THE ILLINI WRESTLING BLOG AND FORUM

  February 12, 2023 — Ames, Iowa As the University of Illinois Fighting Illini wrestled the #3 Iowa State Cyclones in Hilton Coliseum on Super Bowl Sunday, it is safe to say that a very small number of the 8,757 fans in attendance appreciated the historic nature of the battle they witnessed in the 157 pound weight class. This dual meet, the Illini’s last of the season, featured the return of Iowa State’s “Beauty and the Beast” event wherein the Iowa State women’s gymnastics team took on Central Michigan at the same time as the men’s wrestling at the other end of the arena floor. While one might think the name of the event could be simultaneously offensive to all athletes involved, the gymnasts really did shift into Beast Mode on some of the routines and the elite-level wrestling on display was indeed beautiful. Iowa State took three of the first four matches, with Illini phenom Lucas Byrd the only one able to disappoint a boisterous crowd that was almost exclusively decked out in C...

  This is the time of the silly season when people start asking whether there is anything about wrestling that shouldn’t be changed. Should the NCAA adopt a push-out rule? Why are opponents always human? If eye pokes were good enough for the Three Stooges, why aren’t they good enough for Penn State?  And so on.  Singlets are always brought up. Why not two pieces? Why do we have to wear this, this thing when it looks so silly? What will my girlfriend think? Well, wrestling fans, it’s because you don’t know the strange and wonderful and patriotic history of the Singlet.    400 MILLION B.C. The first singlets were worn by bugs, beetle-like insects to be exact, and these beetles used their own feces to coat themselves. (See Fig. 1 below).  It was a genius albeit smelly way to protect themselves from attack. They didn’t cover up their naughty bits because of any puritan moral code; no, it was so other bugs wouldn’t eat their naughty bits (and the rest ...

ZANE RICHARDS CAMP! I just saw this on Twitter, and wanted to get the word out. Zane Richards will be in Lockport, ILLINOIS to instruct the young-uns. You'll need to get moving on this as the camp is scheduled for this Saturday. Check out all of the groovy details here: And to get you fired up, here's Zane Richards at the World Cup beating the World Bronze Medalist from Mongolia in a tech fall that includes a beautiful cradle: FRIENDS OF ILLINOIS WRESTLING/JOEL KARR What about the Friends of ILLINOIS Wrestling? They came through for me with a three-pack of incredible ILLINI Wrestling t-shirts. These are going to be perfect Summer wear here in Myrtle Beach.  These folks do an incredible job of supporting the ILLINI Wrestling team. The group is made up of Alumni, as well as the family and friends of the wrestlers. For recruits coming in, you can know that there is a network for your family to share with other wrestler families.  If you're a fan of ILLINI wrestling, be sure to...

The March Basho has come to a close. I thought it would be uneventful and boring, and it was for the first ten days. There were no Yokozunas or Ozekis entered. Those are the two highest ranks in Sumo, and both of them were out with injuries. After ten days, the leader was the smallest wrestler in the upper division: Midorifuji. He was undefeated at 10-0 after winning his match each of the first ten days.  That's Midorifuji on the left winning the Technique Prize at an earlier basho. He is listed at 5-7, but that seems a myth. Daieisho, who we'll talk about later, is in the center. He won that basho. Terunofuji, the injured Yokozuna, is on the right. Midorifuji had beaten lower-ranked Sumo, and I expected him to lose against the upper division wrestlers. While many were looking for a Midorifuji yusho basho, this was my comment at the time of his tenth-straight win: "How does Midorifuji do against Wakamotoharu, Kotonowaka, Kiribayama, Hoshoryu and Wakatakakage? I think Daiei...

Is wrestling season over? Trick question. The 2022-2023 wrestling season is over, but the 2023-2024 wrestling season has just begun. During the last two weeks, The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond has been watching all of the University of ILLINOIS wrestlers in their B1G and NCAA matches and documenting what happened and previewing what would happen next. That's kept us busy. And we missed a lot.  In this post, we play catch up with Orange and Blue recruits, ILLINI wrestling camps, and general University of ILLINOIS wrestling stuff. Our team at the IWB&F&B has scoured the internet looking for stories about ILLINI wrestling, and I'm sure that this post is incomplete.  And that pisses us off.  If you have a story about an ILLINI wrestler, coach, recruit, or a former ILLINI wrestler, please send us a message. You can DM on Twitter or Instagram or send an email to thetortmaster@yahoo.com. Let's start with ILLINI recruits in their state series.  BRANDON ...

  This post will not be tweeted or put on Instagram. It's just a private/public place to express our feelings about the end of the ILLINI Wrestling season and the beginning of 2023-2024. A time to remember the great wins, the upsets, the losses and the fact that the MSU Open, the Tiger Style Invite and the Midlands were multi-day Mardi Gras and Carnival festivals for ILLINI fans.  The Orange and Blue had a great first day at the NCAA tournament, with four of the five wrestlers moving on, and two of them (Lucas Byrd and Zac Braunagel) still on the championship side of the bracket.  Except for a couple of Friday morning wins from Edmond Ruth in the wrestlebacks, though, yesterday sucked. The ILLINI ended up with three wrestlers in the Blood Round, and all three lost close matches.  It should also be noted that Lucas Byrd lost a disputed match with Daton Fix in the quarters, while Zac Braunagel was a three-inch placement of his hand to the left or to the right (dependin...