The Big One: ILLINOIS versus Minnesota

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

There are folks talking about some dual on Friday, but my friends, the Big One is Saturday between ILLINOIS and Minnesota. It will be the only wrestling match on BTN that day, while on Friday, you have Ohio State versus Michigan and Iowa versus Penn State. In other words, a bunch of fluff replete with bad haircuts and people who belong on the set of Deliverance. 

There's an award-winning preview of the Big One at the ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond. It starts out a little something like this:

 

WHO:  Minnesota Golden Gophers

WHAT:  Dual

WHERE:  1925 University Ave SE, Maturi Pavilion, Minneapolis, Minnesota

WHEN:  Saturday, January 28 at 1:00 pm (Central)

WHY:  Destroy the Gophers! 

TV/STREAMING:  BTN

TICKETS:  $10 Youth, $10 Senior, $15 Public

 

 

A DAY IN HISTORY

It is Friday, February 12, 2016. 

The Billboard charts are full of unpleasant music. For example, Justin Bieber holds the numbers one and two spots with his hits, Love Yourself and Sorry. At the movies, your day is much better because Deadpool opens in 3,558 theaters and makes an incredible $47,335,592 that night. Assassin's Creed: Chronicles was released three days ago, and your kid brother has been playing it for the last 72 hours straight. 

The people having the best time, though, are at Huff Hall for the ILLINI dual with Minnesota. It's Senior Night, and befittingly, Senior Jeff Koepke seals a dual win for the good guys. Other winners for ILLINOIS include Francis Edelen, Zane Richards (tech), IMAR (major), and Steven Rodrigues (major). This was how that dual looks on paper:

 

#12 Illinois 19, #16 Minnesota 16 (Full Play-By-Play: http://bit.ly/1KgaCFs)

197: #3 Brett Pfarr (MINN) dec. Emery Parker (ILL), 10-5 | 0-3

HWT: #10 Michael Kroells (MINN) major dec. #20 Brooks Black (ILL),8-0 | 0-7

125: Francis Edelen (ILL) dec. Skyler Petry (MINN), 3-2 | 3-7

133: #2 Zane Richards (ILL) tech fall Sam Brancale, 17-2 (MINN) | 8-7

141: #9 Tommy Thorn dec. Mousa Jodeh (ILL), 6-2 | 8-10

149: #14 Jake Short dec. Kyle Langenderfer (ILL), 8-3 | 8-13

157: #2 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) major dec. Brandon Kingsley (MINN), 15-6 |12-13

165: #4 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) major dec. Brandon Krone (MINN),21-8 |16-13

174: Nick Wanzek (MINN) dec. #2 Zac Brunson (ILL), 13-10 | 16-16

184: #15 Jeff Koepke (ILL) dec. Chris Pfarr (MINN), 8-4 | 19-16

 

THE BIG TEN NETWORK

The dual is scheduled for 1pm (Central) on BTN. It is the only wrestling match scheduled for Saturday, so you can expect to see and hear from the network's dream team of Gibbons and Johnson, as Sparks may be in the studio whipping up some content. 

The important news is that there's a stupid and completely inconsequential basketball game between Northwestern and Minnesota scheduled at 11am (Central), right before the dual. Choose your TIVO options wisely. 

 

THE TEAMS 

The ILLINI are now 5-4 in duals. They got there by starting off the season with a win over Buffalo (28-9), then lost to NC State (12-27), whupped Chattanooga (32-9), then in the same afternoon, got whupped themselves by Pitt (6-30). After a nice showing at the Midlands, the ILLINI gave Iowa a scare (19-25), beat Wisconsin (18-17) and Purdue (31-9), lost a controversial match with Northwestern (17-17), and, most recently, beat Maryland (29-11). 

Minnesota has a very nice 10-2 record that includes a win over Oklahoma State. Here's what they've done this season: Beat Binghamton (19-15), South Dakota State (19-16), Augustana (37-4), Oklahoma State (18-12), North Dakota State (24-9), Lindenwood (48-6), Cal Poly (22-12), had consecutive losses on the road to Northwestern (11-18) and Nebraska (9-21), then beat Michigan State (21-11), Indiana (28-6) and Purdue (20-12).

...

