 

Polanco escapes in the second, Dylan escapes in the third, and the 4-1 victory goes to the ILLINI! The kid in the Orange and Blue does a little shirt-popping after the win, which is always good to see. There was a little bit of drama in the third as Polanco got to Duncan's legs, but Dylan trapped what he needed to trap to never be seriously threatened:

Kanzler vs. Blockhus.  This would be a pretty big upset on paper if Christian could win. The Gopher is a two-time NCAA qualifier. They trade earnest shots early in the first period. Kanzler shows to Blockhus that he means business, as he aggressively hand-fights. Then, this happens:

Everything looks good in the Blockhus world until ONE SECOND LATER:

All of those times where Kanzler volunteered to be Coach Poeta's partner for technique paid off! In one second Kanzler goes from his leg in the air to putting his opponent on his back in slick Poeta style. 

That move got the loudest reaction from the approving audience, as well as from the announcers. 

That was a six-point move, and the ILLINI still ended up winning by five (13-8), even though Blockhus didn't have to fight off his back for very long, and even though the Gopher was wrestling in desperation mode the rest of the match. 

I think that Christian will remember this match for the rest of his life, and I hope he adds even bigger wins later in the year. 

Roberts vs. Lee.  Joe Roberts has seen a suicide squad of 157ers recently in the Big Ten. Now he gets the #4-ranked Brayton Lee. We had hoped that he would wrestle tough on his feet in this match, and he did. 

There was obviously some preparation using video, as Joe was ready for Lee's throw-bys and slide-bys. Lee takes a one-point lead into the second period. 

The ILLINI has one of those failed funk rolls in the second. He ends up giving up a couple of takedowns in the period, but he fights hard. The match ends as a non-major 10-4 decision for Minnesota. 

Braunagel vs. Carlson.  If Danny Braunagel is a 165-pounder, then Cael Carlson looks like a 174-pounder or more. The Gopher gets an early takedown, and keeps riding Danny out of bounds for the next forever. But the ILLINI eventually pancakes him and gets the reversal. An escape with :05 left in the first gives the Gopher a 3-2 lead heading into the second. 

In the second, Carlson continues to ride Danny to the edge of the mat for forever. That period ends with the same score but now the Gopher has secured the riding time point. 

After an optional start gives Minnesota an escape point, the ILLINI needs two takedowns in the third period. He gets the first with just :33 left in the match. Then,

Danny rides him out to get to overtime. He gets encouragement from the crowd:

Shades of the Gilman/Lizak dual match where Gilman wore out Lizak by letting Lizak ride him forever, Danny Braunagel wore out Cael Carlson even though Carlson rode him forever and there was a very long review. In overtime, Danny with the go-behind for the win and the shirt-pop:

174 to 285.  I'm only going to mention a few things about these matches. It would've been nice to win three of the four, but the ILLINI lost all four. DJ Shannon put up an heroic effort until he seemed to gas. I personally know that there was a non-Covid disease running through the team so I won't say more than that. 

At 184, Salazar looked like a heavyweight compared to Zac Braunagel. Still, Brawny can beat this fellow. He gave up a takedown with one second to go in the second period. Got to know time and score. He could've defended that for one more second and eventually won the match. Brawny does get the foot sweep award for this dual. 

At 197, Wroblewski was a ball of fire coming out of the gate. He even secured the best takedown of the match with a disco superfly duckunder:

He earned a big lead, but then gassed. As this was his first match back in a long time, that's to be expected. He is a better wrestler than Michael Foy. 

At heavyweight, Gable Steveson did Gable things and ended the night with a Gable pin.