Seth Mendoza Had a Great Visit!

 

Of course he did! But if you don't believe me, believe him:

The first thing that we at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond thought was, "Imagine that team." Then, our minds drifted to AAs, National Championships and World Teams. Imagine what could be. Here are his original photographs embiggened:

We used a little AI magic on that last one:

With new facilities coming on line soon, a coaching staff that is up there with the best, the State Farm Center now available for duals, as well as the IRTC becoming an ever-increasing player in determining World Team members and World Championships, ILLINOIS is going to become the preferred destination for ILLINOIS wrestlers. 

Coaches Poeta, Medlin, Hunter, IMAR and O'Connor want to make this area the new Dagestan of wrestling. 

Why not? 

There's coaching talent in the high schools and private academies and centers. BTS is making noise in Chicago, and ILLINOIS wrestlers are winning team and individual championships at Fargo. Austin O'Connor just won an NCAA championship on the college level. Finally, there are the big donors. The ILLINI can afford a state-of-the-art facility because of them. 

We at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond have been super-charged about the future of the program (since forever) but even more so lately. It just seems that for every new target, there's a bullseye. 

Imagine what could be. 

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Credit for the Tweet and the Original Photographs to Seth Mendoza. Credit for our fake print to AI. Credit to the University of ILLINOIS Athletic Department for the mock up of the new facility.