ILLINI & IRTC AT THE US OPEN (DAY TWO)

I like to say that, as a fan of ILLINI Wrestling, I can enjoy at least four Christmases every year. Those are multi-day (or at least full-day) events chock full of ILLINI Wrestling. The MSU Open is one Christmas, The Midlands is another, and the conference and NCAA tournaments are three and four. 

This year we also had the Tiger Style Invite. 

But with the way the ILLINI and the ILLINI RTC have shown in the last couple of US Opens and World Team Trials, there are even more Christmases. In fact, this particular tournament is like a Hannukah, as there are many days of delight. 

On day two of the US Open, we received a lot of nice gifts. 

 

In the picture above, you see one of the nice presents we received. That is Zane Richards using a wily veteran move in winning his semifinal match in Freestyle. I thought this takedown was especially clever because Zane used his arm and hand like fingers grasping Camacho's leg. But it was his foot that acted like a thumb so that he could not only grasp the leg but also hold onto it. 

Very Clever! 

Zane finished the day undefeated, and he will face Nick Suriano in the Finals. Winner moves on to Final X! In analyzing this match, I thought Richards was calm and calculating. He was obviously aware that Jakob Camacho had an extremely dangerous leg lace, so he had to avoid it at all costs. 

Camacho had used a leg lace to beat NCAA champion Pat Glory very quickly in the quarterfinals. As you have probably heard, Spencer Lee has forfeited out of the tournament. That means tanned Nicky Pushups in the finals. 

I saw some of Suriano's matches, and, well, I think he doesn't have it right now. I don't know if it is an injury or a cold or whatever. He just didn't seem himself. We shall see later today. 

The award for best celebration--my friends it may have been the best sports celebration of all time--goes to Kamal Bey. He made short work of his 77 kg finals opponent with two Bey Bombs then did a back flip that led straight into a Superhero pose. 

Joe Rau also won 97 kg, while Zac Braunagel finished third at 87 kg, beating the #2 seed in the Bronze match. Tanner Farmer and Luke Luffman were to meet in the third-place match at 130 kg, but Luuuke graciously forfeited out. Danny Braunagel won his seventh-place match, so all three of the ILLINI student wrestlers qualified for the WTT. 

Finally, Wyatt Medlin crushed his #11 seed by finishing sixth in U17 Greco even though he is only a Freshman in high school. There are snippets of each of those matches in the video below: