ILLINIWrestlingBlog

That was a great documentary! I tried to find it on YouTube but only found this trailer/advertisement for the dvd on Amazon. Well worth any wrestler's time. Cheers!

Abraham Lincoln was a senior at Carl Sandburg High School with a record of 36-4. He dreamed of a wrestling scholarship from the University of Illinois, but he was only #98 on the senior big board. So, the lanky rail-splitter hopped a wagon train to the Northwest Territory to wrestle in the 9 stone 7 pound weight class at Fargo. Old Timers say he wrestled like a furious shaved bear. The young railsplitter teched his way to the finals, setting up a match with the champion from Virginia, Robert E. Lee. Well, my friends, that was a sight! Over 40,000 fans dressed in their Sunday’s best watched on a nearby hillside while picknicking on boiled squirrel and pumpkin sandwiches. In the first period, Lincoln emancipated and proclamated for the full three hours, building up a sixty-point lead. During intermission, though, his corner had to reattach a finger, which had been chewed off by the Virginian. Forty minutes into the second period, his reserves exhausted, Lee surrendered. A table was set up in the center of the mat, and Lee formally signed the “Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Wrestler Robert E. Lee.” You can see this document displayed on the second floor of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. This article was brought to you by The Society for a More Interesting Though Dubious History and because of donations from viewers like you. Also, Mike Poeta was the #1 recruit in the land coming out of high school and was said to be faster than a stalling call in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

I hope Flying Cement's not a Michigan fan. Cheers!

Classic JOMBO™

I bring this all up for three reasons: 1. Because I want to seem normal, and normal fans of teams hate other teams. 2. It doesn't seem right for a university to acquire an entire article for their own use. Not even the Mona Lisa is known as the "The Mona Lisa," and the Great Pyramid of Giza is not "The Great Pyramid of Giza." The absolute only reason to capitalize the "T" in a "The" is to start a sentence or for "The Batman." 3. Because you can't give yourself a nickname. It's against the Man Rules and the dictates of a civilized society.

This particular Davebert was created with you in mind. The fact that you dragged in poor @MPhillips is pretty cool. Whenever I do a preview of an ILLINI/OSU dual, I always make sure to call it an Ohio State University. Because fans of one school are always mean to fans of other schools.

Classic JOMBO™

We boycotted the BRICS Games as well. USA! USA! USA!

Amazing find! I've never tried one of those "Escape Rooms" they have for tourists in Myrtle Beach, but I imagine these are the types of puzzles that you have to figure out to escape. When I hit translate on the link you provided, the first sport that came up was "Acrobatic Rock 'n' Roll." On other days, they had "Football biathlon" and "Chess." On June 22 and 23, they held "Breaking" competitions. So, the BRICS Games are as corrupt and indolent as their capitalist-pig Olympic Games counterpart! And what is this on June 14: "Synchronized swimming. Solo - free program"? The Russian wrestlers competing at Olympic weights included Anzor Zankuev at 74kg, Malik Shavaev at 86kg, Bady Maadyr Samdan at 97kg, Abasgadzhi Magomedov at 65kg, Ramiz Gamzatov at 57kg. Looks like a "B" team to me. Thanks! I know that the ILLINI RTC has deep ties with wrestlers in Russia; Ermak Kardanov is a former Russian training there, and Coach Medlin has come out opposed to the decision to block Russia from the Olympics. Heck, there are old social media pictures of IRTC guys hanging with Sidakov and other Russian champions. But, when you threaten nuclear holocaust to the organizing city, you might not get invited.

Not counting Abakarov, Russia has been a medalist at four of the last five Olympics at this weight. They won Gold in three of the last five events. The absence of Russia this year makes Spencer's statistical chances for Gold even better. In my mind, he will be a very solid favorite in every matchup.

I've tried to locate information about the recent BRICS games and it's wrestling tournament. So far: I know there was a BRICS games, and I know some people wrestled. From what I've read, it was staged in Russia, the Russians sent an army of athletes, and about 79 countries sent at least one participant, with ally Belarus sending a bunch. Brazil as well. It seems that their challenge to the Olympic Games went about as well as their challenge to the US dollar.