ILLINIWrestlingBlog

Questions, questions, questions, questions, questions: 1. Who's going? 2. Will Rocky Elam be in the lineup? 3. Will Noah Surtin be in the lineup? 4. What do you think about the rest of the Tiger lineup (save Keegan, we all love him). 5. Why do I hate Mizzou so damn much?

Interesting. With Iowa and Iowa State reaching 9 AAs on 9 occasions, you have to think the record'll be equaled one day. I realize that each year is a new statistical set, but those numbers (9AAs 9x) surprise me. What does that 2001 Gopher team do for a celebration every year? "It has often been reported that the surviving members of the 1972 Dolphins would, every season, either gather to drink champagne when the final undefeated team earned its first loss of the year, or send a case of champagne to the team who beat this final undefeated team."

Sorry, not sorry, for the gratuitous Purdue poke. I'm sure Matt Ramos will take it out on our 125er in the dual.

I am looking forward to the ILLINI versus Little Rock mini-dual, and I'm looking forward to hating the OP for the rest of his natural life. From our preview of the mini-dual: WHY WE HATE ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK Under the subheading of "Student Life" in the University of Arkansas Little Rock Wikipedia article 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-Sports-Governing-Organization anodyne 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." And isn't "Little Rock" the name of Fred Flintstone's hometown? Finally, who names anything after something that's small? Why not Big Rock? It's all perspective, anyway. This is more of the same Little Brother Speak. 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.

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

Here's a gift to you from the IWB&F&B+ archives:

I'm so happy to see this. I mean, I really hate the Buckeyes, but this will be something that I read for years to come. Cheers!

Wow! I didn't know this resource existed until :20 ago. Wonderful stuff. Didn't much care for the score of that dual, but I hope we can have dueling previews this season and every season after that. 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.'"

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.'"

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!

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. Here's a meme chart for Coach Poeta after the ASU dual:

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?

I am undisturbed.

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!

This is gold. Thank you! I forgot to mention this in the post on the Club Forum: I know that you know this and are just having fun, but with Lightening Luke Lilledahl ranked #173 by Wrestlestat.com because he's a true Freshman, and not for lack of talent, there's the answer to the "PSU ten AAs" question. I'm sure that percentage will go up from 0 to a very nice number after 11/17/24. I do think it is nice that the ILLINI have any kind of percentage in the "ten AAs" distribution of the graph. That shows a pretty tough dual team.

If Byrd beats Crookham again, then I think he gets MOW. You mean the Edmond Ruth who has averaged 27.5 wins the last two seasons? Yeah, he's a pretty good bet. I was there for the Luffman/Trumble match at the Midlands. It was close. #11 Trumble, Isaac (6 - 0) #6 NC State 12/29 Midlands Championships 285 L DEC 2 - 1

I couldn't decide whether to give this the Brain, the Fire or the Laughing Face. You deserve at least one of each. This was funny, intelligent and hot! The Black Shoes diary fellow (a good guy) is supposed to hook up with "The Voice of the ILLINI" Brian Swaw and me for a podcast and blog event prior to the ILLINI/PSU dual. I've already told him that my prediction will be that the ILLINI will spladle all ten Nittany Lions. That should provoke discussion. Special mention for your graphs that depict the range of probabilities. I know we've already discussed it, but every time I see it, I think, man, that's the best and only way to depict that type of information without spending 10,000 words. I may start doing that for dual previews. It would provide the handiest answer to the question: How many matches are the ILLINI likely to win in this upcoming dual. Thank you for this gift. It is greatly appreciated.

For continuous streaming issues and animal fat on the lenses, I agree. But I have a Flo subscription, so I don't have to pay for it. This past weekend, I had to pay for a month of ESPN+ that I probably won't use for the rest of the month. Cheers!

The Sunday Comic is already "in the can," as us creative types like to say. Check your mail.

I agree, or the colleges that sound like hotels. "Have you ever stayed at the Hofstra? I hear it's lux." "I always book the Presidential Suite at Bellarmine."

Thanks for this! Just from an ILLINI perspective, there are tons of great matchups. But with all those teams competing, I expect some great matches between those other teams as well. As a point of clarification, after the first dual, I changed the Wrestlestat.com rating for the ILLINI wrestlers, but I didn't change the ratings for the other guys. Too much work, and I don't get paid enough ($0) to do that. But the ELO ratings should be close.

Yes! It's a pretty funky, exciting format. The ILLINI have always wrestled in other tournaments, so this'll be a new experience. We've got a preview up here. If they put all the heavy hitters in one round-robin bracket, it could look something like this: #25 RAMAZAN ATTASAUOV vs. #4 Jakob Camacho (NC State); #8 Greg Diakomiholis (Cornell); #18 Max Gallagher (Penn); #2 Anthony Noto (Lockhaven); #23 Nick Babin (Pitt); #26 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) #6 LUCAS BYRD vs. #1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh), #14 Brett Ungar (Cornell); #28 Ryan Miller (Penn); #34 Gable Strickland (Lockhaven) #33 DANNY PUCINO vs. #7 Kai Orine (NC State); #15 Vince Cornella (Cornell); #14 CJ Composto (Penn); #12 Wyatt Henson (Lockhaven) #9 KANNON WEBSTER vs. #14 Ethan Fernandez (Cornell); #17 Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh); #31 Kelly Dunnigan (Penn); #41 Nick Stonecheck (Lockhaven) #30 JASON KRAISSER vs. #1 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell); #7 Ed Scott (NC State); #20 Jude Swisher (Penn); #35 Nick Stampoulos (Lockhaven) #44 BRAEDEN SCOLES vs. #5 Julian Ramirez (Cornell); #57 Kaya Sement (Penn); #71 Caden Dobbins (Lockhaven) #15 DANNY BRAUNAGEL vs. #180 Simon Ruiz (Cornell); #10 Nick Incontrera (Penn); #28 Luca Augustine (Pitt); #66 Tyler Stoltzfus (Lockhaven) #5 EDMOND RUTH vs. #7 Chris Foca (Cornell); #12 Dylan Fishback (NC State); #31 Maximus Hale (Penn); #57 Colin Fegley (Lockhaven) #8 ZAC BRAUNAGEL vs. #7 Michael Beard; #12 Mac Stout (Pitt); (Lehigh); #147 Mikey Dellagatta (Cornell); #27 Christian Knop (NC State); #36 Martin Cosgrove (Penn); #147 Tucker Hogan (Lockhaven) #16 LUKE LUFFMAN vs. #6 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh); #8 Isaac Trumble (NC State); #14 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt); #36 Ashton Davis (Cornell); #113 Matt Cruise (Penn); #114 Ethan Miller (Lockhaven) Are y'all even ready for Byrd vs. Crookham? What about Ruth vs. Foca? Zac Braunagel against Michael Beard? Luke Luffman against Isaac Trumble? They all have histories together. Byrd beat Crookham 4-3 in the 2018 Ironman, Edmond lost to Chris Foca twice, but that was years ago. The Brawlnagel beat Beard by one point at the Big Dance a couple years ago, and Trumble beat Luuuke 1-0 in last year's Midland's Final. So excite!

The duals with Arizona State and Binghamton on November 9 will be live-streamed by Flowrestling. The broadcast begins at 8:00 am (Central). The Journeymen Collegiate Classic, the day after that, on November 10, will also be live-streamed by Flowrestling. That broadcast also begins at 8:00 am (Central).