Overview

Its game time!

Well sure but what about Rameses? Little known fact related to the 06/07 team and Roger Smith-Bergsrud. I used to cycle with one of his high school classmates. Finishing his PhD at that time, great athlete, now on faculty at Princeton Aero Eng. Yes smart & fast. If you interview Mike ask him about Roger's knee.

WHO: The ILLINI v. University of North Carolina WHAT: Away Dual in North Carolina WHEN: Monday, November 25 at 6:00 pm (Central) WHERE: Chapel Hill, North Carolina TV/STREAMING: ACCNX THE GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS The good news is that the ILLINI have an excellent opportunity to leave this dual 5-0. The bad news is that most ILLINI fans won't get to see it. The dual will be broadcast on ACCNX. You can find the match listed on the ESPN.com and ESPN+.com schedule: Once you click on the event you want to see, though, a screen will come up that looks like this: After clicking on your provider, you will be greeted with a page from your provider with a request for your email or username and password and so on. There are other providers, but they're all small cable companies in states where you are mandated by law to marry your cousin if'n you ain't already married to your sister. If you have one of the providers in the image above, we would suggest that you test the set-up process by clicking on a live event or a replay from their schedule and going through the enrollment process before the match starts. WHY WE HATE NORTH CAROLINA They use a mustard-based bbq sauce. It's insane yet worse than it sounds. The finished product looks like what you'd see during an Exorcism. This, alone, is reason enough for the United States to secede from the Tar Heel State. A DAY IN HISTORY On January 13, 2007, the number one song on the Billboard charts was Irreplaceable by Beyoncé. The number one digital song was Fergilicious by Fergie featuring will.i.am. At the box office, the top grossing move was Stomp the Yard. The advertising blurb written by the marketing gurus at Sony Pictures read like this: "When his brother is murdered, a street dancer moves to Georgia to work his way through college. He joins a fraternity's step dancing team for a competition. Will he also get an education and the girl?" It worked! On Saturday, January 13, 2007, that movie sold $8,541,104 worth of tickets. But for real entertainment that day, you had to be in College Park, Maryland to witness the Fighting ILLINI take on the University of North Carolina. The only ILLINI wrestler who didn't win that day eventually became an All American: ILLINOIS 32, North Carolina 3 125: #8 Gabe Flores dec. Drew Forshey, 5-3 3-0 133: #18 Jimmy Kennedy dec. #8 Evan Sola, 3-0 6-0 141: #8 Cassio Pero dec. Mike Rappo, 9-5 9-0 149: #13 Troy Tirapelle dec. Vincent Ramirez, 6-3 12-0 157: #1 Mike Poeta MD Ben Fiacco, 13-3 16-0 165: #14 Roger Smith-Bergsrud dec. #12 K. Mueller, 7-3 19-0 174: Nick Guida DEF. Alex Maciag 25-0 184: #15 John Dergo MD Robert McCarthy, 9-1 29-0 197: Patrick Bond vs. Dennis Drury, 7-3 32-0 HWT: #9 Spencer Nadolsky dec. John Wise, 6-4 32-3 LAST SEASON The two teams met last year for a dual, and ILLINOIS came away with the 20-13 victory, which was especially exciting with three true Freshmen getting starts: Webster, Scoles and Moore. The rest of the Preview, including the individual matchups, at this link.

The bus came by and I got on That's where it all began...

Are weigh-ins before or after dinner? CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 12 Illinois wrestling team is set for its home-opening dual against No. 6 Missouri on Thursday (Nov. 21) in the Lot 31 Stadium Club Tent, with doors opening at 5 p.m., dinner/entertainment beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the dual starting at 7 p.m. CT. Fans can purchase tickets to the dinner theater experience here. The Orange and Blue grapplers are coming off two dominant dual wins against Binghamton (30-10) and No. 21 Arizona State (37-6) at WrangleMania on Nov. 9. They followed that up a day later (Nov. 10) by wrestling in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic tournament, in which No. 2 at 133 pounds Lucas Byrd and No. 10 at 149 pounds Kannon Webster took home Hammer Awards for winning the top brackets in their weight classes. For his dominant 5-0 weekend slate, Webster was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Nov. 14, becoming the first Illinois wrestler to earn the honor in program history. The Illini's 3-0 dual start marks their best start to a season since 2020-21, when they started 4-0. Four starters retain unblemished 6-0 records through the early slate of the season, including No. 15 at 141 pounds Danny Pucino, No. 24 at 165 pounds Braeden Scoles and the aforementioned Byrd and Webster.

