TWO BEAUTIFUL ILLINI DAYS: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

THE PAST

Two-time ILLINI National Champion Isaiah Martinez will be part of the Super Match on March 16, sponsored by Rudis: 

So great to see IMAR back in the circle! Glad that he's recovered and ready to battle for World Championships. Can't wait to see this. 

THE PRESENT

The ILLINI went out on Sunday and dominated Indiana in a conference dual 36-3. This gave Coach Poeta his first Big Ten dual win, the first of many to come! 

It seems like ILLINOIS has chosen a good time to start peaking, just before the post season. The entire show was again great with the lights, the shadows, the spotlights, the entrance music, the announcing team and the ILLINI "Fighting Spirit." 

Jake Reicin, recent winner of the new Clint Arlis "Heart of a Warrior Award" reprised his role on the BTN+ broadcast. He tagged out after nine matches and Senior We Rachal took over. Great to hear them both, and thanks to them for all of their blood and sweat donated to the cause!

And the ILLINI celebrated all the Seniors on Senior Day. What a fantastic picture!

THE MATCHES

First, some comments from our good friend, Jay, who was there to watch the big win: "[I]t was the kind of dual we expect compared to some of those earlier ones. I was wondering if there was a motivational speech sometime before the Minnesota dual and the whole wearing of the orange singlets Friday, which is normally reserved for NCAA Championship matches. They looked so much better this weekend." 

Thanks, Jay! Keen observations. I didn't even notice the Orange singlets on Friday. I just looked back at some of the pictures from the dual--and you're right! Whatever the coaching staff has been up to, it worked. 

I hope to do a full recap of the Indiana dual soon. In this post, I just wanted to touch on a few things. 

Justin Cardani picking up the leg is the step forward we hoped to see. Lucas Byrd put a top ten wrestler in a quandry: Give up the takedown or get pinned. That's exactly what Byrd did to Austin DeSanto in the Big Ten tournament. DeSanto chose wisely. Brock Hudkins chose to fight the takedown and was pinned. 

The way that Lucas uses leverage to beat bigger wrestlers is fun to watch. Physics! Geometry! Pinfalls! 

I hope everybody else is enjoying these Dylan Duncan matches as much as I am. He can make the brutal beautiful. His return to the lineup was such a big boost for the ILLINI. So smooth, so strong at the same time. A big win against a very good wrestler on Senior Day!

Christian Kanzler has put the world on notice: Get ready post-season! That's another two-time NCAA qualifier he beat in Graham Rooks. Kanzler has come a long way, and he's not done. 

Joe Roberts and DJ Shannon still have work to do to make the NCAA tournament. Joe probably needs an upset or two in the BTT. DJ might not need that, but he can't afford an upset either. He beat Nicholas South who was just coming off a huge win over Purdue's Gerrit Nijenhuis. That's a big win for DJ!

In one manner of calculation, the ILLINI won the dual over Indiana 36-3. In another way to see it, the Brawlnagels beat the Hoosiers 12-3. Danny wore out his opponent and got the DQ, while Big Brawny scored the pinfall. 

The match that the ILLINI lost involved their wrestler who is coming back from injury or illness. That timing sucked for Wrobocop. He was 4-0 against Nick Wilham. He'll need to get that conditioning in order for a post-season push. Hate to waste that early upset of Cam Caffey.

Luuuuke Luffman is now 2-0 against the athletic Jacob Bullock. The Hoosier was a transfer from Old Dominion, and before that was a prized recruit from Cahokia. This match featured a sweet scramble from two big men. Here's the box score for the dual:

125: Justin Cardani (ILL) over Jacob Moran (IND) (SV-1 2-0)

133: Lucas Byrd (ILL) over Brock Hudkins (IND) (Fall 1:10)

141: Dylan Duncan (ILL) over Cayden Rooks (IND) (Dec 8-2)

149: Christian Kanzler (ILL) over Graham Rooks (IND) (Dec 4-3)

157: Joe Roberts (ILL) over Jonathan Kervin (IND) (Dec 3-2)

165: Danny Braunagel (ILL) over Kasper McIntosh (IND) (DQ)

174: DJ Shannon (ILL) over Nick South (IND) (Dec 6-4)

184: Zac Braunagel (ILL) over Sean Grim (IND) (Fall 4:17)

197: Nick Willham (IND) over Matt Wroblewski (ILL) (SV-1 3-1)

285: Luke Luffman (ILL) over Jacob Bullock (IND) (Dec 5-4)

THE FUTURE

On Saturday, three ILLINI redshirts traveled to Wisconsin for the Don Parker Open. They were Dylan Connell, Danny Pucino and Maximo Renteria. 

All three won championships. 

These young men look to make a huge impact on the starting lineup next year and make waves at the NCAA tournament for years to come. Here's the tweet:

And here are some pictures:

Check out the full report here, as the IRTC going to the Don Petrov tournament in Bulgaria is also discussed. C'mon, do it! You've watched that same episode of The Simpsons like forty times. Sure, Grampa Simpson is a hoot, but we're talking ILLINI Wrestling!