BYRD & BRAWLNAGEL AT THE NWCA ALL STAR CLASSIC: A PREVIEW

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

 

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

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

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!