Rumor is Hawks maybe out with the funk... So Tommy Hagan. So Ruth wins now. They have one common opponent this year in Deron Pulliam of SIUE. Ruth won in OT and Hagan won 6-5. So Mizzou's lineup will be 125- Walker 133- Moore 141- Edmond 149- Gioffre 157- Conway 165- Steed 174- O'Toole 184- Hagan 197- Sinclair/Cassett (if the dual is completely out of reach. I can see Cassett going to save a date for Sinclair) 285- Nitzel

The bus stopped at the new Edwardsville high school (reminded me of Beckman Inst) for a team workout prior to the dual. For my good internet buddy MP - I was on it! Twas a good dual - good ole days.

Video predictions alongside "The Voice of the ILLINI" Brian Swaw. The dual is tomorrow, and it will be an extravaganza. Brian will be on the call for BTN+. If you can't make it in person, watch on that network.

Jeez. That last bit posted like a long Poem. I hope it's more interesting than that. Sorry! Cheers!

WHO: ILLINI v. Missouri Dual WHAT: Home Opener and a Big Party! WHEN: Thursday, November 21 @ 7 pm (Central) WHERE: Lot 31, Stadium Club (near Memorial Stadium) TV/STREAMING: BTN+ (subscription service; $12.99/month) LIVE STATS: Link to Stats (Free; Trackwrestling) TICKETS: Link to Tickets A DAY IN HISTORY It was just an awful day. February 10, 2000, a Thursday. We had all come to grips with the fact that the entire world could be shut down because of one coding error. Sure, Y2K didn't happen, but it left us emotionally scarred and wary. Even worse, Jim Varney the gifted thespian known for such movies as Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Saves Christmas and Ernest Goes to Camp died on this day at the age of 50. Still worse, the number one Billboard hit in America was I knew I Loved You by Savage Garden. On top of that four-course dinner of awfulness, the top grossing film at the Box Office was the awful Scream 3. But the day was salvaged, somehow, in of all places, Edwardsville, ILLINOIS. In that town with a year-2000 population of 21,787 near the border with Missouri, the ILLINI destroyed a Missouri Tiger wrestling team by the score of 33-6. The Orange & Blue had a roster chock full of seven ranked wrestlers, including #1 Adam Tirapelle and #1 Dr. John Lockhart. Scoreboard: No. 5 Illinois 33, vs. Missouri 6 February 10, 2000 Edwardsville, Illinois 125 No. 6 Ryan Escobar (ILL) pinned Justin Spates (UM), 3:52 133 Jesse West (UM) defeated Kelly Madden (ILL), 9-5 141 Mike Castillo (ILL) defeated J.P. Reese (UM), 11-10 149 No. 1 Adam Tirapelle (ILL) defeated Jesse Jordan (UM), 7-2 157 Ryan Berger (ILL) versus David Neff (UM), 17-4 165 No. 12 Matt Lackey (ILL) tech fall Clint Freeman (UM), 6:23 174 No. 10 John Kopinsky defeated No. 18 Ben King (ILL), 6-2 184 No. 9 Nate Patrick (ILL) pinned Ry Stone (UM), 5:48 197 No. 7 Pat Quirk (ILL) defeated Dante Stone (UM), 11-5 Hwt No. 1 John Lockhart (ILL) defeated Chad Hertzog (UM), 12-5 PRE-DUAL ENTERTAINMENT We saw a comment on social media which indicated that the pre-dual entertainment will include a buffet, a stand-up comedian and something else. What that something else is, we cannot recall. It wasn't a cock fight or a strip show. We would've remembered that. That time Ben Askren ruined our family camping trip. TEAM MATCHUP According to Wrestlestat.com, the ILLINI are the #9-ranked team in the country when it comes to duals. Missouri is at #11, so this should be a real ugly fracas. As usual, much will depend on who is able to wrestle for both teams. Noah Surtin and Rocky Elam missed the Tigers' first two duals. Ramazan Attasauov missed the ILLINI's last. Despite the lower dual ranking, the missing wrestlers from their duals, and it being a home meet for the good guys, Wrestlestat.com is giving the 19-13 edge to Missouri. As we like to say, They'll have to prove that on the mat. INDIVIDUAL MATCHUPS 125. #27 RAMAZAN ATTASAUOV v. #13 NOAH SURTIN. Neither of these wrestlers participated in their team's last dual. Who shows up is anybody's guess. Missouri fans are high on Surtin. He's a 4x National Qualifier with a R12 to his name. He's got a nasty head pinch to look out for. The Tiger is tall for the weight and has more muscle for that length than you'd expect. Could be he's been out of the lineup to give him time to acclimate to 125. That's been Ramazan's issue as well. (We think). Wrestlestat.com is calling for an 8-6 win for Surtin. However, we may see #131 Caelan Riley for the ILLINI and #112 Gage Walker for Mizzou. With no additional information on who will wrestle, we'll go with the 8-6 Tiger win as predicted by Wrestlestat.com. 133. #5 LUCAS BYRD v. #32 KADE MOORE. The question here is whether Lucas will be ready to wrestle again after a November 16 All Star match in Pennsylvania. He looked great in that match, becoming that rare thing: A two-time NWCA All-Star Classic winner! We think he probably wrestles, but if not, the ILLINI will send out #109 Kole Brower or #120 Brian Beers. The other question is whether Kade Moore will be available for this match. He forfeited his last match at the Tiger Style Invite to teammate #77 Jake Crapps. Wrestlestat.com calls for 9-3 win for Byrd over Kade Moore. We think a less-than-100% Moore or a Jake Crapps equals bonus points for the ILLINI, and we think that Byrd can name the amount of bonus points he wants. As the cool kids say, "Byrd is the Wyrd." Remainder of the Preview at this link.

