Remembering Francis Edelen (1996 - 2018)

 

There is nothing as shocking or as sad as the sudden passing of a young wrestler, so full of fight and with so many adventures left unfinished.  The ILLINI remembered young warrior Francis Edelen this past Saturday, April 2, 2022. 

These photographs of the ceremony were provided by a gracious ILLINI fan:

OTHERS REMEMBERED THE YOUNG WARRIOR

His passing was written up by the Chicago Tribune and USA Today. He was the star of a "Time Capsule" on this blog before the dual with Minnesota. It went like this:

TIME CAPSULE

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was an age of information, and an era of disinformation. 

It was February 12, 2016. 

On that day, Jim Gilmore drops out of the Republican primary for President of the United States. He is better known as Jim Whomore? The Libyan, Syrian and Yemeni civil wars still rage on. 

And the ILLINI roll over the Gophers. 

It was a dual full of unexpected turns, huge upsets and important firsts. Francis Edelen gets his first Big Ten dual win, Jeff Koepke celebrates Senior Night with a match-winning victory over Chris Pfarr, and Nick Wanzek scores a crazy and disputed 13-10 upset over #2 Zac Brunson. Here's the box score for that dual:

#12 Illinois 19, #16 Minnesota 16 

197: #3 Brett Pfarr (MINN) dec. Emery Parker (ILL), 10-5 | 0-3

HWT: #10 Michael Kroells (MINN) major dec. #20 Brooks Black (ILL),8-0 | 0-7

125: Francis Edelen (ILL) dec. Skyler Petry (MINN), 3-2 | 3-7

133: #2 Zane Richards (ILL) tech fall Sam Brancale, 17-2 (MINN) | 8-7

141: #9 Tommy Thorn dec. Mousa Jodeh (ILL), 6-2 | 8-10

149: #14 Jake Short dec. Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 8-3 | 8-13

157: #2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) major dec. Brandon Kingsley (MINN), 15-6 |12-13

165: #4 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) major dec. Brandon Krone (MINN),21-8 |16-13

174: Nick Wanzek (MINN) dec. #2 Zac Brunson (ILL), 13-10 | 16-16

184: #15 Jeff Koepke (ILL) dec. Chris Pfarr (MINN), 8-4 | 19-16

TRAVIS PIOTROWSKI

Here's a reminder from a friend and workout partner of his:

THE YGGDRASIL TREE

In ancient Norse mythology, there was a great and sacred tree that held all else. It was the Yggdrasil. It brought whole universes together. 

 

May the warrior Francis Edelen's tree also bring worlds together.