ILLINI-Centric NCAA Tournament Coverage

[ChiefIllini1]

Over to the ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond, we are already getting into the third part of our coverage of ILLINI Wrestlers in the Big Party. The first story dealt with the basics of who, what, where and when. The second story involved Braunagel Day, in which we covered their brackets in a little more depth and also published individualized hype videos for the wrestlers (see below). The third part of our coverage deals with the brackets of Edmond Ruth and Dylan Connell, along with their hype videos.

Look for Byrd is the Wyrd Day next.

Speaking of Lucas Byrd, we've also had a long-running feature in these stories covering the trial of Byrd v. Orine. The State is prosecuting Kai Orine for the theft of a seed. Since this is way better than CourtTV, here's a sample:

BYRD v. ORINE

In the matter of Byrd v. Orine, the State alleges theft of a seeding, and, by way of proof, provides to this supposed jury the following:
Kai Orine is seeded #5 at 133 in the NCAA tournament. Lucas Byrd is seeded #10. Kai Orine skipped the ILLINOIS/NC State dual.

He ducked, Ladies and Gentleman.

Orine was available to wrestle twice only six days before the dual with ILLINOIS beating the #27 and #104 wrestlers in three- and two-point decisions. He was available to wrestle in the next team event after the ILLINOIS dual.

Lucas Byrd showed up and pinned the NC State backup in 4:34.

In terms of records, Lucas Byrd has 13 more wins than the defendant and one less loss. The plaintiff is 28-4, while the defendant has a 15-5 record.

Orine has lost to the #51, #39, #4, #17 and #8 wrestlers per wrestlestat.com.

Byrd lost to the #9, #7, #15 and #11 wrestlers according to wrestlestat.com.

The North Carolina State defendant lost to #4 Michael McGee by the score of 4-18. Lucas Byrd beat that same Michael McGee in the NWCA All-Star match.

Orine has a 0.642 RPI according to wrestlestat.com, while Byrd's is at 0.658.

Orine's claim to fame is winning a conference that supposedly had a puffed-up 125-pounder as the cream of their crop in Sam Latona. I submit to you, my friends, that Sam Latona would've wrestled at 133 last year if it wasn't for a higher ranked wrestler at Virginia Tech named Korbin Meyers, the 4th seed in last year's NCAA tournament.

That's the same Korbin Meyers who Lucas Byrd was beating 4-2 in last year's tournament when he pinned him.
The State rests.

.

[ChiefIllini1]

We had to wait for it because the 133 bracket was overturned with the injury to Hogwarts' Connor McGonagle, but now it is time to celebrate LUCAS BYRD DAY! We have his bracket, his matchups and some other fun stuff, including his 2023 NCAA Hype Video here at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond. A sample:


PART ONE

Lucas had been set to meet Flyboy Cody Phippen (19-6) of Air Force in the first round, but #11 seed Connor McGonagle of Lehigh (and before that, Hogwarts) had to drop out because of injury. That meant everybody with a #12 seed moved up the bracket one seed and the alternate was placed into the "wrestle-in" slot.

That means that Lucas Byrd's new opponent will be Brody Teske (9-4) of Iowa, who moves up from the #24 seed to the #23. Bad luck for the Hawkeye and Hawkeye fans, as Micky Phillipi had been his opponent, and the Pitt wrestler has never made it past the Round of 12.

So, instead, Teske will face two-time All American Lucas Byrd.

As you might recall, Teske started off his career at Penn State, spent two years there until a walk-on earned the spot ahead of him, and he flew off to the University of Northern Iowa. He wrestled for the Panthers two seasons, earning a Round of 12 and a Round of 16 down at 125.

He transferred to Iowa for this season and earned a bid with a 9-4 record.

All of his losses on the season have been to former AAs, including RBY, Daton Fix and Chris Cannon. That loss to the Wildcat stands out because it happened most recently and was by a wide 4-9 margin. His losses to RBY and Fix have included bonus points.

As a fellow who wrestled at 125 last season, Teske can be pushed around by the bigger and stronger wrestlers. He's not too dangerous at 133 compared to 125, as his bonus percentage has dropped from a high of 41% down to 15% this year (two of nine wins). A close analog would be a slightly better Taylor Lamont. In fact, they both earned AA honors at the lower weight and seem pretty small for 133.

...

Here's his NCAA Hype Video in the cool Thug Life style:

[ChiefIllini1]

Coverage of THE BATTLE FOR TULSA continues here at The ILLINI Wrestling Blog and Forum and Beyond. Two ILLINI will need upsets to reach the semifinals, Lucas Byrd and Zac Braunagel. Edmond Ruth and Danny Braunagel are in the wrestlebacks. I'm especially interested in whether Daton Fix risks it:

.

