THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

  We have been ridiculously lucky as ILLINI fans to see our heroes execute some of the most amazing takedowns on the planet. Mike Poeta was known for his slickness. In the video below, you can see why. I call this one "The World's Most Tricksy-est Trip Takedown" because of a number of factors.  First, it is a trip or footsweep. That alone merits attention. These types of moves appear less frequently than they should in wrestling matches, so when you see one, it stands out.  Second, the opponent was worthy. This wasn't some schlub that Poeta hit the move on. This was Trent Paulson, a three-time NCAA All-American and one-time National Champion. Additionally, after college, Paulson made a number of National Teams, and he made the World Team the year before this match with Poeta.  Third, the stakes. This was sweaty palms time, as Mike Poeta wanted to represent the USA at the World Cup in Moscow. He had to get through this strong opponent--a former World Team member--just

  In two days, this video already has nearly 2,000 views on Youtube. It shows a portion of  the 2015 Big Ten Championship final at 157 pounds between future four-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion Isaiah Martinez of ILLINOIS and Minnesota's four-time All-American and two-time Finalist Dylan Ness. The spotlight is on one takedown in that match. I call it "The Human Hammer Throw." Original video from BTN. Original music credit to the ILLINI Marching Band, Gary Smith, Conductor. Thumbnail credit to blogs.ILLINI.edu. Going viral like this, I don't know exactly what to say. Let a quote from Joe Walsh speak for me: It's tough to handle this fortune and fame Everybody's so different, I haven't changed But deep down, I know that even though my ILLINI Wrestling Previews are legendary and eternal like the Pyramids and as beautiful as a Caravaggio masterpiece, Isaiah Martinez should receive some of the credit for the reception that this video received.   (

  THE SACCHARINE OF LOATHSOME? Thanks to Significant ACC Bias for alerting the ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond to a new foe for the ILLINI this upcoming season. In a display of humble gratitude for this, I will not call Significant ACC Bias loathsome like everybody else on the East Coast.  Quasi Loathsome? The Saccharine of Loathsome? Just kidding.  As you can see, this will be a big-time home dual for the ILLINI. I know Pitt has always been good at wrestling, but they've got a damn fine team this season. So, mark your calendars for December 3, 2022 at the Assembly Hall. You will be treated to a fantastic dual.  WHY WE HATE PITT Pitt is short for Pittsburgh, and that means Dan Marino and his Greg Brady haircut and sandwiches that are as lame as any you'd find in England, except they melted the cheese! They added a pepper! Wooo! These are New Jersey people with a poor sense of direction. I hate Pittsburgh.  THE ILLINI SCHEDULE SO FAR We know about the mid-conference-s

Coach Poeta is going to make sure the ILLINI face some tough competition before the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. We already know about the dual with the Iowa State Cyclones that is scheduled for February 12, 2023--smack dab in the middle of conference season--but there's gonna be another nonconference test much earlier in the year.  The ILLINI will face the North Carolina State Wolfpack on November 18, 2022. That's only 85 days away, my friends! The match will take place in Albany, New York as part of a Journeymen Duals program.  WHY WE HATE NORTH CAROLINA STATE Well, we hate them for a lot of reasons. Nobody there wears shoes. Go into the bank, and the bank president is barefoot. Same thing in their courtrooms and hospitals. The radio stations play the theme to The Andy Griffith Show nonstop and nothing else. When they say the word "Ma" it takes them three full seconds. Finally, and most disgustingly, they use a mustard-based barbecue sauce.  I can't be friends

Movies for Wrestlers will include the favorite movies of our favorite ILLINI wrestlers. Today's spotlight is on three-time NCAA All-American, three-time IHSA state champion and new co-head coach of Marian Central Catholic, Jordan Blanton. His brother-in-law and fellow ILLINI alum Ryan Prater joins him in coaching the Hurricanes.  In the interview below, Jordan describes his favorite movies, and like him, they're all action, baby! BLOODSPORT In a previous review , I noted that The Warriors was similar to a video game. Well, Bloodsport is the perfect video game movie. The plot of Bloodsport is basically the same as Street Fighter or  Mike Tyson's Punch-Out . The former debuted in arcades in 1987, one year before the theatrical release of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best movie.  There's a reason that those two video games and the movie became big sellers and touchstones for American culture: Elegant fighting violence! Of course, some didn't appreciate the violence.

