Preview: ILLINOIS versus Iowa (plus Nerdwestern video highlights)

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

 

ILLINOIS VERSUS IOWA

 

WHAT: ILLINI Wrestling Dual Against Stupid Iowa

WHEN: Friday, January 17 at 6:00 pm Central

WHERE: Stupid Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Stupid Iowa City

TV/STREAMING: BTN

 

 

A DAY IN HISTORY

It is January 28, 2005. 

This is possibly the worst weekend in movie history as the top two at the box office are Hide and Seek and Are We There Yet? It's not much better on the radio with two top ten songs by Destiny's Child, Mario holding down the #1 spot and Nelly featuring Tim McGraw in the top ten. 

You've just thrown your boombox off the top of Starved Rock State Park into the ILLINOIS River. 

Your little Sister wants you to play the new Bratz video game that features the Bratz dolls traveling to London where they form a Spice-Girls-like band. You play for five minutes. 

And now you've just thrown the video game and your sister's Game Boy Advance over the cliff at Starved Rock State Park. 

You're finally on the road to Huff Hall. Surely, your day can't get any worse. Right? Gulp, the ILLINI have to face the #9 Iowa Hawkeyes in a home dual! Luckily, ILLINOIS is ranked #2 in the nation. 

It's a medieval thrashing. 

The Hawkeyes manage to win only two matches, and it is the kind of battle that poets will write about and scholars discuss for centuries. Here is a link to the official recap at FightingILLINI.com, and here's the box score: 

 

University of Illinois vs. University of Iowa Friday, January 28, 2005 Attendance: 3,573 (school record)

149: #16 Anton Dietzen dec. #5 Ty Eustice (Iowa), 3-2 3-0

157: #2 Alex Tirapelle dec. #7 Joe Johnston (Iowa), 7-5 6-0

165: #4 Mark Perry (Iowa) maj. dec. Cal Ferry (ILL), 12-2 6-4

174: #5 Pete Friedl (ILL) dec. Luke Lofthouse (Iowa), 12-5 9-4

184: #3 Brian Glynn (ILL) dec. #5 Paul Bradley (Iowa), 2-1 12-4

197: #13 Tyrone Byrd (ILL) dec. Adam Fellers (Iowa), 3-0 15-4

Hwt: #7 Matt Fields (Iowa) dec. #14 Mike Behnke (ILL), 6-3 15-7

125: #2 Kyle Ott (ILL) maj. dec. Charlie Falck (Iowa), 14-6 19-7

133: #4 Mark Jayne (ILL) dec. #14 Mario Galanakis (Iowa), 7-5 22-7

141: Cassio Pero (ILL) dec. #11 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa), 4-3 25-7

 

THE TEAMS

Legendary ILLINOIS basketball coach Lou Henson had a theory that every season his teams would have one magical game, one grotesquerie and the rest would be somewhere around the median. The ILLINI wrestling team has rid itself of its grotesquerie against Ohio State, but it can still have it's magical match.  

The Orange and Blue have a fantastic 7-1 record heading into the road dual against Iowa. That record includes wins over SIUE (41-3), Binghamton (30-10), Arizona State (37-6), Missouri (23-14), North Carolina (24-14), Indiana (34-3) and Northwestern (33-7). The loss was to Ohio State (9-24).

Iowa has a 7-0 dual record with wins over Oregon State (30-7), Standford (32-9), Bellarmine (49-0), Iowa State (21-15), Princeton (39-3), Army (23-16) and Wisconsin (45-0).

 

THE INDIVIDUAL MATCHUPS

The Wrestlestat.com algorithm is predicting a 22-11 win for the bad guys, but they've got Byrd losing and Kannon winning. Hmmm. They also have the Hawkeyes winning four (4) one-point matches! I guess we'll see about that. 

 

125. A little over a year ago, #173 CAELAN RILEY wrestled #47 Joey Cruz at the Lindenwood Open. It was a 16-2 major decision for the Hawkeye. Wrestlestat.com is going with a regular decision (4-10) here. We'd take that. 

133. We should all be able to agree that an 11-0 record is much, much better than a 10-1 record, right? Right? Wrestlestat.com, are you with us? Of course not. They have their #2 wrestler, Drake Ayala, beating their undefeated #3 LUCAS BYRD. You can bet that Byrd is the Wyrd will be sky high for this one in Carver-Hawkeye. 

The last time he showed up for a business trip in Iowa City it resulted in a devastating pinfall. 

141. At least Wrestlestat.com has #19 DANNY PUCINO beating #60 Jace Rhodes by four points. Rhodes has a 5-2 record this season but a 13-11 career mark. He wrestled 133 last year, and, in fact, you could see #98 Ryder Block with his 2-2 record or #54 (at 133) Cullan Schriever. 

Schriever started out the season wrestling two duals at 141, then Block took over for four duals, and, finally, Rhodes wrestled in the last one.

