Early Look at the ILLINI Lineup

I watched Danny Pucino at the Matteo Pellicone Freestyle ranking tournament, and that got me excited for next year's ILLINI squad. Danny lost to the Azerbaijani who was a two-time third-place finisher at the European Championships. What impressed me was that he had this twenty-something freestyle veteran very much on the ropes. 

You can see from the action photo above that Pucino (sometimes called "Pacino" by the UWW) started off the bout with a four-point move that Azerbaijan challenged. And lost. Danny must've taken 30 shots in 6 minutes. 

The Azer wrestler had to take a fake injury - lung timeout!

Maybe if the ILLINI hadn't slipped on that inside trip, he'd've won a medal. I guess we'll never know. That match, though, got me fired up again for next year's ILLINI squad. So, let's take an early look at the most likely starters.

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285.  LUKE LUFFMAN.  I have gotten a "cease and desist" letter from a group called THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEAVYWEIGHTS asking me to stop calling them fatties. I will do my very best to comply. In any event, Luffman is certainly not a fatty. He's a lot of muscle! 

The rumor is that Luke will redshirt this next year. He was a true freshman starter, so that makes sense. Get that man strength a-going, and let some of the freaks like Gable Steveson graduate. Who would replace him, though? 

From the speculation I've heard, Matt Wroblewski would be the guy. Mike Bosco and Dan Renshaw are there as well. Luffman is ranked #11 at Intermat, just behind Zach Elam, and just in front of Trent Hilger. 

197.  MATT WROBLEWSKI.  If WroboCop is at heavyweight, can he also wrestle at 197? No! They don't let anybody wrestle two weights during the same dual or tournament, much less fatties. The rumor is that Zac Braunagel would be here. He seemed like a light 184lber to me, but if he's already been given the go-ahead, he has time to pack on some muscle. Would it be enough? There's also the always-exciting Joey Braunagel in the wings. 

184.  ZAC BRAUNAGEL.  Right now, Intermat has the Brawlnagel ranked #9 at 184. He had great NCAA and Big Ten tournaments, beating #5 Marcus Coleman and #4 Kaleb Romero respectively. But if he's at 197, who would man 184? I guess that would be Dylan Connell. Or, perhaps Connell would be up at 197? I don't have the foggiest. 

174.  EDMOND RUTH.  Intermat has Ruth at #17 to start the season. He won both tournaments he entered last year at 184 and 174, so I think that's much too low to rank him, but 174 is going to be a beast of a weight class. 

165.  DANNY BRAUNAGEL.  In what must be their greatest omission, Danny Braunagel is not ranked by Intermat in the Top 33. That seems like a huge oversight to me. He's beaten #5 Cameron Amine (x3), #12 Izzak Olejnik, #15 Bubba Wilson and #33 Drew Nicholson (x4, including a techfall). 

157.  JOE ROBERTS.  The other rumor is that Roberts might be taking a redshirt this next season. Seeing's how he was thrown into the fire last year, he might could use one. Next up would be Luke Odom, although that might be a tolerable pull for the young bull. 

149.  KEVON DAVENPORT.  He has the pedigree, but how will he look in Orange and Blue? There's also Jake Harrier waiting in the wings. 

141.  DANNY PUCINO.  As a semi-newbie, Pucino is not ranked by Intermat. I think he can finish top eight, if you ask me. Dylan D'Emilio of Ohio State is ranked at #8 by Intermat, and Danny has already beaten him. Drew Mattin of Michigan is ranked #9, but I think Danny can beat him as well. Waiting in the wings here would be Jake Harrier. 

133.  LUCAS BYRD.  He's up to #4 in the Intermat rankings, but, of course, who knows how high this Byrd can fly. I can't wait for the match with RBY. Lucas' natural abilities versus that of the Penn Stater has me drooling. What if the ILLINI goes Greco on his ***? 

125.  JUSTIN CARDANI.  Intermat has Cardani at #25. If he can put on still more muscle, he can easily improve on that, especially if he works on his finishes. He's a competent finish away from All American status. I also think that Maximo Renteria has all of the tools necessary to AA. If he focuses intently on his wrestling, he can do just that. Maybe more. The ILLINI coaches entered him in the U23 and not the U20 tournament for a reason. (And don't let the fact that he got leg-laced fool you, as Maximo has had comparatively little freestyle training). 

CONCLUSION.  If the redshirts at 285 and 157 materialize, then this looks like a year in which the ILLINI will be building for the next season. There are still lots of things to look out for in the coming schedule. Lucas Byrd will be going for his third AA--and for a national championship. 

I think Edmond Ruth and Danny Pucino have what it takes to make big names for themselves in the college wrestling world starting this season. If nothing else, they will be exciting to watch. Dylan Connell was 25-6 in his redshirt season, showing huge promise, and showing that he was very motivated to get matches in. 

There could be a big wrestle-off at 125. 

How will Kevon Davenport do in his new surroundings? I'm looking forward to an injury-free season for both of the Brawlnagels. They deserve that so they can shine. The coaching staff is now the best in the country, with Coach Poeta, Jeremy Hunter, Ed Ruth and IMAR. 

I can't wait for March!