Recap of the ILLINI/Nebraska Dual

125:	#5 Liam Cronin major dec. Maximo Renteria, 18-7	ILL 0 | NEB 4
133:	#10 Lucas Byrd dec. Kyle Burwick, 3-0	ILL 3 I NEB 4
141:	#6 Brock Hardy tech. fall #16 Danny Pucino, 16-1 (7:00)	ILL 3 I NEB 9
149:	Jake Harrier wins via NEB forfeit	ILL 9 I NEB 9
157:	#1 Peyton Robb pinned Anthony Federico (4:08)	ILL 9 I NEB 15
165:	#20 Danny Braunagel major dec. Adam Thebeau, 14-5	ILL 13 I NEB 15
174:	#2 Mikey Labriola dec. #12 Edmond Ruth, SV-1 8-6	ILL 13 I NEB 18
184:	#16 Lenny Pinto dec. #24 Dylan Connell, 7-1	ILL 13 I NEB 21
197:	#16 Silas Allred pinned #10 Zac Braunagel (5:28)	ILL 13 I NEB 27
HWT:	Matt Wroblewski pinned Harley Andrews (5:35)	ILL 19 I NEB 27

On the whole, not a good night. Not nearly as bad as Minnesota, but not nearly as good as Wisconsin or Chattanooga or Iowa even. But if you get a pin--especially during the dual honoring you as a Senior--you get to flex. 

Being it was Senior Night, all of the ILLINI Seniors were feted:

Matt Wroblewski (Prospect), Michael Gunther (Libertyville) and Jake Reicin (Deerfield) were honored. Speaking of Gunther, I'm almost positive that I saw his brother Joey in the crowd at the Northwestern dual. Last night, I thought I saw a Dylan Duncan. 

MOMS, DADS AND THE ORANGE KRUSH

Besides the support from ILLINI Moms and Dads and Wrestling alums, the crowd sported some boisterous Orange Krush, and they were loud! There were significant I-L-L versus I-N-I battles going on for much of the night--except when they did chants for individual team members. 

The University of ILLINOIS Athletic Department really, really need to have an "Orange Krush Night" at the first home dual next season. Free t-shirts. Free "A's" in Biology. Discount Tequila shooters at Fiesta Cafe. Whatever. 

SHIN WHIZZERS

There must have been 10 or more Cornhusker shin whizzers, and I don't think the ILLINI scored on any of them. On the other hand, I think Nebraska scored at least once, maybe twice, while defending with a shin whizzer. That was pretty exasperating. 

CAMERA ANGLES

If BTN doesn't move their cameras, then the ILLINI fans should sit on the other side of the mat next season. There were some Orange Krush there tonight, but the majority of the fans were never seen by the cameras. The place will be hopping in a year or two. There's a HUGE recruiting class coming in. 

MATCH OBSERVATIONS

Burwick is a tough kid and will easily make the NCAA tournament. He must have been told to avoid Byrd at all costs tonight, though. Do you remember a shot from the Nebraska kid at 133? 

Brock Hardy is a really tough kid. I do think it's weird that there's an actual, in the flesh, "Bubba" on the Nebraska roster, and he's not one of the two skinheads. And I don't mean that pejoratively, those guys just have skin on the top of their heads where most folks have hair. And that's not to say that other people don't have skin there, they just have hair covering up that skin. Unless they're bald. And then there's some folks who are partly bald or have thinning hair. All floating around the galaxy on this big blue marble. 

Federico's takedown of Peyton Robb was very nice! He got gassed and stuffed after that, but in my optimistic mind, I'm thinking, "If Anthony Federico can take down Robb, what might Mikey Carr do?" 

During his match, Labriola looked fine. Before the dual, Manning had two Huskers shake hands at 174. Nebraska must have been a little worried about the outcome of the team score at the time 174 started. I think both Ruth and Labriola will have very nice NCAA tournaments. 

That Lenny Pinto fellow should be disqualified. His underhook to the crotch might not be illegal, but it is surely against the Man Code. You just don't treat another man's meat and potatoes, his block and tackle, his man berries like that. It's just not cricket. 

I thought Zac Braunagel was too nonchalant in his match. He will always beat that guy from today on forward. Just got a little lax in the technique for a second and paid for it. Awesome to see Wroblewski with the pin on Senior Night.  

NEXT UP!

On Sunday at 1:00 pm (Central), the ILLINI will be in East Lansing to face the Spartans. The dual will be televised on BTN. Michigan State didn't have a dual last night, nor one today. They have had a week to heal up and prepare for the ILLINI, while sleeping in their own beds.