MIDLANDS: DAY ONE

Four ILLINI in the semifinals to include Lucas Byrd, Danny Braunagel, Edmond Ruth and Zac Braunagel. These guys were all the higher seeded wrestler in the quarters except that little Brawny got a big upset against Peyton Hall.

By the way, I haven't seen trick knees like Peyton Hall since Tyler Nixt. What an incredible defensive resource. 

PREDICTION:

I think in the next couple of years there will emerge a new kind of wrestler: The stud who only has a loss on his record to Lucas Byrd and Edmond Ruth. It's already starting to happen.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!

Ermak Kardonov is a Russian wrestler who is really good at freestyle. He's at the ILLINI RTC now. Watching him deal with bottom and top wrestling at the Midlands was both tense and hilarious. Go Ermak!

KAREN-TYPE WHINES:

If you are going to stream a tournament, you need to also have a dashboard or brackets that a body can click on to take you directly to the match you want to see.

Having one company stream while another company carries the live brackets and dashboard sucks. I almost swatted BTN Headquarters because of this.

A second peeve is the lack of nudgers. Apparently none of these companies can find or afford to hire someone to nudge the camera when the action moves to the side of the mat. ALL I'M ASKING FOR IS A NUDGE. ARE NUDGERS SO HARD TO FIND? IT WOULD TAKE THREE SECONDS TO TRAIN A NUDGER IN THE ART OF NUDGING!

ONLY FOR HARDCORE ILLINI FANS:

I was really impressed with Dylan Connell and Danny Pucino. Connell got beat 1-8 by Pitt's Reece Heller in the dual, then turned that into an SV loss at Midlands. He's still in the mix for a placement. Same with Pucino.

These guys are wrestling their first full years at ILLINOIS, and will be forces for good in the future.

Then, there's Trey Sizemore who has put on a great show for the ILLINI. He's wrestling real tough and can place.

Really disappointed that nobody at 125 or 157 from the team could show up and pick up their teammates.