 

 

THE WRESTLERS

125.  Maximo Renteria (#82, 3-8) versus Patrick McKee (#4, 9-2)

McKee has been nails at the NCAA tournament the last two years. He's the Gopher's Lucas Byrd. During the regular season, though, he has been less sharp, losing seven last year, six the year before and eight the year before that. In other words, he can take some unexpected losses during conference. 

Still, he will be the huge favorite in this match with wrestlestat.com calling for a major decision. Maximo is 1-8 against common opponents, while the Gopher is 13-7. Last year as a true Freshman, the ILLINI went to the UNI Open and McKee pinned him. I believe Renteria was still recovering his wind from Covid at the time. 

I expect Maximo to start getting McKee-like results but perhaps not yet. PREDICTION: Minnesota is the huge favorite; regular decision. 

 

133.  Lucas Byrd (#7, 19-3) versus Aaron Nagao (#15, 14-3)

The ILLINI will return the favor and send out a huge favorite against Nagao, who's having a nice season himself. You see, I would consider Byrd to be a massive favorite over Nagao, but in the last two duals this season, it has been Jake Gliva (#83, 10-5), who's suited up for the Gophers. 

Gliva has started for Minnesota in conference duals in two preceding years. He even lost to Byrd 3-8 last season. The Gopher would go on to earn an NCAA bid but lose two straight and finish up with a 13-15 record. 

I would not expect the Minnesota brain trust to send out an injured or recovering Nagao to face the ILLINI two-time All American. Lucas is 13-0 versus common opponents with Nagao, who is 4-3. Wrestlestat.com predicts only a two-point win for Byrd, but given what we know, and given scouting reports from his teammate from Cali, I expect it would be much worse. 

The wrestlestat.com algorithm favors the ILLINI by major if he faces the backup Gopher. Lucas is 21-7 against the same guys who have a 4-13 record versus Gliva. PREDICTION: ILLINOIS is the heavy favorite, regular decision against Nagao, possible major against Gliva.

Below, you'll find a super cool video showing Maximo Renteria beating Nagao for one of his Cali state championships. You get a takedown-fest and a tilt-fest, and then you get to see Maximo hug his coaches, ILLINI alums Troy Tirapelle and Gabe Flores. Love this! 

 

 

 

[KCMO2]

13 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Iowa versus Penn State. In other words, a bunch of fluff replete with bad haircuts and people who belong on the set of Deliverance. 

 

[Southend]

I like the enthusiasm. 

[Southend]

Way too much Pennsylvania and Iowa hype o his website. Good info for Illinois/ rodents lstch

[ionel]

24 minutes ago, Southend said:

Way too much Pennsylvania and Iowa hype o his website. Good info for Illinois/ rodents lstch

would think some rodents would help with the hype, pretty sure there's at least two of em living on these here boards but maybe they are underground and snow/iced in.  Who cares about nitts & squawks.  

[MNRodent]

Illinois looks to be a slight favorite.  I'm hoping the Gophers will come out strong with having only 1 match this week.

[ionel]

4 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

Illinois looks to be a slight favorite.  I'm hoping the Gophers will come out strong with having only 1 match this week.

good chance it comes down to HWT 

[headshuck]

I was going to post something in response to Ionel about being underground when I realized Illinois has a logo/mascot challenge. Avoiding the Indian mascot as I’m on probation the remainder of the week already, I thought I’d post the logo instead. I like the 1947 version.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

@ionel, I've always liked the Gopher posters. Additionally, if Johnson, Gibbons, Sparks or Flores can't get to Minneapolis for the dual, I wouldn't mind hearing Mack Reiter and his partner call it. They're neutral and low-key very funny. Does this mean I'm going soft on Minnesota? No way.

The Land of 10,000 Mosquito Bites. It's the movie Fargo but with trees. 

As you said, it could very well come down to heavyweight, and that's one of many close matches. Matt Wroblewski has a head-to-head win when they were both at 197, but Garrett Joles is a big musclehead and may now outweigh Wroblewski, who had a earlier start at putting on weight. These guys never get to shoot doubles or knee-down singles because there are so many fatties in conference. They are free here to actually shoot, and they both can do it. 

I'm especially looking forward to Danny Pucino versus Jake Bergeland, Carr versus Brayton Lee, Little Braunagel versus Sparks and Edmond Ruth versus O'Reilly. I want to see how Dylan Connell measures up against Isaiah Salazar. The Gopher's a big dude and tough wrestler, but Connell's added some muscle. There should be some very good matches! 

