THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

  WRESTLE: THE GATHERING You are probably aware of a table game for nerds called Magic: The Gathering . Well, there is a similar game for cool people called Wrestle: The Gathering . You bring your own deck of cards to the match, then you play them on the table to defeat your opponent's cards. We own the OG ILLINI deck, which is undefeated. But enough silliness, let's get on with the Preview! WHAT :  Illini versus Pitt WHERE : Fitzgerald Fieldhouse,  Allequippa St & Darragh St Pittsburgh, PA WHEN :  Sunday, December 3 at 5pm (Central) WHY :  Sweet, Sweet Revenge ALL-TIME RECORD :  0-2 TICKETS :  $8.00 TV/STREAMING : ESPN watch (ACCNX) LAST YEAR'S HOME DUAL WITH PITT This was very easily the worst showing of the ILLINI last season. It was a disaster. The only aspect in mitigation was that the ILLINI beat UTC 32-9 that same day. It was also weird because ILLINOIS crushed the Mocs and then, right after that, looked bloody awful against the Panthers.  Danny Braunagel and Ed

  FRONT PAGE HEADLINE: ILLINI WIN!  The ILLINI won both duals yesterday. The appetizer was Central Michigan University, which lost to the good guys by the score of 3-32. The main course consisted of a 20-13 win over the University of North Carolina.  This was a very good win for the ILLINI, as Intermat had UNC ranked #22, while the ILLINI were not in the top 25. Additionally, Wrestlestat.com predicted a 24-7 win for the Tarheels. If you go on that site right now and plug in Kannon Webster versus his North Carolina opponent, it pops up as a 5-4 win for the UNC kid.  On the mat, it was actually 5-1 for Kannon Webster. Overall, it was a great day for the ILLINI. The team achieved a massive beatdown over one team while also winning a paper upset over another. Plus, Austin O'Connor received his NCAA and ACC Championship rings before the UNC dual.  The BTN+ stream was excellent. We can even stop it to use the bathroom. Brian Swaw is a pro on the color analysis, and we've been lucky

WELCOME TO MARKO IVANISEVIC! The big man has arrived, and his name is Marko Ivanisevic. He lists himself at 6-2 and 240 and hails from Hinsdale Central and Izzy Style Wrestling. Marko has two older brothers who wrestled and went on to play football for Princeton.  Coach Poeta managed to keep the younger Ivanisevic down on the Farm. Marko is a two-time state placer, a winner of plenty of tournaments like the Central Regional, Northern Plains, the Moore-Prettyman, &tc, and he has another year to add to his mantle. Then, the year after that, he can work in the room with Luuuke Luffman as a redshirt. Congratulations to the ILLINI staff, the Ivanisevics, and the high school and other coaches and training partners who shaped his future. Here's a little video to welcome Marko: LINDENWOOD OPEN Early in the tournament, there were three ILLINI on the mats at the same time. In the Frosh-Soph division, William Baysingar got the early takedown, two sets of back points, then pinned his oppon

ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE IOWA GAMBLING CRISIS According to the esteemed head coach of the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling team, there appears to be a great conspiracy on the part of the Department of Justice and sundry others to hold only Iowa State and University of Iowa athletes accountable for gambling violations.  This unpleasant conspiracy of selective prosecution may have been illegal, the coach mused.  There was also the allegation that there are so many other student-athletes at so many other institutions gambling so much of the time, that they must be struck on the head unconscious and dragged from their wagering speculations onto the football fields, volleyball courts, wrestling mats and other various fields of play or they'd be too busy betting on Iowa women's basketball to pursue their own sport.  This, of course, was classic DARVO, which stands for  deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender. The acclaimed coach of the Iowa team went on to blame everybody but himself for t