ILLINI versus Northwestern Dual Preview

WHAT:  ILLINI versus Northwestern dual

WHERE:  Historic Huff Hall, Champaign, ILLINOIS

WHEN:  Saturday, January 20 at 2:00 pm (Central)

SPECIAL EVENT:  Great Escape Kids Clinic (see below)

STREAMING:  B1G+ (subscription streaming service)

FIRST MEETING: January 7, 1922

ALL-TIME SERIES:  ILLINI lead 51-33-1

HERO: Greatest Hero in ILLINI/NW Dual History is Deuce Rachal

A DAY IN HISTORY

Travel back with us to February 9, 2014. It is Sunday, and you're reading Calvin & Hobbes. Calvin receives a mushy Valentine's Day card from Susie. He freaks out. Just then, Susie walks up. Calvin hits her in the face with a snowball. Susie denies sending the Valentine. Calvin realizes it was all a set up by Hobbes. 

Children also rule the box office with The Lego Movie at number one in theaters across the country. Dark Horse by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J sits atop the Billboard Hot 100. 

At Huff Hall on this fine day, though, there are grown men from the ILLINI Wrestling team at work. Tony Dallago becomes the all-time school leader in pins with his 38th, while Jesse Delgado adds a tech fall and Zane Richards earns a major decision. Other O&B winners include Nikko Reyes, Steven Rodrigues and Zac Brunson in the ILLINOIS wrestling team's 24-12 defeat of the Northwestern Wildcats. This is your box score:

#15 Illinois 24, #9 Northwestern 12

149: #4 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. John Fahy (ILL), 7-2 (0-3)
157: #15 Zac Brunson (ILL) dec. Ben Sullivan (NU), 11-4 (3-3)
165: #7 Pierce Harger (NU) dec. #10 Jackson Morse (ILL), 10-4 (3-6)
174: Tony Dallago (ILL) pinned David Helmer (NU), 2:22 (9-6)
184: Nikko Reyes (ILL) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 5-2 (12-3)
197: #15 Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. Jeff Koepke (ILL), 7-6 (12-9)
HWT: #1 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. Christopher Lopez (ILL), 4-0 (12-12)
125: #3 Jesse Delgado (ILL) tech. fall Garrison White (NU), 21-5 (4:48) (17-12)
133: #9 Zane Richards (ILL) maj. dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 14-5 (21-12)
141: #9 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) dec. Pat Greco (NU), 7-2 (24-12)

We will always celebrate the Academic success of ILLINI Wrestlers

WHY WE HATE NORTHWESTERN

It's almost a waste of time to make fun of little brother. But. Their school is named after the point midway between North and West on the compass. And the school isn't even Northern or Western! Get in a car and drive to Canada, and it'll take you 8 hours and 58 minutes. If you want to drive to the West Coast, expect to spend 31 hours in your car. Northwestern's not Northern and not Western and not Northwestern. 

Northwestern is not Northwestern. It is all a lie. 

Moreover, their mascot is bland, unimaginative and boring. Why not just call their mascot "animal" or "furry creature." At least a Lion or a Tiger or a Panther is specific and not the result of a tedious corporate bureaucracy making the safe choice. Northwestern is the Scientology of universities. I hate it.

GREAT ESCAPE KIDS CLINIC

This is such a good idea, and these wrestlers are so good, how can any wrestling dad or mom not want their kids at this clinic? A couple of ILLINI legends. Don't miss it! 

THE SEASON SO FAR

Northwestern's season got off to a rocky start before it even started. During the Summer half the team bolted for Michigan. Their record so far includes a loss to NIU 17-18. Ouch! Then, most recently, they traveled to Maryland on Sunday and lost 29-15. Their dual season record is 0-2. 

The season so far for the ILLINI has had its ups and downs. Much of that due to injuries and illnesses. The ILLINI are 3-4 with wins over SIUE (28-7), Central Michigan (32-3), and North Carolina (20-13). the losses were to Navy (18-23), Pitt (9-22), Missouri (6-29) and Ohio State (6-36). 

INDIVIDUAL MATCHUPS

Wrestlestat.com is predicting a 21-12 victory for the ILLINI. Of course, there will be some major changes in both lineups given recent duals and injury reports. The rankings below, unless otherwise noted, are from Wrestlestat. 

125.  #75 JUSTIN CARDANI versus #125 Massey Odiotti. We enjoyed watching the Wildcat wrestle for Team ILLINOIS during the Summer, but he's having trouble with the unexpected starting position after the departure of Michael DeAugustino. Odiotti is 3-8 on the year against D1 wrestlers with those wins coming against the #128, #169 and #209-rated wrestlers. 

If he takes the mat, Cardani will be the big favorite; if not, it will be a closer match with CAELAN RILEY. This is the best chance for an ILLINI 125er to get a win during the conference season. The remaining B1G opponents are Wrestlestat.com rated #8, #41, #4, #9, #5 and #1.

Odiotti wrestled the Maryland backup (#169) last Sunday and got the tech. The Terp backup was 1-8 last season with the win coming against the #244 wrestler (who finished the season 0-14). Still, the Wildcat probably feels good about himself right now. 

133.  #51 ANTHONY MADRIGAL versus #194 Patrick Adams. Again, Wrestlestat.com predicts a major decision for the ILLINI grappler. Adams was an emergency transfer from Buffalo who has had a tough time in the lineup filling in for Byrd prey Chris Cannon. He's 0-5. During his two years with Buffalo, the NW kid's best win was against the #86 wrestler at 125. If Tony can't go, and he's had injury issues this season, expect KOLE BROWER to start again.

Adams got teched by 125lber, now 133lber, Braxton Brown of Maryland in his last dual. Adams wants to throw in a leg on top. Brown grabbed it and got the reversal.  

141.  #35 DANNY PUCINO versus #181 Joel Vandervere. This is Vandervere's third season on the Wildcat roster. He's better than his 6-6 career record, has a nice win over Sergio Lemley earlier this year, and a 4-2 mark this season. In Northwestern's dual against NIU, Vandervere didn't wrestle. Is he hurt? It was #117 true Freshman Kolby McClain. Coincidentally, he also has a 6-6 record in this his first year. In any case, expect one of those two to get PUCINO'D by Danny.

Surprise! It was Luis Bazan who wrestled for Northwestern in the Maryland dual. He's their backup guy at 133, and he got teched by Kal Miller. If he's on the mat in the ILLINI dual, expect a Pucino tech or pinfall. 

149.  #12 KANNON WEBSTER versus #39 Sam Cartella. Wrestlestat.com is predicting a 9-4 win for Kannon over the second-year NW kid. Cartella has some nice wins on his resume, including Jake Harrier (9-4 at the Midlands), #40 Quinn Kinner (7-5), #31 Caleb Rathjen (in SV) and Dylan Gilcher (13-0). Thing is, he was another Wildcat who skipped the dual with NIU in favor of #164 Aiden Vandenbush. Kannon will be a favorite against either (and both if they're allowed to wrestle at the same time), but he'll likely score bonus against Vandenbush.

And it was Vandenbush who took the start at Maryland, giving up a 7:00 tech to Ethen Miller. 

157.  #69 JOE ROBERTS versus #21 Trevor Chumbley. Here Northwestern has the upper hand with Chumbley, who was Round of 16 last year, and who currently has a nice 10-4 record. Joe started out the season on fire, including an upset of CMU's Johnny Lovett, but he's run into some tough opposition and bad luck lately. 

The bad luck involves him wearing a full hand wrap that looked like a giant white crab claw in his last match. Wrestlestat.com is calling for a regular decision win for the Wildcat. That seems the most likely outcome. Roberts is good on defense. (That is, unless Tegan Chumbley is forthcoming with tales of big brother Kryptonite!).

Chumbley wrestled against Michael North in the Maryland dual and got pinned. He'll be looking for redemption against Joe Roberts.  