As a selfish ILLINI fan, I hope the dual starts at either 125, 157 or 184. I think those are the Minny guys who are pulling the most weight. Actually, the whole team looks pretty huge except for Joles and McKee, which makes me wonder, how did Pat McKee ever miss weight? Two rolls of half-dollars in his singlet? 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

8 minutes ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

I wouldn't mind hearing Mack Reiter and his partner call it. They're neutral and low-key very funny. Does this mean I'm going soft on Minnesota? No way.

The Land of 10,000 Mosquito Bites. It's the movie Fargo but with trees. 

As you said, it could very well come down to heavyweight, and that's one of many close matches. Matt Wroblewski has a head-to-head win when they were both at 197, but Garrett Joles is a big musclehead and may now outweigh Wroblewski, who had a earlier start at putting on weight. These guys never get to shoot doubles or knee-down singles because there are so many fatties in conference. They are free here to actually shoot, and they both can do it. 

I'm especially looking forward to Danny Pucino versus Jake Bergeland, Carr versus Brayton Lee, Little Braunagel versus Sparks and Edmond Ruth versus O'Reilly. I want to see how Dylan Connell measures up against Isaiah Salazar. The Gopher's a big dude and tough wrestler, but Connell's added some muscle. There should be some very good matches! 

As a selfish ILLINI fan, I hope the dual starts at either 125, 157 or 184. I think those are the Minny guys who are pulling the most weight. Actually, the whole team looks pretty huge except for Joles and McKee, which makes me wonder, how did Pat McKee ever miss weight? Two rolls of half-dollars in his singlet? 

Not posted for me, but as long as I'm here I thought I'd chime in. 

• Mack Reiter's regular partner is Danny Williams (yes, the Danny-Mac show!) but last week he partnered up with Dustin Schlatter. Was also very, very solid.
• Fatty-free Hwt match is worth the entry fee alone. Should be a barn burner... and with outside temperatures in the single digits, that will be welcome.
• (4) more matchups you pointed out are all edge-of-your-seat. That makes (5) don't-miss matchups total so far. Basically, guaranteed fireworks.
• As others have said, it may come down to Hwt, but that depends on where we start. Nobody should be surprised to see a different starting weight.
• One last bullet point... McKee is big. Maybe it's your TV, or maybe your eyeglass prescription needs a refresh. Patrick is all of 125 and parts made of brass.

Really looking forward to our guests from Illi-Noise.  

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

36 minutes ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Not posted for me, but as long as I'm here I thought I'd chime in. 

• Mack Reiter's regular partner is Danny Williams (yes, the Danny-Mac show!) but last week he partnered up with Dustin Schlatter. Was also very, very solid.
• Fatty-free Hwt match is worth the entry fee alone. Should be a barn burner... and with outside temperatures in the single digits, that will be welcome.
• (4) more matchups you pointed out are all edge-of-your-seat. That makes (5) don't-miss matchups total so far. Basically, guaranteed fireworks.
• As others have said, it may come down to Hwt, but that depends on where we start. Nobody should be surprised to see a different starting weight.
• One last bullet point... McKee is big. Maybe it's your TV, or maybe your eyeglass prescription needs a refresh. Patrick is all of 125 and parts made of brass.

Really looking forward to our guests from Illi-Noise.  

Patrick McKee must have a thirty-pound head. He's a damn cartoon character, the Yosemite Sam of wrestling. My point, though, is that Minnesota is one of the teams that I think is built for tournaments this year. Except for Joles, Nagao and maybe Foy, they are gonna hurt in the morning at weigh-ins, but by mid-morning, they'll be huge and strong. Bergeland, Blockhus, Lee, Sparks, Salazar all seem to be large humans. 

On another note, we are lucky at ILLINOIS to have some great student and student-wrestler announcers. Minnesota is lucky to have Mack and Danny Williams. The rest of these Big Ten schools can go suck it when it comes to BTN+ broadcasts. How many times have you heard the words "play" or "players." That one really grinds my gears. The problem is that the student announcer is always the one cast in the role of play-by-play, or should it be tie-by-tie or move-by-move? Maybe offense/defense? 

