The ILLINI Midlands Preview (125-157)
WHAT: The Midlands
WHEN: Thursday, December 29 at 9:30 AM (Central); Friday, December 30 at 11:00 AM (Central)
WHERE: Hoffman Estates, ILLINOIS
WHY: To Conquer All!
WHO: Twenty-one Team Tournament
TV/STREAMING: BTN+ (subscription service)
A DAY IN HISTORY
It was December 21, 2012, and the world was rocking out to Bruno Mars' #1 hit, Locked Out of Heaven, while University of ILLINOIS alum and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (86) was busy getting married to Crystal Harris (26) at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. At the same time, word leaks out that very interesting people Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are having a baby.
May their union only grow stronger!
At the box office, folks flocked to see The Hobbit, or they were in Evanston to witness ILLINOIS greatness. The ILLINI won the Midlands Championship with five placers, including Jesse Delgado (125) and B.J. Futrell (141) with Silver Medals, Jordan Blanton (174) with Bronze, and Conrad Polz (165) and Mario Gonzalez (197) with fifth-place finishes.
OVERVIEW
If the ILLINI show up and wrestle hard, they have an opportunity to place or win this thing. Stiff competition will come from Arizona State, Wisconsin, Pitt, Penn and Rutgers. The ILLINI should have three top-two seeds with Lucas Byrd, Edmond Ruth and Zac Braunagel along with another top-five seed in Danny Braunagel.
If Renteria, Pucino or Davenport can get some big wins, then the ILLINI are gonna do really well in the team race. It hurts the ILLINI that 125 is shaping up to be a tough bracket, but, on the other hand, 141 is ripe to be stolen. The ILLINI can realistically leave this thing with multiple champions and a team trophy.
ILLINI WRESTLERS
125. MAXIMO RENTERIA (3-3) / JUSTIN CARDANI (0-0).
Renteria has been the hardship kid with injuries and illnesses so far during his ILLINI career. It is about time for him to be healthy and stay healthy and begin a drive to reach his potential. We've seen flashes.
But Maximo's best wins have been against wrestlestat.com foes ranked #94 and #96. He has lost to wrestlers ranked #15, #42 and #50. As a redshirt Freshman, losing to #15 is okay, but losing to #42 and #50 is right out. He's too talented for that.
He will have plenty of opportunity to get some key wins at the Midlands.
It is not known by me when Justin Cardani will be returning from surgery. Between him and Sammie Hayes, we could have quite a strong 125-pound contingent.
Here are some key wrestlers who should be at the Midlands:
133. LUCAS BYRD (8-2).
Lucas Byrd actually has a 9-2 record, which is pretty significant, as that extra win was over Arizona State's Michael McGee at the NWCA All-Star Classic. One of those two will get the top seed at the Midlands this year.
Wisconsin has been in the news lately because of the Burwick-LaMont brouhaha. Taylor is a three time National Qualifier and one-time AA (5th) while at 125 pounds for Utah Valley.
LaMont has started out the season at 3-3, while at Northwestern, rival Chris Cannon is at 4-3, though we might not see Cannon, as he was injured at Cliff Keen.
Here are the top fifty-ish wrestlestat.com wrestlers at this weight who should be at the tournament:
141. DANNY PUCINO (4-3).
Danny Pucino suffered an injury earlier in the season, but he's come back very strong. His last outing against #1 Cole Matthews was a one-takedown (2-4) affair, and Pucino did score a takedown against the Pitt wrestler who is notorious for being very stingy on defense.
Still, with a strong B1G Conference slate coming up, Danny will need to get (a) quality wins, and (b) a lot of wins. If you look at the list below, you can see a lot of guys that the ILLINI should beat, certainly from #26 to #58. The opportunity is there for a semi-final or better.
The 141-pound wrestlers at the Midlands include:
149. KEVON DAVENPORT (6-7).
At least two of those losses were on account of wild throw attempts in the first period that put Kevon in an 0-6 hole to start a match. Four of the top ten wrestlers at this weight--according to wrestlestat--are in the Big Ten. Two of them Austin Gomez of Wisconsin and Yahya Thomas of Northwestern are slated to be at the Midlands.
A week later, Davenport will have a match against a third top-ten wrestler in Max Murin during the Iowa dual.
That's why it is key for him to get as many wins as possible at this tournament. He will see Gomez and Thomas again in duals in 2023.
Here's the competition for Kevon at the Midlands:
157. ANTHONY FEDERICO (5-7) / LUKE ODOM (4-6).
It seems that the ILLINI are still figuring out their starter here. Federico is up from 149 from earlier in the year, and yet he looks comfortable and full-sized at 157. I was wondering if Luke Odom could continue to make 157, as he's a hoss.
But he does.
Coach Poeta has said that he doesn't care about head-to-head results in the room, so the guy who wants the starting spot needs to make the biggest splash at the Midlands. Lots of splash available on this list:
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