THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

Congratulations to ILLINI recruits Kannon Webster (145, 2A) and Chris Moore (170, 3A) on the occasion of their ILLINOIS State Championship wins! Also, congratulations to Joey Ruzic, a Junior ILLINI commit who won another championship for Auburn.  Webster is now a three-time IHSA bracket keeper, and Chris Moore avenged his loss in the finals last year to become the champ this year. Ruzic is a repeat champ.  And let us congratulate the ILLINI recruits who finished as IHSA State Finalists. That list includes Peter Marinopoulos, Logan Swaw and Will Baysingar. Now, the next thing y'all have to look forward to is a sweet redshirt season. Then, the next high honor will be when you win a spot in the ILLINI starting lineup and get your picture in one of these: I couldn't watch the Finals, so I kept up on Trackwrestling. That means pressing that stupid "Do You Want to Continue" button four thousand ******* times. Ugh.  It was worth it, though, to follow along with Kannon's ...

COACH POETA ENTERS THE IWCOA HALL OF FAME The ILLINI Wrestling coach took to the floor of the State Farm Center to make everything official: He is now in the IWCOA Hall of Fame. This is what the French call a  fait accompli. And yet, even bigger things will turn up over the horizon.  THE ILLINI GRAND MARCH Fifth Session 4:30 p.m.— Doors open to the Public  5:00 p.m.—Line-up Grand March  5:30 p.m.— Grand March  6:00 p.m.—Championship matches (1A-2A-3A) on 3 mats A DAY IN HISTORY It is Saturday, March 9, 2019.  Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper top the Billboard charts with Shallow . Ariana Grande and Halsey take the Silver and Bronze medals. At the box office, Captain Marvel made over fifty-eight million dollars tonight.  Your stupid little brother still has to wait ten days for Yoshi's Crafted World to come out on Switch. He anxiously starts to gnaw off his hands.  Kannon Webster (Super Soldiers WC) wins the 101-pound IKWF State Championship bracket ...

THE B1G TOURNAMENT PREVIEW This is just a teaser to get you ready for the world's greatest B1G tournament preview coming down the pike in a week or so. There will be a story arc as well as a GotG Volume 2 and a GotG Volume 3 because we gotta get all of the guys in there. Maybe a coach or two, we'll see.  THE RECRUITS The ILLINI recruits are crushing at the IHSA tournament. They really should have police stationed all around the mats because there are some assaults and batteries going down.  The IHSA tournament gives me a chance to read things, and I've always loved to read. To Kill a Mockingbird is the Great American Novel. Biographies of Harry Houdini and Jim Thorpe are top notch. Anything by Douglas N. Adams is top ten in my book. Every other space on my list goes to Charles Dickens, especially The Pickwick Papers , David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol .  But there is nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. As fun to read as wrestling brackets. Here, my friends, are some brack...

THE RECRUITS, PRETTY AWESOME, HUH? Coaches Poeta, Hunter, Ruth and IMAR have to be ecstatic about what looks like an historic recruiting class at ILLINOIS. I was super-impressed with the class two years ago, and two of those guys have gone on to become full-time starters as redshirt Freshmen, while the other folks will be starting in years to come. But this class is really special with two Who’s #1 wrestlers, numerous Fargo championships and AA honors, State Championships, a wrestler looking to become a four-timer, Ironman Championships and podiums and on and on.  These are the leaders who will bring a podium finish to ILLINI Wrestling. The ILLINOIS State Finals will run from Thursday, February 16 to Saturday, February 18. But on top of the ILLINOIS stud recruits, there are also beast recruits and commits from WISCONSIN, OHIO and MINNESOTA. The coaching staff went all over the Midwest to find these studs. What are they doing now?   KANNON WEBSTER (WASHINGTON HIGH SCH...

TEAM FIGHT   This was a 13-21 team loss, but there was a lot of team fight up and down the roster. It was a loss to the number three team on the road before a huge crowd. The ILLINI wrestled their early-season 149-pound backup at 165, while ISU had their full slate of ten starters. The preseason decision to schedule a tough team on the road before a big crowd turned out to be inspired. Other conference teams still have B1G duals, so Coach Poeta and staff inked a contract for a final tune-up before the post season. THE BOX SCORE Weight Matchup Score 125: Caleb Fuessley dec.  Maximo Renteria , 6-4 ILL 0 | ISU 3 133: #10  Lucas Byrd  major dec. #21 Zach Redding ILL 4 I ISU 3 141: Casey Swiderski dec. #17  Danny Pucino , 10-7 ILL 4 I ISU 6 149: #19 Paniro Johnson dec.  Jake Harrier , 12-6 ILL 4 I ISU 9 157: #13  Mike Carr  dec. Jason Kraisser, 10-8 ILL 7 I ISU 9 165: #2 David Carr major dec.  Anthony Federico , 16-2 ILL 7...