THE ILLINI NIL STORES If you're like me, you wear shirts. So why not wear a Lucas Byrd or Braunagel Brothers shirt? Duh! These shirts are similar to other shirts, as they come complete with a neck hole and two arm holes--but they have something that other shirts don't have: Byrd or Braunagel stuff on them. That makes them ultra shirts!  Good luck finding these beauties at Walmart.  THE LUCAS BYRD STORE Two-time All American Lucas Byrd has teamed up with Chain Wrestling to provide fine "Byrd is the Wyrd" merch for the discerning human. You can find the Lucas Byrd Collection at this link. His store looks like this (note that the shirts have arm holes and neck holes just as I promised): And don't forget to check out page two of Lucas' store, where you can find cool socks, a cellphone case and a HIMARS system: The  M142 High Mobility BYRD Artillery Rocket System  ( HIMBARS ) is a light  multiple rocket launcher  developed in the late 1990s for the  United States

The latest Adventures of Jombo™ cartoon has arrived! You can buy it in NFT form. But hurry, supply is limited to only one NFT. More on that below. First, feast your eyes on this:     If you're a fan of Iowa wrestling, then this is your chance to own the most important piece of Hawkeye history. For only ten million dollars (US), you get an NFT on blockchain reproducing the above JOMBO™ cartoon.  What will JOMBO™ do next?  The scene depicts JOMBO™ dressed up as Fan Man , the fellow who flew a fan-propelled parachute into the 1993 heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. The fight actually depicted above, though, is the heavyweight title rematch between Muhammed Ali and Sonny Liston. Ali scored a first-round knockout in that May 25, 1965 bout.  But what's important to you is that this is a billion dollar value for only ten million dollars (US)--a 99% savings for you--our valued customer. Additionally, you will receive this bejeweled JOMBO ™ pendant made

  The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond will offer a new feature that will provide reviews of those movies that coaches must have on the bus for long road trips. These are movies for wrestlers. We'll start with two classics, Vision Quest and The Warriors .  THE WARRIORS The best-selling video game home system in 1979 was the Atari 2600. At the arcade, you could play Space Invaders, while new titles such as Galaxian and Asteroids made their debut. I bring this up because The Warriors  movie was released that same year, and, if anything, it was a sweet, sweet video game.  It has the basic plot you find in many video games. Moreover, while watching, you feel like you're one of the characters, one of the Warriors, a New York street gang. You negotiate various "levels" along the way, until you face the final boss and earn the prize--your continued existence.  That formula created a cult classic.  And some future internet memes. Sure, the acting is awful, but the

HINTS AT A SCHEDULE If you go to wrestlestat.com , you can see that the site already has the ILLINI with a dual against Buffalo on November 18, 2022. Our good friend Jay has found out additional information. This is a screengrab from the Buffalo Wrestling website: At the Buffalo website , you can see that the dual with the Bulls is part of the Journeyman Classic dual tournament. Additional teams known to be entered into the Journeyman Classic include Iowa, LIU and Oklahoma. There are others, of course, but that's what has been found so far.  I doubt that the ILLINI will dual with Iowa on November 18. Rather, there's probably going to be pools of teams in a warmer climate city sometime later. Hopefully that city is Myrtle Beach.  A premiere dual will take place in February against Iowa State. Here's the snippet that Jay found: Wow! That's a premium dual in the middle of conference season. This suggests that the ILLINI know their Big Ten schedule. It also suggests that Io