Those inexperienced folk should handle it like they're hosting the Oscars. Introduce the teams, note changes in match and team scores, tell a few jokes, maybe a short musical number, then shut up. 

 

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

16 minutes ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Gotta ask. Who's the IlliNoise character that looks a lot like Batman? I'm thinking maybe I-Mart? "Shop Smart, Shop I-Mart!"

This dual is going to be gritty across the board. Illinois has been wrestling tough. Gophers will have their hands full. It may well be "The Big One" on Saturday.

[ionel]

11 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

@ionel, 

The Land of 10,000 Mosquito Bites. It's the movie Fargo but with trees. 

As you said, it could very well come down to heavyweight, and that's one of many close matches. 

I'm especially looking forward to Danny Pucino versus Jake Bergeland, Carr versus Brayton Lee, Little Braunagel versus Sparks and Edmond Ruth versus O'Reilly. I want to see how Dylan Connell measures up against Isaiah Salazar. The Gopher's a big dude and tough wrestler, but Connell's added some muscle. There should be some very good matches! 

 

Don't think we will see Carr this weekend, betting the good doctor has more important commitments.  Hopefully can keep 157 to a regular decision and then figure out a way to pull out the HWT match. 

[poorwrestler]

As a typically-optimistic gopher fan I am feeling oddly pessimistic about this one. Also don’t think we see Nagao. But would be very happy if we did.


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[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

12 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Gotta ask. Who's the IlliNoise character that looks a lot like Batman? I'm thinking maybe I-Mart? "Shop Smart, Shop I-Mart!"

This dual is going to be gritty across the board. Illinois has been wrestling tough. Gophers will have their hands full. It may well be "The Big One" on Saturday.

When IMAR was a Freshman somebody on this board posted, "Shop Smart, Shop I-Mart." Was that you? I thought it was real good and would stick, but IMAR is the one person in our galaxy who gets to pick his own nickname.

The Batmen are all of the ILLINI. Any resemblance to characters owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros is purely coincidental.

I saw on Minnesota's official site they have both Nagao and Gliva as probables, which is very Schrödinger's of the Gopher staff. Other "ors" include Marcos Polanco at 141, Cael Carlson at 165, Jared Krattiger at 174 and Keaton Kluever at heavyweight.

@ionel, the same source only lists Carr, which means that Brayton Lee better prepare for Anthony Federico! GO ILLINI!!!

[ionel]

1 hour ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

When IMAR was a Freshman somebody on this board posted, "Shop Smart, Shop I-Mart." Was that you? I thought it was real good and would stick, but IMAR is the one person in our galaxy who gets to pick his own nickname.

The Batmen are all of the ILLINI. Any resemblance to characters owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros is purely coincidental.

I saw on Minnesota's official site they have both Nagao and Gliva as probables, which is very Schrödinger's of the Gopher staff. Other "ors" include Marcos Polanco at 141, Cael Carlson at 165, Jared Krattiger at 174 and Keaton Kluever at heavyweight.

@ionel, the same source only lists Carr, which means that Brayton Lee better prepare for Anthony Federico! GO ILLINI!!!

I remember that for some reason.  

[GreatWhiteNorth]

5 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

When IMAR was a Freshman somebody on this board posted, "Shop Smart, Shop I-Mart." Was that you? I thought it was real good and would stick, but IMAR is the one person in our galaxy who gets to pick his own nickname.

The Batmen are all of the ILLINI. Any resemblance to characters owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros is purely coincidental.

I saw on Minnesota's official site they have both Nagao and Gliva as probables, which is very Schrödinger's of the Gopher staff. Other "ors" include Marcos Polanco at 141, Cael Carlson at 165, Jared Krattiger at 174 and Keaton Kluever at heavyweight.

@ionel, the same source only lists Carr, which means that Brayton Lee better prepare for Anthony Federico! GO ILLINI!!!

I have always enjoyed using the 'I-Mart' nickname in posts, even posted the clip from Evil Dead that it originated from. But - it is copyright 'Gantry', he is the Edmund Hillary of the nickname. (Speaking of, where did Gantry go? Anyone?)

Saturday's lineup is full of questions at this point - the appropriate amount of gamesmanship and mystery for "The Big One", no doubt. Gotta tune-in to see! It's 1pm CST Sat (tomorrow) on the B1G Network... yep, that bat-time, that bat-channel.

