THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

WHO :  Edmond Ruth, Chris Moore & Danny Pucino WHAT :  NCAA Division One Wrestling Championships WHEN :  Thursday, March 21 at 11:00 am (Central) WHEN2 : Friday, March 22 at 11:00 am (Central) WHEN3 : Saturday, March 23 at 10:00 am (Central); Finals at 6:00 pm WHERE :  T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri TV/STREAMING :  ESPN/ESPNU/ESPN+ UPDATE: SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH EDMOND RUTH faced fifth-year Senior and four-time national qualifier Ben Pasiuk of Army in the final match of the ILLINI's season. Pasiuk had made the Round of 16 in a previous season and was, of course, an AA this year.  Edmond finished his season with a win doing what Edmond Ruth does, with a body lock (and a couple of other takedowns) in a 16-6 major decision victory. He showed toughness to wake up on Saturday, make weight, tie up his shoes and beat an Army badass in the morning of the third day: UPDATE: THE BLOOD ROUND ILLINI Wrestler EDMOND RUTH faced the trickster, MJ Gaitan of Iowa State in the blood round.

COACHES CORNER #4 WITH MIKE POETA ILLINI Wrestling Coach Mike Poeta talks about the Big Ten tournament, Edmond Ruth, Danny Pucino, Chris Moore, his best dance grooves, the cool kids who bleach their hair for state wrestling tournaments, Eric Schultz and Eric Schultz, Jr. and gold mining. Video credit to BTN, the Marinopouloses and Waycross Community Media. Photo credits to the ILLINOIS Athletic Department, Tony Rotundo, and Callie Poeta. Title Graphic designed by Ross Bendik of the Foundation for Wrestling Art Innovation. Music by the great Joe Walsh with his hit, "Life's Been Good." This video is not to be monetized. Here's a short, fun trailer: ILLINI BRACKETS They're out! The brackets for the 2024 NCAA Wrestling tournament have been released, and the ILLINI now know their paths to victory. We will go into some depth--possibly even Moneyball depth--before the tournament , but until then, here's the raw data: 141. DANNY PUCINO 165. CHRIS MOORE 174. EDMON

ILLINI Wrestling recruit Ryan Bennett added another state championship to his long resume. In the finals, it was a meeting with arch nemesis Omar Ayoub, a Nebraska recruit. Ryan came out on top! We take a Science Fiction look at their futures and their pasts. Interestingly, each guy was the reason the other guy didn't become a three-time Ohio champion. We look for the rivalry to continue as they have both signed with Big Ten schools. Besides an individual record that includes two championships, a runner-up and a fourth in the tough state of Ohio, Bennett also led his team to this year's dual state and individual state championships. Video credit to Waycross Community Media, FloWrestling, Drew Blogz, the Curiosity Company, and 20th Century Fox Television. Intro and outro music by Audio Beats. Futurama theme by Christopher Tyng. Photo credits in the intro sequence to FightingILLINI.com, NCAA.com, uiaa.org, wrestlingchangedmylife.com, ILLINOISMatmen.com, flowrestling.com, i

Edmond Ruth's Big Ten Dance Party stars Edmond Ruth,  Cafuné, Woody Harrelson & Mike Myers.  Edmond Ruth is your 2024 Big Ten Conference Champion at 174 pounds! The ILLINI Wrestler put on a show with his wrestling and his groove. If you watch the video carefully, you not only see Edmond Ruth working his magic but also Mike Myers and Woody Harrelson. Video credit to BTN, SNL, the ILLINI Athletic Department and the Marinopouloses. Audio from BTN, Jason Bryant, SNL and the fantastic Cafuné with their hit Tek It (sped up). Graphic credit for the title image and the intro image to the ILLINI Athletic Department. This video is not to be monetized.

FIRST ROUND At 141, the ILLINI faced a guy who had beaten him the last two times they wrestled in the Big Ten tournament, effectively keeping him out of the NCAA tournament. DANNY PUCINO would get his revenge against Maryland's Kal Miller. This was an 8-3 win for the ILLINI, and he moved on to the quarterfinals.  EDMOND RUTH was very careful during the first 6:45 of the match, using riding time to secure an advantage. Then, in the last :15 Edmond threw cares to the wind, using a body lock to throw his opponent, DJ Shannon, to his back for three and and additional two near-fall. Final score was 7-1.  At 165, CHRIS MOORE came closest to an upset with an overtime loss to multi-time All-American Cam Amine of Michigan. The wolverine scored the 4-1 win in sudden victory.  QUARTERFINALS   DANNY PUCINO had the arena gasping multiple times, as he put Real Woods on his back twice. Once they were called out of bounds, but the first time, Real had the fight of his life to stave off the pin. Da

Brian Swaw and I interviewed Coach Isaiah Martinez about his wrestling career, coaching up the team to wrestle in the post-season and tattoos. Special Guest Head Coach Mike Poeta dropped in to talk about all of that (including tattoos).  You couldn't pay me to not do this job.  We are looking for your help. Do you have an ILLINI Wrestling tattoo? Send us a picture. Tell us your story! We want to do an article and an entire podcast devoted to ILLINI Wrestling tats.  Video credit to the NCAA, ESPN, BTN and Wally Campbell. Photo credits to the ILLINOIS Athletic Department, Ia Wrestle, and the Lemoore Leader. Title Graphic designed by Ross Bendik of the Foundation for Wrestling Art Innovation.

THE ZINGO NATIONALS OPEN Kannon Webster and Braeden Scoles showed up on the East Coast for the Zingo Nationals, an open tournament that caters to the Yankee states on that side of America. Both of the true Freshmen pinned their first opponents. Then, Scoles got a quick tech at the start of the second period in the quarters. The guy he teched was a two-year starter for Hofstra.  Kannon pinned his next opponent.  In the finals, Kannon won with a tech, while Braeden got a major. They both won the most obnoxious bling imaginable, which they called "Jersey Chain." LOL!   JACKSON HERMAN Where have I heard that last name? Could there be another wrestling family named Herman? This is from the IWCOA website:  Jevon Herman Class of 2012 St. Charles | University of Illinois A 1993 graduate of St. Charles High School, Jevon Herman competed for four years for the Saints. He wrestled for IWCOA Hall of Fame coach Mick Ruettiger. He was a three time state place winner, finishing 2nd as a sop

WHAT :  Big Ten Conference Tournament WHEN :  Saturday & Sunday, March 9-10 STARTS : 9am (Central) on Saturday; 11:00am (Central) Sunday  WHERE :  Xfinity Center, College Park, Maryland TV/STREAMING :  BTN, BTN+ & FOX SPORTS APP TICKETS & PARKING : Here UPDATE The B1G seeds are out! We  usually post a "They terk ar seeds" meme on this day, but we can actually live with the ILLINI seeds. Edmond Ruth and Tony Madrigal are your two Big Champs from ILLINOIS. The only question is whether Rocco Welsh chooses bottom. Choose your poison carefully, young Buckeye!  Madrigal is the old vet who was hampered by injury all season. He's been on fire since coming back and has the talent to win. Danny Pucino with the nice bump will not have to see Jesse Mendez for an extra match. He gets Real Woods instead, and word is that Real is gassed and lying on a mat belly down somewhere right now.  They did my boy Jake Harrier wrong, but Dylan D'Emilio is 2-2 against ILLINI in the