RECAP: The ILLINI v. MIZZOU Dual

 

What a night! 

Dolly Parton has a theater in Myrtle Beach that for twenty years has included dinner and a spectacle that involves two teams of actors staging a battle. Depending on where you sit, you root for one of those teams. It has been HUGELY successful. The ILLINI did the same thing except the action was not scripted. These were not actors, but actual wrestlers with their reputations and records on the line. 

IMAR AND AOC GREETING THE VIPS

THE DUAL

Missouri came in at #6 in the country, but they were missing three starters. More on that later. The ILLINI were without the services of RAMAZAN ATTASAUOV, who was there in warmups, and he appeared to be quite thin, so fingers crossed. 

It was LUCAS BYRD who put the ILLINI on the scoreboard first. He manhandled a very tough Kade Moore coming up just shy of the tech fall with a 17-4 major decision.

Lucas looked very, very good. 

He scored with his patented ankle pick, you know, the one where his opponent's butt hits the mat hard, and he also had a cartwheeling reversal. He broke that poor Tiger, but just didn't have enough time to finish off the tech. While he was putting on a show on the mat as the little king, his Big Queen got involved in the prematch entertainment as a Magician's Assistant: 

My goodness we suck at camera. 

DANNY PUCINO had it and then lost it. That was the kind of drama you don't find at a Dolly Parton theater. The score ended up 8-7 for the bad guy after a final Missouri takedown in the waning seconds. Pucino showed why he's been on a roll and how much he's improved. This was a 10-5 result last year, and Edmond is a quality, quality wrestler. 

At 149, KANNON WEBSTER did what we thought he would do ... and more. Missouri's Logan Gioffre has given a lot of quality wrestlers close matches the first time out, then gotten majored in the rematch. The Tiger has done that with #3 Ty Watters and #1 Caleb Henson. Webster had a close match with Gioffre last year, while this time around it was just short of a tech fall at 20-7.

Credit to FSL_ILLINI

  

The fireworks started early for JASON KRAISSER, who began his match with a takedown and three back points. He might seem like Clark Kent off the mat, but on it, he's as unpredictable and dangerous as the Joker. He ended up with the 9-3 win to keep the ILLINI momentum going. 

About the BRAEDEN SCOLES/Steed match, it did seem like a head injury at first for the Tiger, as Braeden dropped him hard to the mat, but then it seemed a knee injury. Steed has a brace on one leg and a sleeve on the other. 

It's impolite to boo a wrestler taking an injury timeout, but that civilized notion is dangerously challenged when the injured wrestler gets up and hits a lightning-quick double on a restart. 

Later, you could see him limping around. 

Steed won the battle on the feet, but Scoles' relentless pressure and riding abilities and the injury were too much. This was going to be a third period full of catches and releases. Instead, the Tiger injury defaulted. 

ILLINI fans get to see the Webster and Scoles show for four years. Wow! For Scoles' ELO and rankings, we will be Cam Steed fans for the rest of the year unless they meet again. 

As for the match between DANNY BRAUNAGEL and #1 Keegan The Tool, we think a couple of images work way better than our words:

Credit to FSL_ILLINI

EDMOND RUTH just missed a bonus point with his 10-3 win over Logan Cole. This seems to be an appropriate time to bring up the Tigers missing from the lineup. At most, their 125lber could add one point, maybe two to their team score. Rocky Elam, even if he had won, would have added zero points to the Tiger score, and if Colton Hawks had wrestled, Edmond would've beaten him 4-1 in sudden victory. 

That's what Edmond does. 

At 197, the Tigers got their upset win over ZAC BRAUNAGEL. The Brawlnagel had the match won, and we know he'll adjust in the future. Then, at heavyweight, LUUUUKE LUFFMAN closed out the dual with another win over a ranked opponent with his 4-3 victory over Seth Nitzel. He has low-leg attacks that will dazzle audiences and critics this season and might just land him a James Beard Award. 

We are proud of this photograph, but like Edgar Degas, who was smart enough to paint mostly ballerinas and race horses, it is the subjects here who shine. 

THE BUFFET AND ENTERTAINMENT

That poor standup comedian/magician had to deal with the nervous energy of a home crowd before a dual meet and a bunch of former ILLINI wrestlers getting together after many years. The kids loved him. As for the cuisine, FSL_ILLINI suggested that it was on a par with Continuing Legal Education seminar luncheons. We agree. 

The cookies were the best, we thought, but the first batch was rock hard while the second batch was soft. The taste was there. Still, the inconsistent texture means we simply cannot award the Chef a Michelin star. 

Coach Poeta gets high marks for his Master of Ceremonies turn, and Brian "Voice of the ILLINI" Swaw was his usual brilliant self, even getting praise from Willie Saylor at Intermat. The student announcer, Tony Fanara, is the best student announcer in the B1G. 

All of the early 2000 teams are our favorites, but 2005 was special (Tyrone Byrd and Jim Heffernan)

Running down the line with high fives, Kyle Ott holding Mark Jayne, Coach Johnson, Hef, Great Night! Our image of the entire team was too blurry to post. 

Coach Medlin finally lets Zane Richards eat, and he goes nuts! Joey Ruzic is there and my apologies to Mr. and Mrs. Ruzic who should've been in the picture as well, but my goodness we suck at camera. 

To cap off an evening of great wrestling and poor photography, Ermak Kardanov.