 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

6 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

I have always enjoyed using the 'I-Mart' nickname in posts, even posted the clip from Evil Dead that it originated from. But - it is copyright 'Gantry', he is the Edmund Hillary of the nickname. (Speaking of, where did Gantry go? Anyone?)

Saturday's lineup is full of questions at this point - the appropriate amount of gamesmanship and mystery for "The Big One", no doubt. Gotta tune-in to see! It's 1pm CST Sat (tomorrow) on the B1G Network... yep, that bat-time, that bat-channel.

 

Using my own memes against me? That's a copyright violation. You will hear from my lawyer! Also, @Southend using "The Big One" meme against both of us? Another copyright violation. More work for my attorney. 

This whole dual is gonna be edge-of-the-seat stuff for me. Looking forward to it! 

 

[poorwrestler]

Was not expecting us to take 165 or 174, let alone both. Good showing from the Gophs so far.


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[D3UC157]

“He’s a back door monster” -Jim Gibbons in reference to Pat McKee being good in the NCAA wrestle backs.

yikessssss

[poorwrestler]

“He’s a back door monster” -Jim Gibbons in reference to Pat McKee being good in the NCAA wrestle backs.
yikessssss

Old people accidentally saying dirty things without realizing it is objectively always funny.


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[Powershouse]

Best top to bottom Gopher performance this season.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

1 hour ago, Powershouse said:

Best top to bottom Gopher performance this season.

No BTN here in South Carolina. I tried to wait out the replay on BTN+ but only lasted three hours before curiosity overwhelmed me.

Good to know that that whupping was from the best the Gophers can hand out. This part of the Multiverse sucks.

How did Minnesota get those majors? Time for a regrouping!

[MNRodent]

Outstanding effort by the Gophers with 3 starters out.  Especially glad to see Bergeland back to his NCAA form from last year.

#11 Minnesota 24, #17 Illinois 9
157: #14 Michael Carr (ILL) dec. Sebas Swiggum (MINN), 11-6
165: Cael Carlson (MINN) dec. #19 Danny Braunagel (ILL), 2-1
174: #15 Bailee O’Reilly (MINN) dec. #10 Edmond Ruth (ILL), 6-4
184: #10 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) dec. #25 Dylan Connell (ILL), 3-2
197: #10 Zac Braunagel (ILL) dec. #27 Michial Foy (MINN), 5-4 TB1
HWT: #32 Garrett Joles (MINN) dec. Matt Wroblewski (ILL), 7-3
125: #5 Patrick McKee (MINN) maj. dec. Maximo Renteria (ILL), 14-2
133: #10 Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. Jake Gliva (MINN), 3-1
141: #15 Jake Bergeland (MINN) maj. dec. #9 Danny Pucino (ILL), 12-2
149: #15 Michael Blockhus (MINN) maj. dec. Jake Harrier (ILL), 14-4
Note: InterMat Rankings

[Gus]

41 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

Outstanding effort by the Gophers with 3 starters out.  Especially glad to see Bergeland back to his NCAA form from last year.

#11 Minnesota 24, #17 Illinois 9
157: #14 Michael Carr (ILL) dec. Sebas Swiggum (MINN), 11-6
165: Cael Carlson (MINN) dec. #19 Danny Braunagel (ILL), 2-1
174: #15 Bailee O’Reilly (MINN) dec. #10 Edmond Ruth (ILL), 6-4
184: #10 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) dec. #25 Dylan Connell (ILL), 3-2
197: #10 Zac Braunagel (ILL) dec. #27 Michial Foy (MINN), 5-4 TB1
HWT: #32 Garrett Joles (MINN) dec. Matt Wroblewski (ILL), 7-3
125: #5 Patrick McKee (MINN) maj. dec. Maximo Renteria (ILL), 14-2
133: #10 Lucas Byrd (ILL) dec. Jake Gliva (MINN), 3-1
141: #15 Jake Bergeland (MINN) maj. dec. #9 Danny Pucino (ILL), 12-2
149: #15 Michael Blockhus (MINN) maj. dec. Jake Harrier (ILL), 14-4
Note: InterMat Rankings

It was nice to see guys getting after it and trying to score points.