Illini question

[Carthage Illini]

What happened to Mike Behnke? I know Michael Martin ended up at Old Dominion but I never heard anything on Behnke. Seems he might have made a bit of a difference in the outcomes of (maybe three) duals this year.

I know Behnke probably wouldn't have been able to compete with the Likes of Wagner, Conrad, etc. But I cannot help but think he would have possibly avoided a pin in the Michigan duel and been right there in matches with Dustin Fox and the HWT from Wisconsin.

I really do dislike the shoulda-coulda-woulda's so I won't get into the Behnke would've won us the Big Ten regular season title...that's not at all what I am saying/hinting at...I just wondered why he left the team.

[illinifanMHS]

he got in some trouble and he liked to drink - rumor has it johnson had a falling out - again just rumors you asked i tell what i heard

[illinifanMHS]

him and johnson

[Carthage Illini]

I appreciate the info...be it rumor or whatever...I'd heard nothing...it seemed to be something that no one talked about. That explanation would make a lot of sense. It's too bad...he would've really helped

[Conquistadors]

The little that I heard (from someone associated with the team) was that after the NCAAs Mike simply up and quit the team and school (I'm not sure if that was after the semester ended or not). From what I gathered, this was a suprise even to the coaches.

Would Mike be doing better than Matt Weight? Most likely-- but Mike was a two-time varsity heavyweight and Matt was a 197 lb back-up to Tyrone Byrd who beefed up to fill a void. Behnke certainly had potential-- he was strong, fairly fast, and at times displayed very good wrestling skills. He peaked as a freshman at Midlands where he beat several ranked wrestlers. He then got beaten up in the Big Tens and DNP at the conference tournament. As a sophomore, he had a little less success during the season, but did fairly well at the Big Ten tournament (he came ever so close to beating Wagner- was ahead by a pt with 15 seconds left). But as a sophomore, Mike generally didn't show the potential that he had shown as a redshirt freshman-- one could almost sense his lack of confidence at times. Would he have improved and moved up the rankings this year? We'll never know. I hope that he's doing well wherever he is at.

To Matt Weight, thanks for your efforts and good luck at Big Tens. Some of his early/mid-season success indicates that he has the potential to place and move onto the NCAAs.

To John Wise-- practice, practice, practice... and good luck next year. I'll be rooting for you.