Illinois Matmen
FORT WAYNE, IN • With the conclusion of the Central Regional this past weekend, all that is available for those who still seek a qualification for the National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, will be Illinois’ “Second Chance” tournament at Sycamore High School on June 1, and the Southern Plains Regional in Mulvane, Kansas, from May 31 through June 2. With both final qualifiers on the same weekend, and depending on weight class and remaining competition, where one chooses to wrestle may create quite the dilemma to find the best path in joining Team Illinois.
Inside of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum this past Saturday and Sunday, Illinois totaled 53 placewinners—23 in Freestyle and 30 in Greco-Roman—and pushed a few more Illinoisians onto the army that is Team Illinois. For those who have already qualified, the qualification is not the value, the value, at least not from a Team Illinois perspective; the value comes in competing and improving and winning and placing, and, in doing the place-winning, proving to be blue and orange roadblocks for other states trying to add to their Fargo totals—it is positive work all the way around.
