Kannon Webster Shockface, Navy Recap and Kamal, Zac and Joe

KANNON WEBSTER SHOCKFACE

It wasn't so much the win in his first ILLINI dual that was shocking. It would've been shocking if he lost. No, that wasn't it at all. It was the way he went about dismantling a kid who was a three-time state champ, who had wrestled for a year in college already, who came from a great wrestling family, who looked physically bigger, and who finished runner-up at the Mat Town open last season. 

That's where most of the shockface comes from. 

Of course, some shockface involved the surprise in watching Kannon step out on the mat for the dual. The tide had turned against the ILLINI in the Navy match after two consecutive losses, so Coach Poeta needed a game-changing moment, and Webster's win was just that, bringing the crowd to their feet.

ILLINI spirits lifted. 

I'm going to suggest that there are 149 pounders in the lineup for Wisconsin and Purdue who can sleep a little easier tonight. Those duals come later in the season for the ILLINI, and so those lucky SOBs probably won't have to worry about Kannon until next year. 

Then, they need to get plenty ******* worried. 

Another fantastic graphic from the ILLINI Athletic Department

NAVY RECAP

We're not going to say we told you so, but we certainly hinted at it in our preview of this dual. All of the young wrestling Midshipmen have extraordinary resumes from high school, while the veterans are tough. Still, with the Brawlnagels and Lucas Byrd in the lineup, this is a win for the ILLINI. Those weights made up three of the five losses, and two of those were bonus point wins for Navy, a pin and a tech fall. 

The way we look at it is like this: Cary Kolat is in his fourth year with Navy. He's got his guys wrestling matches now. Next year, Mike Poeta will have all his guys wrestling for the ILLINI. We got a taste of that with the Webster debut. 

The production was, again, fantastic, especially the commentators. We had thought we'd heard the name "Brian Swaw" mentioned as the color analyst during the first broadcast but weren't sure. Now, we're sure. The ILLINI are lucky to have a real pro on board. 

All in all, the dual was exciting with lots of action, although there was the occasional loss of focus. Perhaps not listed in his job description, but one of Coach Poeta's real, actual jobs is to bring excitement to ILLINOIS wrestling. He's done that. One small example yesterday was to have some of his wrestlers come out during intermission to throw t-shirts to the crowd. Smart move. The folks loved it! 

Here is the official box score from FightingILLINI.com:

FULL RESULTS

Weight	Matchup	Score
125:	Justin Cardani (ILL) dec. Evan Tallmadge (NAVY), SV-1 6-3	ILL 3 I NAVY 0
133:	Brendan Ferretti (NAVY) pinned Kole Brower (ILL), 4:46	ILL 3 I NAVY 6
141:	Josh Koderhandt (NAVY) dec. Danny Pucino (ILL), 8-2	ILL 3 I NAVY 9
149:	Kannon Webster (ILL) tech. fall James Latona (NAVY), 20-5 (5:57)	ILL 8 I NAVY 9
157:	Joe Roberts (ILL) dec. Jonathan Ley (NAVY), 4-2	ILL 11 I NAVY 9
165:	Andrew Cerniglia (NAVY) tech. fall Luke Odom (ILL), 20-3 (6:21)	ILL 11 I NAVY 14
174:	Edmond Ruth (ILL) dec. Danny Wask (NAVY), SV-1 8-5	ILL 14 I NAVY 14
184:	David Key (NAVY) pinned Dylan Connell (ILL), 3:27	ILL 14 I NAVY 20
197:	Cael Crebs (NAVY) dec. Isiah Pettigrew (ILL), 14-13	ILL 14 I NAVY 23
285:	Luke Luffman (ILL) major dec. Grady Griess (NAVY), 11-3	ILL 18 I NAVY 23

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Here's a short video showing off the best of the ILLINI's day against Navy:

INDIVIDUAL MATCHUPS

JUSTIN CARDANI made the Huff Hall faithful erupt with a 6-3 SV win against a tough two-time New Jersey state champ and Fargo winner in Evan Tallmadge. He had two takedowns for six, while his opponent had three garbage points. It is refreshing to see him convert on a good wrestler like this, using the angle and his head as a lever. We expect Tallmadge will have bumps along the road this year, but he'll end up with 20-25 wins against 10-12 losses in the EIWA, along with a bid to the NCAA tournament. 

It was not to be for KOLE BROWER in his matchup with Brendan Ferretti. The Midshipman secured the pin in the second period. Like his Navy teammate at 125, Ferretti was a top notch recruit and a three-time Michigan state champ. The difference is that Ferretti already spent a year in the Navy lineup, won 21 matches and secured an NCAA bid. Kole attempted to hit a funk roll but was caught on his back. He'll be more careful with that move in the future. 

DANNY PUCINO had what the announcers called one of the marquee matchups on the night against fellow ranked wrestler (and Belleville native) Joshua Koderhandt. It was an exciting and energetic match, but the Midshipman was too strong for Danny, and he won 8-2. To his credit Pucino showed an amazing gas tank that should, by itself, win him some matches down the road. 

The big surprise of the night was watching KANNON WEBSTER walk out on the mat for the ILLINI. Jake Harrier wrestled at this weight against SIUE, but with Navy taking two matches in a row, it was time to call in the Army. Kannon thrashed the Middy with better technique and a better gas tank. He also motivated the crowd and the ILLINI bench. The final was a 20-5 tech fall for the ILLINOIS phenom. 

It was another super Freshman for Navy at 157 for JOE ROBERTS to figure out. Jonathan Ley placed at Super 32 twice at 152, then won Beast of the East at 170. After a year at the Navy prep school where he only lost to PSU's Joe Lee and Cornell's Julian Ramirez, he looked ready for his debut. It was Roberts, though, who trapped the leg, picked up the single and finished with a 4-2 victory. Just textbook stuff. 

After a quick LUKE ODOM takedown in the first period, it was all Andrew Cerniglia after that. The veteran Midshipman tilted away until he had earned the 20-3 tech fall. Hopefully, it was illness that slowed Odom down, as he seemed to run out of gas quickly. 

EDMOND RUTH faced another uber Freshman for Navy in Danny Wask. In fact, the ILLINI had to win it with a takedown in SV by imposing his will with his underhook series. (See video above). Ruth's great gas tank advantage wasn't as apparent in this match, so perhaps he also had a minor flu bug. It didn't help having stoppages. It was Wask who earned the first takedown of the match. Surprising to anybody who didn't know that he was a 2x Beast of the East winner. Ruth got a takedown of his own with a go-behind in the second period. It was near the end of the third period that Ruth started with the underhooks. The effort didn't bear fruit until sudden victory. Wask will win lots of matches for the Naval Academy. 

It was a rematch between DYLAN CONNELL and David Key. The Midshipman beat him 8-4 at the NCAA tournament. It looked for all the world that that result would be reversed as Connell locked up a cradle, and before the ref could even call the takedown, attempted to flip over for the pin. Unfortunately, the lock was broken, and Key managed to find Connell on his back. As we always say, Stay aggressive, it will pay off in the long run. 

At 197, Cael Crebs put ISIAH PETTIGREW on his back early in the first period. It was an underhook and outside trip (stepped on his foot actually) that led to the takedown and back points. After Isiah fought off his back for quite some time, Crebs added another takedown to make it 10-1 Navy in the first period. To his enduring credit, Pettigrew scored twelve of the next sixteen points to make it exciting at the end, but it was still Navy with the 14-13 win. 

The other marquee matchup of the night (that we expected) saw LUUUUKE LUFFMAN take on Grady Greiss, last year's EIWA champ at heavyweight. Both are highly ranked by all the major media concerns, with Luke having the slight edge there. On the mat, though, it wasn't as close, as the Urbana kid won the 11-3 major by winning every position. Luke was especially good with his rides and mat returns. He also punished Greiss with defense as the Midshipman made the mistake of getting caught twice under the ILLINI heavy. 

IRTC & IRTC-ADJACENT HEROES AT THE PAN AM GAMES

The final tally was a Gold Medal for Zane Richards. Zac Braunagel finished in 7th, while Joe "The Raustler" Rau finished in 5th. It was Kamal Bey with another Gold Medal. 

We wanted to watch all the matches, but the Pan Am Games decided to show ******* Canoe Sprint and Break Dancing instead. Congratulations to all of these heroes on winning points for team USA, and they also won UWW ranking points with their finishes. I believe that Zane and Kamal won 8,000 points for their Golds. 

Zac Braunagel won his first match against the Brazilian Ronisson Brandao by tech fall, 9-0. Based upon the results page, I'm guessing that Zac came out balls-a-fire, and the refs put his opponent down. Then, there was a string of four two-pointers, which most likely means he went gut-wrenching around the mat. 

Joe Rau had a first round bye, then he teched Jose Jourdan of Puerto Rico, 9-0. The Raustler scored in exactly the opposite order as The Brawlnagel, going 2-2-2-2-1. A takedown and three guts and a caution and one? Just a guess. He lost to the Cubano in the semifinals. 

Kamal Bey, based only on his results page, had tons of four-point Bey Bombs. He teched in the first round. His big match (and what should've been the finals, maybe) happened in the quarters, as he beat the Cubano 4-3. Bey teched the Chilean Eduardo Bernal in the semifinals, there were two Bey Bombs in that match. In the finals, the ILLINOIS Army (WCAP) stud went down by four or five points before running off twelve of his own for the win and then the pin. 

GO USA!!!