Lucas Byrd is now a two-time NWCA All-Star Classic Champion. That's very rare. Zac Braunagel and his opponent got a standing ovation from the crowd for their 19:17-long war. There were questions related to that first "takedown" that the refs said was out of bounds. But in the end, we were entertained!

Johnny "Goose" Mologousis is 4-0 on his MMA journey and has already won a belt. He will face another undefeated prospect on the card. Matt "no ring name yet" Wroblewski is 0-0 and making his MMA debut. Their fights will be FREE ON YOUTUBE! Sunday, November 17 at the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prelims start at 3:00 pm Central. If you have UFC Fight Pass, you can watch the fights on it. If not, and you're not driving to Milwaukee even to put a couple $$$ on the pass line, then there's free streaming from the Anthony Pettis YouTube channel. Give Pettis a sub, why not? The card is called APFC 14 Milwaukee. (Anthony Pettis Fight Club) Mologousis and Wroblewski and former ILLINI wrestler Jake Reicin (who set up the interview) were cool enough to talk about the upcoming fights in this short video: Did you see that TKO from Mologousis? That was :32 into the fight. The first punch/takedown combination was even better! Wow! Also, WroboCop's story about his first-scheduled opponent who backed out because he thought he could learn wrestling in two weeks. Then his second opponent scratched. More on our website here.