[ChiefIllini1]

Three ILLINI need to win one match each, and they will be All Americans. Byrd, Ruth and Thiccc Zac. So excite!

[626386]

0-3 in blood round! Seems like a typical Illini outcome. The way Byrd's match ended was very disappointing. To quote Austin Gomez " Scared money don't make money" I guess as an Illini wrestling fan and Bears fan we can always wait til next year

[dadudaman4]

The good news is that next year we'll have a bunch of guys back. The bad news is that those same guys didn't do particularly well this year. Hope Cardani and Luffman show up greatly improved.

[Fighting Scot]

Great upset wins in this tournament from Matt Ramos and Vito Arujau. Exciting to watch.

[Nelson*0.5]

The 2023 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships last weekend mark the first year since 1992 that the Illini did not have an All-American. I don't care how much of a fan you are, that is - to say the least - a very disappointing performance. That follows a similarly weak performance at the Big Ten Championships. I'm having a hard time determining which way the needle is pointing for the future of the Illini after this type of a season. Part of me wants to maintain optimism that this coaching staff who looks extremely talented on paper and by their own results as competitors on the mat who will take these results very personally and take them to heart and strive to identify what went wrong with this season. Another part of me wonders if all of those NCAA titles and AA honors that this group has on their mantles simply do not equate to them being effective coaches. I will lean on the former as a long-time, die hard Illini wrestling fan. So, assuming that they will look long and hard at what went wrong and strive to come up with a plan to change that starting next year, I have to thing that they will see a team that performed inconsistently throughout the season, yet noticeable worse at the most critical time of the season. That doesn't mean there are not bright spots in the lineup and even within the actual tournament last weekend. But I doubt Lucas Byrd and Zac Braunagel feel very good about ALMOST becoming All-Americans, so why should we.

I will say that this was an absolute crazy year for upsets at the big dance. Also, Byrd and both Braunagels were in 3 of the deepest weights I have seen at the tournament in years. Byrd did win a couple of matches handily, one against a wrestler in Teske that he absolutely should beat anytime they wrestle. The other did avenge a loss at Midlands over the wrestler from Penn. Byrd's match against Fix was there for the taking, and were it not for a phantom stall call against Byrd that should've been another stall call against Fix, the two could have decided the match in overtime. That's what should have happened. Byrd wrestled far too conservative against the true freshman Mendez who managed to beat Byrd for the second time this season. From my vantage point, Byrd did not wrestle his match. Instead, he got very conservative, and slowed down his attack rate from previous matches...definitely not his game.

Braunagel looked great beating Beard. I applaud his perseverance in that match. In general, I think Zac had a great season and was right there losing 2 tight matches that just as easily could've went the other way. As I mentioned, 197 was an incredibly deep and tough weight class. There were at least 10 wrestlers including Zac who did not place who are talented and proven enough to do so. If you were to re-wrestle that bracket 5 times, I guarantee you get significant changes in the top 8 every time.

I'm really not sure what to make of Ruth's performance. I guess you can say he showed some consistency. He lost to O'Reilly for a 3rd consecutive time. He beat Rocky Jordan for a second time this season. And, he showed that his win over Brands in the dual might have been a fluke by losing to him for a second consecutive time. Ruth is tremendously talented and a gifted athlete. If he ever figures out that he needs to wrestle a more open style to use those traits to his advantage, he might rise to top 3 or 4 in the country. I've heard that he doesn't like listening to his brother. One of the other coaches needs adopt this kid as his personal project, to get him to improve his mental game and get him to open up to be more offensive.

Danny Braunagel was Danny Braunagel, who can be very fun to watch. He is gritty and tough and you can't question is heart or effort. However, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to consistently knock off the top 165 pound wrestlers in the nation.

Connell had a nice freshman campaign. He can take a leap from this year to next. I wonder if he might be a future 197 pounder after ZB graduates. I haven't really seen him be overpowered, but he could easily add some muscle to that frame and come back as a 197 pounder in 2024. As far as next year goes, he will have the opportunity to step up to that next level with a number of the top 184s graduating.

I'm still just dumbfounded that this was the worst performance by an Illini team since 1992, the final year of the Ron Clinton era - a year that 4 Illini wrestlers went a combined 1-6 at the tournament. While this year's team did win more matches than that, it's hard to feel too good about a 31st place finish and no placers. Heck, even NIU had an All-American. Next year has to be better, right?

