ILLINI recruits KOLE BROWER and KANNON WEBSTER ROCK @jmenwrestling!

ILLINI recruits Kannon Webster and Kole Brower were in New York taking names at the Journeyman World Classic. Here's a write-up from theMat.com. It is called a "World" Classic because there were wrestlers there from around the world competing in Freestyle. 

To maintain a level playing field, the best of the best went into the draws in the "A" brackets at their weight. Other wrestlers were entered in the "B" brackets. 

Kannon won the 132 A bracket with a Kazahk finishing second, while a Uzbeki finished third. Way down in seventh- and eighth-place you find the kids from Blair Academy and Young Guns. 

Kole took third in the 138 A bracket, finishing ahead of a number of Europeans and, of course, the kid from Askren Wrestling Academy and many others. 

Of course, Kole Brower will matriculate into the University of ILLINOIS so he can redshirt next season, while Kannon Webster has another year of high school. I personally can't help but feel that they will be the nucleus of something special, like the ILLINI team that won the Big Ten wrestling championships in 2005. 

Here are the Final Big Ten Wrestling standings from that year:

1) Illinois 130
2) Minnesota 123.5
3) Michigan 118
4) Iowa 94.5
5) Indiana 89
5) Wisconsin 89
7) Penn State 72.5
8) Michigan State 70.5
9) Northwestern 68.5
10) Purdue 38.5
11) Ohio State 26.5