WHAT: NWCA ALL-STAR CLASSIC WHO: ZAC BRAUNAGEL vs. STEPHEN LITTLE WHO²: LUCAS BYRD vs. NASIR BAILEY WHEN: Saturday, November 16 at 6:00 PM (Central) WHERE: Rec Hall, University Park, Campus of Penn State University TV/STREAMING: FloWrestling TICKETS: $25 to $40 BACKGROUND Zac Braunagel will take on Little Rock's Stephen Little at the prestigious NWCA All-Star Classic in a late kick-off to the wrestling season. According to FloWrestling, the Trojan from UA Little Rock is ranked #6, while the Brawlnagel comes in at #9. Wrestlestat.com has Brawny at #8 and Little at #7. Both are returning All Americans with Little winning 7th last season, while Zac got his AA during the Covid year. Of course, the ILLINI has been a Greco Senior World Team Member. In a late addition to the Classic lineup, Lucas Byrd will wrestle Nasir Bailey at 133. On Wrestlestat.com, Byrd is rated #5, while Bailey is #3. FloWrestling has Baily at #2 and Byrd at #6. Both of these wrestlers are All Americans, Lucas x2, and the O&B Legend also has All Star Classic experience. WHY WE HATE ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK Under the subheading of "Student Life" in the University of Arkansas Little Rock article in Wikipedia you find this: "The student life at UA Little Rock is typical of public universities in the United States." WTF? That there is Rob-Lowe-at-a-game-supporting-his-favorite-sport-governing-organization cringe. It is 100% pure Little Brother Speak. "Look at us, we're a real university, too! Our human students do human things, eat human food and lead reasonably normal human lives." THE HISTORY The ILLINI have a rich tradition at the NWCA All Star Classic. There was no Classic for four straight years due to Covid, but when it ratcheted back up in 2022, there was Lucas Byrd beating Michael McGee. Zane Richards, Jesse Delgado, Jordan Blanton, B.J. Futrell, Zac Brunson, Adam Tirapelle, Mark Jayne, Jimmy Kennedy, Jon Llewellyn, Steve Marianetti, Eric Siebert, Matt Lackey, John Lockhart, Alex Tirapelle, Pete Friedl, Mike Poeta and others have represented ILLINOIS. The ILLINI have had years in which two wrestlers have won at the same time. The O&B has had three wrestlers on the mat for at least one Classic. On the other hand, Purdue had their first ever winner in 2023. True story: Slippery Rock and Kentucky each have more wins at the All Star Classic than the Boilermakers. From its inception in the 1960s to 2009, ILLINI wrestlers made 13 appearances and came away with a 10-3 record. There have been multiple U of I wrestlers who have made more than one appearance in this prestigious exhibition. Lucas Byrd joins that august group. THE MATCHUP According to Wrestlestat.com, the tough guy in the O&B singlet is 7-5 against common opponents, while Little has a 5-5 record against the same wrestlers. Yet, the algorithm supposedly calls for a two-point Trojan win. That will have to be proven on the mat. Little was the #161 wrestler coming out of high school as a three-time state champ in Kentucky. He also won two Preseason National Championships and earned AA honors at Ironman. He wrestled in the two of three finals of the 2023 U20 World Team Trials in Freestyle, losing two to one to Jack Darrah at 92kg. He earned an AA at 197 last season with a 7th-place finish. The Little Rock wrestler favors the collar tie, and he likes to keep some distance with the head tap. He will consistently look for an ankle pick and a strong slide-by. He also has go-behinds, knee picks and singles in his arsenal. With longish arms and frame for the weight, of course he'll want to go for the ankle picks. He'll keep the distance with the head taps, and his collar ties are usually not that tight. Zac might want to bring it in close for the short offense, but he'll need to be mindful of the slide by. As y'all know, Zac Braunagel is coming off his Olympic red shirt season in which he wrestled at the Olympic Trials, winning a couple of matches. He was also the Final X winner and World Team Member in the prior year. He has basically earned a doctorate in hand fighting. That's bad news for his opponents, as he already wrestled with a willingness to throw a bucket of guts on the mat. Little is listed as 6-3 on the school's roster, but he looks pretty slim for the weight. This will be a fun match, and the ILLINI Wrestling Blog & Forum & Beyond Plus pick is ... Zac Braunagel by decision in three. THE MATCHUP² ILLINI Legend Lucas Byrd is a late addition to the All Star Classic. Iowa State's Evan Frost has pulled out. That sets up what could be an NCAA Championship prequel between the 2x All American and the 1x AA from Little Rock. Wrestlestat.com is calling this a 6-5 match in Bailey's favor. However, their record against common opponents suggests something different. Byrd is the Wyrd is 9-1 against common foes, while Bailey is 5-1. The Little Rock wrestler lost to Dominick Serrano by the score of 3-5, while Lucas majored the same guy. The one guy that the ILLINI lost to that Bailey hasn't lost to is Dylan Ragusin. But keep in mind, Byrd beat Ragusin three other times. Moreover, almost unanimously, Lucas Byrd did better against the other common opponents than Nasir Bailey did. One common opponent not mentioned by Wrestlestat.com for good reason is Daton Fix. The ILLINI lost to the Cowboy in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament two years ago by a 3-2 controversial decision. Bailey lost to Fix by 10-0 tech fall in this year's Senior World Team Trials. What Bailey is very good at are double-leg takedowns and turns. He also has long arms for ankle picks. It will be interesting to see if he even tries to ride Lucas, as that usually means two points for the ILLINI. We are reminded of the last time Byrd wrestled in the All Star Classic, beating Michael McGee 3-2. It sure seems to us that this match might be affected by weight. Bailey is pretty tall and big for 133. Although Lucas has built a warrior's body, we think he'll have less of a challenge to make weight and wrestle early in the card. Here's a short video showing the winning takedown for Byrd in his first NWCA All Star Classic: Nasir Bailey had a storied career in high school with state championships, Fargo and Ironman titles. He's also the nephew of ILLINI Legend B.J. Futrell. So, expect a dogfight in this one, and since ILLINOIS has the meanest dog in the fight, the IWB&F&B+ pick is ... Byrd by two. WHY WE HATE ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK² We digress. But isn't "Little Rock" the name of Fred Flintstone's hometown? And who names anything after something that's small? This is more of the same Little Brother Speak. NWCA ALL-STAR CLASSIC MATCH LIST Men's Matches 125: #2 Jore Volk, Wyoming vs #5 Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State 133: #2 Nasir Bailey, Little Rock vs #6 Lucas Byrd, Illinois 141: #2 Jesse Mendez, Ohio State vs #3 Beau Bartlett, Penn State 149: #2 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs #3 Ty Watters, West Virginia 157: #4 Tyler Kasak, Penn State vs #5 Peyten Kellar, Ohio 165: #8 Hunter Garvin, Stanford vs #4 Peyton Hall, West Virginia 174: #2 Levi Haines, Penn State vs #3 Cade DeVos, SDSU 184: #1 Carter Starocci, Penn State vs #2 Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa 197: #6 Stephen Little, Little Rock vs #9 Zac Braunagel, Illinois 197: #1 (D2) Derek Blubaugh, Indianapolis vs #1 (D3) Massoma Endene, Wartburg 285: #3 Nick Feldman, Ohio State vs #8 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell Women's Matches 110: 1 Emma Baertlein, Southern Oregon vs #4 Kendra Ryan, North Central 124: #1 Amani Jones, North Central vs #2 Maya Davis, Grand View 145: #1 Jamilah McBryde, Life vs #2 Aine Drury, King 160: #1 Cheyenne Bowman, King vs #1 Latifah McBryde, Life 131: #1 Victoria Baez Dillion, King vs #1 Carolina Moreno, Southern Oregon

