Recap of ILLINI versus Michigan State

Michigan State has greatly improved their team in the last couple of years. I think it dates back to the end of the tenure of parrot guy as head coach. Being that this dual was on the road, and MSU had improved considerably, it was going to be a nail-biter. Even Shane Sparks and Jim Gibbons suggested as much at the beginning of their broadcast. 

THE HEROES

DANNY PUCINO was an ILLINI hero for his tech fall win over his Michigan State opponent. It was a crazy beautiful fun takedown fest for him that gave ILLINOIS the bonus points which led to the winning margin. Without those additional team points, the ILLINI would have lost the match.

Additionally, there was JAKE HARRIER, who upset a very good and very experienced wrestler in Peyton Omania. Not gonna lie, I was surprised and elated with his win. Jake went on a six-point binge between the first and second periods that gave ILLINOIS the points which would be needed in the end to secure a team victory. Most folks, I think, would call that a pretty big upset. That’s especially true given how under-sized Harrier was compared to Omania.

 

THE OTHER HEROES

The ILLINI had other heroes as well, wrestlers who had wins that added team points that were crucial to victory. Of course, there was LUCAS BYRD beating a former All-American wrestler in Rayvon Foley. The win was key to victory, and my goodness, I don’t think the Spartan came close to scoring a single offensive point against the ILLINOIS two-time All American. You can bet that in most duals, the Spartans are counting on three team points from this, their best wrestler.

Then, you have MAXIMO RENTERIA, who got the ball rolling (and momentum in ILLINOIS’ favor) by winning the first match of the dual, and that win also happened to be his first B1G dual win. 

EDMOND RUTH also had a victory in the dual that was crucial to the team success. He started his scoring with a beautiful double-under to a double that would be worth one million Pokemon attack points if I knew what Pokemon attack points actually were.

 

THE CONTINUUM OF HEROES 

In a big basketball game, the teams are tied with only a couple of seconds to go, and a player throws up a three-pointer that goes in to give his or her team a win at the buzzer. Because of the emotion of the moment, his teammates and his fans put him on their shoulders as everyone storms the court.

I’ve always felt that that was pretty shallow.

In terms of a wrestling dual, and probably in the minds of wrestling coaches everywhere, there has to be a continuum of heroes. I don’t have the answer to how to figure that out with any kind of precision, as that will depend upon a lot of subjective criteria, but I’m starting to think along the lines of a U-shaped continuum. It might look like this:

In looking at my graph now, I would certainly want a pin against the number fifteen wrestler worth more “Hero Points” than giving up a pin to the number one wrestler. But you get the idea.

Mathematically, logically, and scientifically, there has to be another way than lifting the game-winning shot-taker onto our shoulders. But we are an emotional animal, and I get that. 

Plus, there has to be some value placed on the guts to take, and the skill to make, that final shot at the buzzer. Still, there were other heroes that helped to lead the ILLINI to victory.

Looking back at some notes I took during the dual, you’d see “Pucino’d!” and “Wow, Harrier!” and “Federico is fighting his *** off!”

 

STILL OTHER HEROES

 

In a wrestling dual, you have to have team players who limit the damages. ANTHONY FEDERICO keeping a very highly ranked, a very dangerous, and a very offensive-minded Chase Saldate to a two-point win on his home mat was a huge win for the ILLINI. Federico was a hero of the dual. So were DANNY and ZAC BRAUNAGEL, DYLAN CONNELL and MATT WROBLEWSKI.

In fact, special mention has to be given to Connell for keeping another extremely dangerous and highly-ranked wrestler to a two-point win. He wrestled a helluva match. 

Wroblewski had the dual in his hands, and if this was a basketball team, he would’ve been the person put on his teammates shoulders after the team win. His opponent, a human-shaped monster named Vasbinder, had no chance to score the team points needed for a Spartan win because it was WroboCop who went on the offensive.

That’s what a hero does.

 

OBSERVATIONS

I don’t have BTN because I cut the cord years ago. Luckily, I learned that BTN shows are on the Fox Sports app just before the dual started. How did I just now learn about this? I thought we were friends. Sigh.

Unfortunately, the Fox Sports app only gives a viewer about an hour of “free preview” before cutting off. I finally realized that I could pick a TV provider in my area and get unlimited access.

That’s kind of like lying, but we’re talking about ILLINI Wrestling here.

My access was cut off in the third period of Zac Braunagel’s match. Wow, come to find out later, that really sucked.

Coach Poeta got a lot of love during the first half of the dual, as did the other ILLINI coaches. In all fairness, they are photogenic and have compelling stories individually and as a staff. Of course, the brother-brother relationship was discussed between Edmond and Ed. I hope to hear that story for years to come!

I did get to see the ending of the Brawlnagel-Caffey match later, and it was nuts. Flip a coin between these two. You can tell how much the match meant to both of them by their reactions after the final whistle. Zac had a ferocious double in the first period, and he’ll get him back when it counts.

Danny Braunagel needs to heal. His full hand bandage only gets bigger each week. We only asked for one full healthy year for him. Why can’t we get that?

I appreciated WroboCops offensive attitude, and the same goes for Harrier and Federico. By now, everybody on the planet knows that Ruth’s double unders are coming, and he was able to ad lib in this one to go from a throw or a trip to a double-leg takedown. His opponent no doubt read about it in the scouting report and watched it on video and still could not stop it.

The way Lucas Byrd controlled a match from whistle to whistle against a great opponent is a gift to ILLINI fans. The BTN team of Gibbons and Sparks (who did the usual great job) noted his mat awareness and footwork and hand-fighting and constant pressure forward, and they were keen observations.

From the big things to the tiny details, Byrd is the Wyrd!

 

THE GREYHOUND OPEN

It is my understanding that KOLE BROWER was a champion yesterday, JOEY "JOJO" BRAUNAGEL took second, and CADEN ERND took third. The experiences will pay dividends down the road. Look what it did for Connell. Congratulations!