LET'S GO, RECRUITS & UPDATE ON ILLINI/ISU DUAL

RECRUITS: IT'S YOUR TIME TO SHINE!

The ILLINI have amazing commitments and a crazy awesome recruiting class coming from all over the Midwest, from Wisconsin to Minnesota to Ohio and from right here in ILLINOIS. The good folks at the ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond will be rooting for you in your state series. Let's Go! 

UPDATE ON THE ILLINI/ISU DUAL

The ISU and UNI dual last night will impact the dual on Sunday. The Cyclones, who have a Cardinal as a mascot, had to travel back home and will need to make weight again in less than 48 hours. Here is the box score from that ISU/UNI dual:

No. 3 Iowa State 19, No. 14 Northern Iowa 12
125: Kyle Gollhofer (UNI) dec. Ethan Perryman (ISU), 8-6
133: Zach Redding (ISU) dec. Kyle Biscoglia (UNI), 4-2
141: Cael Happel (UNI) dec. Casey Swiderski (ISU), 4-3
149: Paniro Johnson (ISU) dec. Adam Allard (UNI), 3-1
157: Derek Holschlag (UNI) dec. Jason Kraisser (ISU), 4-1
165: David Carr (ISU) maj. dec. Austin Yant (UNI), 20-6
174: MJ Gaitan (ISU) dec. Lance Runyon (UNI), 9-5
184: Parker Keckeisen (UNI) dec. Marcus Coleman (ISU), 7-5
197: Yonger Bastida (ISU) vs. Kalob Runyon (UNI) or Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
285: Sam Schuyler (ISU) vs. Tyrell Gordon (UNI)

 

Scuttlebutt on the internet is that Mikey Carr will be able to take off from Medical School to make Jason Kraisser's Sunday a bad one. That's good news for ILLINI fans because Anthony Federico might could beat Jason Kraisser, Carr certainly can, and he might earn the team a bonus point. 

Iowa State has a ton of good wrestlers at 174. Well, not quite a ton, just five (or 870 pounds) of them. The thing is, unless Kevin Dresser wants to take MJ Gaitan's redshirt off, last night was MJ Gaitan's fifth and final dual of his true freshman year. I think Dresser should (unless he's an orange) because I'd love to see Gaitan go upper-body with Edmond Ruth. America deserves it. 

I believe the ISU favorites are more heavily favored than the ILLINI favorites, and I also believe that they have the more likely opportunities for bonus points. 

125  MAXIMO RENTERIA versus Caleb Fuessley, Ethan Perryman or Conor Knopick.  Wrestlestat.com picks Renteria, and so do I. This is close to a tossup, but Maximo has started to see the light. 

133.  LUCAS BYRD versus Zach Redding. Byrd is the Wyrd here. Bonus? 

141.  DANNY PUCINO versus Casey Swiderski. Pucino favored by wrestlestat.com. I favor him as well, but not for a major like Andre's algorithm. Pucino might have problems with the stronger guys at the weight, but Swiderski is dealing with an injury and having to make weight twice within 48 hours. 

149.  JAKE HARRIER versus Paniro Johnson. Wrestlestat calls for a major for the Cyclones. I don't see it. Harrier just beat a solid kid in Peyton Omania of MSU, and although he's undersized here, Johnson beat the UNI backup 3-1 last night. 

157.  MIKEY CARR versus Jason Kraisser. Wrestlestat.com was picking Kraisser to beat Carr, but that's changed now to a Carr win. That's what I think, and it could be bonus. 

165.  DANNY BRAUNAGEL versus David Carr. Carr is special, but he missed out on a tech against the #11 Austin Yant because of a Boston-Strangler-type move he tried in the waning seconds. Little Brawny will have to work hard to avoid a tech here. 

174.  EDMOND RUTH versus 870 Pounds of Cyclone (see above). ILLINI favored. 

184.  DYLAN CONNELL versus Marcus Coleman. Wrestlestat.com considers this a regular decision for ISU. Connell will need to fight for that result. Coleman is legit.

197. ZAC BRAUNAGEL versus Yonger Bastida. This could be the dual. Wrestlestat.com favors Bastida, but the Brawlnagel has come up big many times this year. 

285. MATT WROBLEWSKI versus Sam Schuyler. Schuyler is the universal heavy favorite. However, he will find it hard to score a bonus point against WroboCop. 

Perryman has only wrestled two duals, so he is still available at 125. Perryman is now 9-3 on the year, but he seemed a little gassy in his UNI dual loss. How would he be making weight and wrestling again in less than 48 hours? The Cyclones have 750 pounds of 125-pound wrestlers, but two of them are injured and out for the ILLINOIS dual. Dresser could also go with Caleb Fuessley, the guy who's started most of the duals since Terukina's injury, or 7-3 (2-2 against D1) Conor Knopick, who got crushed by the #133 wrestler from Wyoming in that dual, yet gave Oklahoma's Joey Prata a very good match recently. 

If ILLINOIS is to have any chance to win this dual, Maximo Renteria will need to pick up a win at 125, and Pucino will need one at 141.