At the last dual in Carver-Hawkeye, it was the Irish Italian Cyborg Leprechaun and his inexhaustible gas tank that left with the major decision. 

149. Wrestlestat.com has a one-point loss for #2 Kyle Parco against the ILLINI's #12 KANNON WEBSTER. The 4x AA Hawkeye has an 11-0 mark this year and 114 wins in his career. He has 20 losses, and we sure hope that it is Kannon who adds number 21. 

But Webster has been through a rough patch. 

Has that been due to cold and flu season, or is it a case of moderate to severe food shortage? He is very tall and big for a 149er. Still, even at 60%, he was a load for an AA like Dylan D'Emilio to beat. 

157. For some reason, Wrestlestat.com has #122 Isaiah Fenton getting the start in the dual even though he's 1-2 on the season, 3-8 in his career, and hasn't been featured in an Iowa dual. 

The algorithm has #33 JASON "CARDIAC" KRAISSER putting a tech on him. We think that Brando will probably bump up #28 Caleb Rathjen, one of the Voinovich brothers or #114 Miguel Estrada here. Given all of the one-point matches projected for this dual, as well as the likelihood of a Byrd win, we don't think Brando will want to hand over the five or six team points.

165. This is going to be a very interesting match, as #2 Michael Caliendo will face off against a young gun with a similar style. Will the torch get passed or will cagey veteran experience and old-man strength prevail? 

The young gun here is #20 BRAEDEN SCOLES, and the answer to the above question is very much in doubt if you go by Wrestlestat.com. They're predicting another one-point win for stupid Iowa. 

Caliendo will have another year of eligibility, so this could be a very entertaining start to a new rivalry. 

174. It is beneath us to mention a person's looks or physical appearance unless, of course, we think it is attractive. You see, #4 Patrick Kennedy obviously has a large brain because of the size of his head. That's quite something! Very admirable. 

In fact, we think that his cabeza would tower over a standard microwave oven even if you flipped it over onto its end.  

As for his opponent, #29 DANNY BRAUNAGEL has had a hit or miss season. Some very sunny days, but some gloomy ones as well. Kennedy and that big juicy brain of his is steaming right along at 7-0 on the season, and he seems to have won the spot for the Hawks. 

But will nepotism play a role? (Nelson Brands). Or, perhaps a desire to quiet the Jersey Mafia? (Angelo Ferrari). 

Both the Brawlnagel and Kennedy are tough and will be in excellent condition. The Iowa kid does have a major decision over little Brawny in the past, although that sounds like it must've been when the ILLINI was injured. Wrestlestat is predicting a 12-5 win for the Hawk. This could be a one-takedown match either way. 

184. This is another match that the algorithm is predicting a one-point victory for the bad guys. #7 Gabe Arnold has a 9-0 season and 17-1 career record. He will face All American and #14 EDMOND RUTH. 

If the dual is close at this point, does Brando want to use his redshirt Freshman to bull forward against the experienced AA who is waiting for him with double underhooks? 

Or, will Brando go with his son, who's had some success (and a loss) against Ruth? Perhaps he'll want a Ferrari to shoot from distance? 

The last time he was in Carver-Hawkeye arena Edmond Ruth was seen leaving with his hand raised. 

197. If you are looking to see the range of body types at this weight, this is the match you want to watch. The big feller for Iowa is #1 Stephen Buchanan. 

His opponent from the ILLINI'll be #16 ZAC BRAUNAGEL, and Zac has had success against the man-mountains before. He beat Michael Beard in the NCAA tournament, beat Braxton Amos to win a Midlands crown, and he beat Yonger Bastida in the dual. 

Even in losses to folks like Jacob Cardenas and Nino Bonaccorsi, they have been sudden victory or within a point or two. Perhaps that's why this is predicted to be another one of those one-point matches favoring stupid Iowa.

Finally, we can't forget that the last time in that arena Zac rode out of Iowa City as the gunslinger who had just shot down Jacob Warnerov.  

285. Again, we have to ask, which is the better ranking #14 or #18? Not only does Wrestlestat.com give #18 Ben Kueter a predicted win ... but by major decision! 

#14 LUUUUKE LUFFMAN will not have it! For the first time in his life, he will be wrestling in an ILLINOIS - Iowa dual without having to face Tony Cassioppi. He's sure to take advantage of that. 

This season, Luffman has faced three top ten wrestlers and lost twice. So far, Kueter has only faced one top ten wrestler and lost to him. 

That top ten wrestler was Yonger Bastida, and even the ILLINOIS 197 pounder can beat him!

 

CONCLUSION

The ILLINI will be underdogs in this match. We think it will take something similar to what UNI did to Nebraska in their recent dual meet. 

There, the Panther train won all the close matches. 

And in this dual, at least if you have any faith in Wrestlestat.com, there will be a ton of one-point matches. So, can we expect a magical outcome? 

Sure, we're counting on it! 

 

Much more at this link.

 

[PencilNeck]

Great reading as always!