All Star Lucas Byrd, Zane Richards, Lindenwood, the IRTC & IWU
LUCAS BYRD
ILLINI history was made last night.
At the NWCA All-Star Classic, Lucas Byrd came away with a 3-2 victory over #4 Michael McGee. The highlight of the night for ILLINI fans was an exquisite cross-body ankle pick by Byrd that constituted the only takedown between the two All Americans.
As expected, McGee did not want to tie up with the man in the bright Orange singlet.
And McGee's outside attacks were ineffective. Besides the takedown, each wrestler managed escapes for the other points in the match. Here is the key takedown in slow motion:
According to Jason Bryant on Twitter, this was the 13th win for the ILLINI at the All Star Classic. Other winners for the O&B at 133 include Mark Jayne, Jimmy Kennedy and Zane Richards. That's some august company, and speak of the devil.
ZANE RICHARDS
On November 19, in New York City, Zane Richards put it on the line
at the Bill Farrell Memorial Tournament. He went 3-0 to win the Gold at 57kg.
The IRTC and Titan Mercury professional athlete won each match by tech fall.
Next up for Zane is the World Cup.
He will represent the United States at 57kg against some of the world's best, which will include teams from Iran, Mongolia, Japan, Georgia and a group of international all stars.
The event will be held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, from December 10 to 11. It is the first time that the World Cup will host both men’s and women’s freestyle in the same venue.
LINDENWOOD
Every year, there is a tough wrestling tournament at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. Many ILLINI veterans of yore cut their teeth there. While the main squad was at the Armbar at the Armory, a group of ILLINI represented at Lindenwood.
Leading the
way was Brian Beers, finishing in third in the Black Division. He had four wins
and a loss. Charlie Fifield finished in fifth place in the same division with
three wins. Interesting enough, his first college win was a pin, and the next
two were tech falls.
Daniel Renshaw won three matches and finished in sixth, while JoJo “Bulldog” Braunagel won twice. Jake Harrier and Chase Waggoner also competed. You only get better at competing by competing.
ILLINOIS REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER
I'm very interested in that cool old-timey logo, and at the site, they have t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies with it. The logo on white is especially nice as it looks like what you have on ILLINOIS' singlets. But be sure to order soon, as the shop closes on November 29.
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
It was an emotional moment for me on Monday when IWU announced
that they are re-starting their wrestling program – and adding a women’s
program. It immediately occurred to me that there will be another 40 to 60
wresters in the State of ILLINOIS (and surrounding states) who will be able to compete after high school.
It should also be considered a victory over the Xbox, the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo and Call of Duty. Huzzah!
Finally, and most importantly, this was a big victory for women’s wrestling. And like I’ve been saying for a decade, no matter what you think about the sport of women’s wrestling, you should support it VIGOROUSLY, even if your support is based entirely on selfishness.
This is how the sport will grow (along with MMA and the Olympics).
Face it, Brothers and Sisters, men’s wrestling was dying a pitiful death. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there were men’s bowling teams at Michigan State, Penn, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Drexel, Penn State, Wichita State, Villanova, Saint Vincent College, and many more schools.
In fact, there were over 15,000 individuals in 24 sanctioned conferences across the country involved in the sport. Where did they go? The same place wrestling was going. Women’s wrestling, and to a lesser and non-quantifiable extent, MMA, have added Men's and Women's programs across the country.
And now we have a new one in Bloomington, ILLINOIS.
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