This is 1:28 of ILLINI happiness. 

165.  #36 CHRIS MOORE versus #23 Maxx Mayfield. This was wrestled already at the Midlands with double-x Maxx winning 8-1. It is interesting that for their other two common opponents, though, Chris did marginally better against them than the Wildcat. Maybe that's why the Wrestlestat.com algorithm predicts a three-point win for Mayfield in the rematch. 

It also has to be noted that this is the fourth year for the Northwestern kid on his team, while Moore has been on his team for two months. Who's gonna have the sharper learning curve from now on? That may not come into play for this dual, but it might by the time the conference tournament rolls around. 

174.  #10 EDMOND RUTH versus #107 David Ferrante. We thought that Ferrante was going to pop if he wrestled 165 for one more day. It's good for him to eat food occasionally. He's been ranked as high as #21 on Wrestlestat.com during his career.

Unfortunately, that ranking has only gotten worse: From #21 to #58 to #84 and now at #107. David is 9-7 on the year, and he was 0-2 at the Midlands against the #71 and #78 wrestlers. Is he injured? Joe Martin is on the Northwestern roster at this weight, and he's a Sophomore. Could we see him? 

Same result in either case.

It was Ferrante who got the start against Maryland last Sunday. Almost off the whistle, he hit a high crotch and scored a takedown against Dominic Solis. He seemed to tucker out later in the match, which he lost 3-6. Being out of condition--even slightly--is not optimal when wrestling Edmond Ruth.

184.  #52 DYLAN CONNELL versus #20 Troy Fisher. It was CADEN ERND who wrestled in the last dual against Ohio State, but we believe that Connell made the trip. With the dual result out of hand by the time 184 rolled around, it was probably wise to give Dylan a couple of extra days to rehabilitate his injury. Both Fisher and Connell have similar records against common opponents. 

Fisher is coming off a very good Midlands tournament, while Connell reinjured himself there. Wrestlestat.com is going with a one-point win for the Wildcat. The aforementioned CADEN ERND and COOPER WETTIG and others could fill in if Connell has a relapse. 

197.  #60 ISIAH PETTIGREW versus #56 Evan Bates. We'd love to see this match, as Pettigrew can win. But, he missed the Ohio State dual supposedly because of injury. Will he be back? PETER MARINOPOULOS filled in for him in Columbus. Wrestlestat.com goes with Bates by one point. 

Bates is a 100% meat-and-potatoes wrestler without many surprises. He's strong, but against Maryland's Jaxon Smith, he was on the wrong end of a tech fall.

285.  #58 (at 197) SUNGYUP RYU versus #49 Jack Jessen. We are assuming that Luuuke is done for the season. Our evidence is that he missed the OSU dual and wore a sling in front of a camera. Slings are a doctor's way of saying, "Don't ******* move your arm for a long time!" Interestingly, Wrestlestat.com picks Luffman by two, but gives Ryu a four-point win. 

Certainly, this is a better matchup for Richard than Nick Feldman and his extra thirty pounds. Jessen is still listed at 197 on the Wildcat roster. We are looking for the same aggressive Richard Ryu we saw at Midlands here. We could also see DANIEL RENSHAW or JOEY BRAUNAGEL or PETER MARINOPOULOS.

It was Jon Halvorsen, up from 184, who wrestled at heavyweight for Northwestern in their dual with Maryland last Sunday. No Jack Jessen. In a bit of kismet, Halvorsen ended up wrestling the Maryland back-up 184lber, so it was basically an extra match that they called heavyweight. The Wildcat won with the riding time point. 

THE ILLINI CLASSIC

A bunch of former ILLINI wrestlers got together and wrestled a tournament with the schools where they coached. This has got to be the coolest thing. Does anybody else in the country do this? It seems that I may be repeating myself, but this is the coolest thing ever. Here they are:

Send us a DM a couple weeks before the next ILLINI Classic, and we will promote it here and on social media.