THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

WHY WE HATE MICHIGAN STATE We hate Michigan State because it exists. We can't hate it too much, though, because of Cam Caffey, Luke Daly, Miles Hoey, Marty Larkin, Braden Stauffenberg, and DJ Shannon, ILLINOIS schoolboys all. Moreover, when I retire as a wrestling writer, I intend to publish a children's book about Cam Caffey's delightful and intrinsic, unexplained and benevolent, mischievous hair.  Still, their whole state thinks that manufacturing a car is pretty awesome. Well, mister, even Kazakhstan and the Philippines manufacture cars. In ILLINOIS, we manufacture cars with an attitude: Caterpillar construction equipment. So, just stuff it already!  165.  Danny Braunagel (#19) #5 Cameron Amine (Michigan) #6 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) #9 Izzak Olejnik (NIU) #16 Gerrit Nijenhuis #27 Jordan Slivka (Ohio) #38 Tracy Hubbard (CMU) #42 Caleb Fish (MSU) #48 David Ferrante (Northwestern) An uninjured Danny Braunagel has beaten Michigan's Amine two out of two matches. He ha

The ILLINI Wrestling team will start their season with the marathon MSU Open on Saturday, November 5, 2022. If you have seen this thing before, it starts early, the ILLINI seem to have somebody wrestling the whole day--often more than one at the same time--and there are varsity and Freshman/Sophomore brackets.  Coach Poeta has indicated that he will be bringing a large number of wrestlers to East Lansing for the tournament. He even intends to have multiple varsity wrestlers in the same weight class to help determine starters at 125, 149 and 174.  The second half of the interview below, that we recently dropped, goes into the MSU Open and lineup maneuvering: WHAT :  The MSU Open WHEN :  Saturday, November 5 (all day)  WHY :  To Show Them Who's Boss WHERE :  Jenison Fieldhouse, 248 Kalamazoo Street, East Lansing, Michigan  WHO :  The ILLINI Starters, Other Veterans and Freshmen/Sophomores TV/STREAMING :  FloWrestling (Paid Subscription) THE TEAMS According to wrestlestat.com, there w

This is your video interview of ILLINI Wrestling Coach Mike Poeta, as he discusses the monumental changes in the program, which started with his hire. The way I see it, the Athletic Director and Coach hit the bullseye, and then they have started splitting the arrows in the bullseye with their subsequent arrows.  BULLSEYE:  The Hiring of Coach Poeta BULLSEYE:  The Retention of Jeremy Hunter and Bryan Medlin BULLSEYE:  The Hiring of Ed Ruth and Isaiah Martinez BULLSEYE:  Home Duals at State Farm Center BULLSEYE:  Academic Progress Grants of Almost $6k to Wrestlers BULLSEYE:  The New Wrestling-Only Facility See what Coach Poeta has to say: ____________ Full video, audio and photography credits can be found at the youtube site. 

Early Onset Dementia is a spectacularly cruel condition. Jon Llewellyn battled this evil for years and finally succumbed on October 12, 2022 with family gathered at his bedside. He was 53.  Llewellyn is remembered at ILLINOIS for his brilliant career as a heavyweight wrestler, winning All American honors three times and the National Championship in 1991. He was also a three-time Big 10 champion.  The amazing fact about this legendary ILLINI is that, i n high school, Jon Llewellyn earned a varsity letter all four years, but he only made it to the state tournament once.  During his Senior year at Hinsdale Central, Llewellyn qualified for the state tournament at 155 pounds but lost his first match.  He was also the very definition of a "late bloomer," as he wrestled his freshman year in high school at 98 pounds. In his NCAA title match, he was up at 275.  In one of our first posts on the site, we honored this amazing athlete with a story entitled: " Jon Llewellyn vs. Kurt A

THE BEST ILLINI TAKEDOWN The greatest foot sweep in history wasn’t by the Cobra Kai’s Johnny Lawrence in  The Karate Kid . That wasn’t real. It was written down on paper by a screenwriter and then dramatized by actors. What’s seen in the video below by Matt Lackey was organic, it was real, and that’s why--among other reasons-- Lackey’s was the Greatest Footsweep in history, as well as my favorite ILLINI takedown. Matt Lackey was a wrestling phenomenon. The ILLINI hero and Moline product won Junior National Freestyle, NCAA and multiple Big Ten titles. He went undefeated his Senior year at ILLINOIS and attempted to make the US Olympic team in 2004. He is listed numerous times in the ILLINI record books, and was the #7 pick for ILLINI athlete of the decade. His opponent in the match, Troy Letters, was another wrestling phenomenon. THE BACKSTORY :  Matt Lackey was in the NCAA finals the year before and lost a nail-biter to Joe Heskett of Iowa State. With the score tied 2-2 and only :38 rem

In going over what the ILLINI need to become a wrestling dynasty in the future, I decided to list what the ILLINI have and what the ILLINI have not in relevant categories. Here is that list: WHAT THE ILLINI HAVE 1.  ILLINI Wrestling has the best young, charismatic and decorated coaching staff in the country.  2.  ILLINI Wrestling has a history of success, with numerous All Americans and National Champions, as well as what may be the longest active streak in the country of producing at least one AA every year.  3.  ILLINI Wrestling hosts its duals in the most iconic sports facility in the country (Assembly Hall/State Farm Center), which also happens to be THE Mecca for every ILLINOIS schoolboy wrestler.  4.  ILLINI Wrestling is sitting on a gold mine of gifted and talented wrestlers--some of the best young wrestlers in the world--who receive instruction from some of the best private and public school coaches in the world.  5.  ILLINI Wrestling is sitting on a gold mine of private tutori

    The graphic folks in the University of ILLINOIS Athletic Department have been churning out some sweet promos for the ILLINI Wrestling team. This one certainly is an eye-catcher and an attention-grabber:   RECRUITING   ILLINI Wrestling recruits watched the recent ILLINI football win over Iowa, getting down on the field with the coaches. Here are some cool pictures that I stole from the internet: And that work bore fruit for the ILLINI coaching staff. This is HUGE! Look at the commits in the image at the top of this story. I'm going to do a video about this. What a force! LUCAS BYRD   The Athletic Department is publicizing Lucas Byrd’s upcoming NWCA All-Star match against Michael McGee, which will take place on November 22, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Here's a promo for the ILLINI wrestler:     ILLINI RTC DONATIONS   When it comes to donations to the IRTC, I am the smallest minnow. Truly, a baby minnow. Thankfully, there are whales and other folks who