Midlands Day Two: Are You Not Entertained?

It has been a long time since I've been this entertained by a sporting event. And it wasn't just the numbers: Two Champions, two bronze medals, and three other podium finishes. A fifth-place team finish with only eight scoring wrestlers. There was more to it than the numbers.

It was also the drama.

Watching Lucas Byrd and Zac Braunagel wrestle instant ILLINI classics, watching Edmond Ruth wrestle a calculated match until he explodes at the perfect time. Watching Danny Braunagel work his butt off for the big upset, and watching young wrestlers like Dylan Connell, Danny Pucino and Trey Sizemore start to believe.

Now that's entertainment!

I have loved watching the ILLINI in the MSU Open, the Tiger Style Invite and the Midlands. But as much excitement as was had in those first two, the Midlands doubled it.

Part of that is getting to watch back-to-back-to-back-to-back ILLINI matches with so much on the line. Sometimes there are as many as three O&B wrestlers shaking hands at about the same time. 

THE ILLINI WRESTLERS

174. EDMOND RUTH.

As the top seed, Ruth was expected to win, but the way he accomplished his goal was amazing. He wrestled smart matches until he had an advantage, then Edmond exploded!

The coaching staff has emphasized explosiveness in practice--Coach Poeta, IMAR and Ed Ruth are explosive brushing their teeth--and Ed's brother exemplifies that training.

I think his conditioning comes into play. He can pummel for two periods to soften up his opponent, then a cobra strike. Ruth also has an unerring ability to keep wrestlers off his legs. Some of that is winning the tie battle, and his head and hands defense, but it also involves the type of natural talent a legendary bullfighter possesses.

197. ZAC BRAUNAGEL.

Big Brawny had two matches against mountains called Luke Stout and Braxton Amos. Both were incredible brawls, but the last one was an instant ILLINI Classic. Double SV and ultimate tie-breakers!

You can watch the Braunagels do everything in their power to force their opponents to expend the maximum amount of energy during the first two periods so that third periods and overtimes become Brawlnagel Winning Time.

Unless Coach Bono ducks his wrestler, Brawny-Amos II is about one week away. Coach Poeta's decision to wrestle Zac at 197 because he does well against bigger wrestlers was sound logic at the beginning of the season, and it's paying off now.

133. LUCAS BYRD.

One of the greatest pleasures of being a fan (and an important journalist) of ILLINOIS Wrestling is watching Lucas Byrd wrestle. The technique! The heart! The FIRE!

And those aren't even my favorite aspect of Byrd's wrestling. What I enjoy most is his progressions. In every situation, he knows exactly where he is, where his opponent is, and what to do next.

Seriously, I laugh every time an opponent tries to ride him. My goodness, that's a bad decision!

Lucas also wrestled an instant ILLINI Classic in the semifinals. He was robbed by the timekeeper and the ref of perhaps the greatest comeback win in ILLINOIS history. 

No lie, though, I was both super pissed and super entertained at the same time.

Yet, after that setback, he put it all aside and wrestled the rest of his tournament like a still-hungry wolf. 

165. DANNY BRAUNAGEL.

Like his brother, but even more so, Danny wears the snot out of his opponents in every match. From the head snaps to the constant pressure, he is a wellness check for each of his foes.

He asks of the man standing in front of him: Are you in shape? Are you mentally ready to go? Are you ready for war?

I think he does that better than Zac because at 197, Big Brawny has to reach much higher and pull much harder for his snaps to have effect. (But they still do).

Danny had a big upset against a quality wrestler in Peyton Hall, who has the best trick knees since Tyler Nixt.

After getting one call for potentially dangerous, Little Brawny showed the tactical awareness and smarts to (1) finish quicker up at the waist, and (2) keep Hall's leg straighter will converting.

DYLAN CONNELL, DANNY PUCINO AND TREY SIZEMORE.

These young wrestlers are becoming believers, and it is so fun to watch! Watching Dylan take the eventual Midlands champ to overtime--when he lost to the same guy by seven at the dual--shows improvement.

Additionally, his fifth-place match was a thrill. He tried a slide by against his massive opponent from WVU.

It worked a little.

But the two were still standing pretty straight up. Never you mind, Connell still flung him to the ground and pinned him in thirty seconds.

Danny Pucino was in some of the chippiest matches. Watching him use that emotion to super-charge his efforts was nice. 

Trey Sizemore used his Hulk-like strength to ride the crap outta folks. I especially like it when he shows how a half-nelson is still a deadly weapon in the right hands.

All of these ILLINI athletes out-wrestled their seeds, and they helped their cases to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

THE IRTC

Watching Ermak Kardonov wrestle American folk style was very cool. It was a smart move by the IRTC to enter an athlete, and then have World Cup winner Zane Richards there to represent.

I have to admit that watching Ermak deal with riding and being ridden was both tense and hilarious. You could hear the coaching from the sidelines. Ha!

SOME DRAWBACKS

I don't know why ILLINOIS didn't have anybody at 125 or 157. That was disappointing. You've got to do everything in your control to be part of a team that has a chance to be special, and you have to do everything in your control not to let your teammates down.

If it was a spate of illnesses or injuries, here's hoping the setbacks are short term.

Besides the timekeeper and refs in Lucas Byrd's match, the fact that BTN would put a camera on a mat and not follow the action was infuriating. A billion dollar revenue generator with stationary cameras! Johnny Schaumburg on YouTube Live could've done a better job.

They solved the problem for the third-place matches by placing the camera so far back it seemed like we were looking through a microscope at two angry protozoa.

Finally, I saw one of the worst tactical wrestling matches I've ever witnessed. The ILLINI is only up one point on a wrestler who was 1-9 against Division One opponents. There are fifteen seconds left in the match.

That was the first tactical blunder.

Then, with :15 to go and no previous stall warnings, the ILLINI wrestler is close enough to have his knee snatched.

Unbelievable tactical blunder there.

COMING UP

Stay tuned for previews of Iowa and Wisconsin duals. They should drop in the next couple of days.