Blanton's Blog 5

[Rocketwrestler171]

Blanton’s Blog 5

Hey everyone! I know it’s been awhile, but I figured it would be cool to start up this blog again and try and keep everyone up with the team and myself, as the season gets under way! I’ll try and update as frequent as possible throughout the year because I want everyone to sort of enjoy the ride along with us! It’s a great time to be an Illini fan, and I’m looking forward for this team to turn a lot of people into believers of Jim Heffernan’s Illinois Wrestling Program!

Preseason went incredibly well this year. We worked our tails off and are in great shape. The room is tough and we have a lot of guys coming in looking to fight everyday. We have a great freshman class in here with a lot of talent, and they’re fitting in really nicely with the direction the program is heading. On top of that we have guys like Jimmy Kennedy, B.J. Futrell, and Conrad Polz who are all training at such a high level and it’s rubbing off on everyone. There’s a winning attitude in the room and it’s exciting to show up to practice everyday.

Our team is young this year, but we have a lot of tough kids that want to go out and fight for 7 minutes. Get used to hearing Mario Gonzalez’s name over the next couple years- he’s freaky good and is going to really shine here.
Looking ahead to tomorrow night, I can’t help but get fired up. We’re headed down to Edwardsville, IL to take on Mizzou at the Jon Davis Wrestling Center. It’s going to be a great early season test for us, and I can’t wait for it to get here!

As far as myself goes, I’m feeling great and ready to go. Coming off the season I had last year, I have some really high goals. I learned a ton going through the grind last year and I figured out the importance of staying tough and got over the hump to become an All American. Having gone through the year I had last season, and experiencing the ups and downs, it has really helped me grow as a wrestler and has been such a huge motivator for me since last March. Without a doubt, my goal this year is to be a National Champion. I’ve been working for this my whole life and am so excited to start this journey through the season and ultimately to Philadelphia, Pa where the nationals is this year.

My first semester is going to be pretty exciting right off the bat. We start with Mizzou, where I’ll wrestle a quality opponent in Patrick Wright or Dorian Henderson, and I follow that up with the All Star Classic on November 21 against Nick Amuchastegui of Standford. At the beginning of December, we’ll be heading out to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite, and then right before we head home for break I’ll be wrestling Luke Manuel from Purdue in our home opening dual. Rounding out 2010, we’ll be in Evanston wrestling at the Midlands so there will definitely be a lot of scrappin’ going on right away!

So this was kind of the preview for what’s to come this year, and I’m looking forward to keeping you guys alongside the whole way. I’d love to hear some feedback on what you want me to be talking about. I’ll try and keep this as interesting as possible and I’ll let you in on whatever you want to know as the season goes on. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back before you know it!

[Mr. White]

Thanks for updating! I wish you good luck this season, and I'm sure every fan of Illinois high school wrestling is pulling for you. You gave us fans some great memories, now go make more!

Also, I hope they turn on the spotlight at the Jon Davis center in Edwardsville, it's awesome!

[CP85]

Best wishes to you and your team on a great year! Thanks for sharing and we hope you all meet your goals.