It's Bouzakis at 33 Rogotzke at 84 and Welsh/Davino are redshirting...

And I'm excited to see the ILLINI and the Buckeyes this season. Last year, it was a-whoopin', but it will be entertaining this time. It should be on BTN, but it's actually better for me that it will be on BTN+, he said selfishly. There'll be great battles up and down the lineups, but I'm especially interested in who OSU sends out at 133 and 184. Is Welsh going to redshirt or not? Has the new Freshman phenom outwrestled the old Freshman phenom? As soon as you know, please let us know. And like my kids used to say to me, "I said 'please.'"

It's nice to be able to go back and watch them. I'm excited for the Illini and especially to see Byrd back...

I know! It was crazy and very close if Luuuke had decided to press the issue. Please note that I cropped the screengrab in that photo because the score box was getting in the way, but both feet were off the ground. The ILLINI ended up with 5 hammers, but one was for Caelan Riley in Pool D. I think he's at a minimum a Pool C wrestler, more likely, Pool B. Smart move by the coach to give him some confidence. I don't know how long Ramazan Attasauov will be out of the lineup, although he did make the trip. Lucas Byrd, Danny Pucino, Kannon Webster and Braeden Scoles went undefeated and won Pool A hammers, and they are all still undefeated on the season. That's gonna be a Murderer's Row. Zac Braunagel had a one-point loss in the finals to Michael Beard. That score was reversed when they met two years ago in the NCAA tournament. All in all, superb weekend for ILLINOIS. I only watched about 15 matches before I had to take an Old Man's Nap. One of the biggest sports days of the year for the ILLINI wrestling team, and I couldn't make it. Well, I'll get to see the rest of the matches now. NOTE: ILLINI Wrestling fans have some MMA coming up. Johnny Mologousis and Matt Wroblewski are going to be on the same fight card in about one week. More info on that incoming. This'll be a debut for Wroblewski, while Mologousis has already been wrecking guys and winning belts. Cheers!

surely impossible

For a complete recap, including more about the Poeta interview afterwards, check out this link. I swear I won't get lazy and just put in a link in the future, but I gotta catch some ZZZZs before the Journeymen Collegiate Classic starts.

Has anybody ever had both of the traveling mountain's feet in the air at the same time?

Come off of some of that soybean money...

Luffman beats Schultz...

... get on it!

By far the most reasonable Buckeye poster on any board anywhere at any time? @MPhillips should be kidnapped and studied. The future of mankind may depend upon it!

So no one else is going to test this theory?