[ChiefIllini1]

My critique of Nelson*0.5 is as follows: You added a few paragraphs breaks, which shows improvement, but you needed more. As your social media coach, I want you to get more offensive with them.

You also need to proofread your post before submitting. You had run-on sentences and used the word "noticeable" instead of "noticably" and the word "thing" instead of "think."

You must heed my advice as your social media coach if you want to be a better-than-average B1G poster.

The ILLINI are in their second year with Coach Poeta. All of his decisions so far have been golden. These include his coaching staff, the push for a new facility, the recruiting class coming in, the emphasis on stipends, NIL and camps, and so on.

We will get to see two Who's #1 wrestlers on the team next year in Webster and Scoles, and that's on top of an already great class that includes Moore, Baysingar, Goebel, Swaw, Marinopoulos, Morvari and others. Luke Luffman, Justin Cardani and Joe Roberts come out of redshirts.

The team is going to be nails next year.

As for the NCAA tournament, the ILLINI had a fantastic first day. The second day sucked. Yet, there were still three ILLINOIS wrestlers who were a few inches or ergs or a bad referee's decision from becoming All Americans.

Lucas got screwed by the ref in the Fix match, then lost in ultimate tie-breakers in the blood round. Thicc Zac has to place his hand an inch or two to the left, and he would've beaten the fifth and fourth seed and would've been an AA. Ruth had another tight match with Brands.

It was SUPREMELY UNLUCKY to have three wrestlers lose whisker-close matches in the Blood Round. It was also unlucky for Lil Brawny to get a nice win in the first round and then have to face the third and fourth seeds in consecutive matches.

The one thing that I noticed during the year as a whole is that the ILLINI we're undersized at every weight besides, perhaps, 165. That helped the team during the dual season. They really improved over the year before in dual matches.

Ask Iowa.

During tournaments, though, the added size and strength mattered. What I'm looking forward to is every wrestler on the squad having this off-season to add mass and strength. Can you imagine an Edmond Ruth as big as a Bailey O'Reilly or a Carter Starocci? A heavyweight who doesn't have to give up sixty pounds? Harrier eating and training and lifting to get to 149 and not 141?

These will be the Good Times, my friends. GO ILLINI!!!

[Nelson*0.5]

My critique of Nelson*0.5 is as follows: You added a few paragraphs breaks, which shows improvement, but you needed more. As your social media coach, I want you to get more offensive with them.

You also need to proofread your post before submitting. You had run-on sentences and used the word "noticeable" instead of "noticably" and the word "thing" instead of "think."

You must heed my advice as your social media coach if you want to be a better-than-average B1G poster.

The ILLINI are in their second year with Coach Poeta. All of his decisions so far have been golden. These include his coaching staff, the push for a new facility, the recruiting class coming in, the emphasis on stipends, NIL and camps, and so on.

We will get to see two Who's #1 wrestlers on the team next year in Webster and Scoles, and that's on top of an already great class that includes Moore, Baysingar, Goebel, Swaw, Marinopoulos, Morvari and others. Luke Luffman, Justin Cardani and Joe Roberts come out of redshirts.

The team is going to be nails next year.

As for the NCAA tournament, the ILLINI had a fantastic first day. The second day sucked. Yet, there were still three ILLINOIS wrestlers who were a few inches or ergs or a bad referee's decision from becoming All Americans.

Lucas got screwed by the ref in the Fix match, then lost in ultimate tie-breakers in the blood round. Thicc Zac has to place his hand an inch or two to the left, and he would've beaten the fifth and fourth seed and would've been an AA. Ruth had another tight match with Brands.

It was SUPREMELY UNLUCKY to have three wrestlers lose whisker-close matches in the Blood Round. It was also unlucky for Lil Brawny to get a nice win in the first round and then have to face the third and fourth seeds in consecutive matches.

The one thing that I noticed during the year as a whole is that the ILLINI we're undersized at every weight besides, perhaps, 165. That helped the team during the dual season. They really improved over the year before in dual matches.

Ask Iowa.

During tournaments, though, the added size and strength mattered. What I'm looking forward to is every wrestler on the squad having this off-season to add mass and strength. Can you imagine an Edmond Ruth as big as a Bailey O'Reilly or a Carter Starocci? A heavyweight who doesn't have to give up sixty pounds? Harrier eating and training and lifting to get to 149 and not 141?

These will be the Good Times, my friends. GO ILLINI!!!

LOL. I will take you opening with critique of my grammar/punctuation to be a pretty good indicator that it was very difficult for even you to dispute the content of my post.

While I appreciate your optimism and jocularity, it is overshadowed by the lack of importance you place on actual results on the mat. Explaining the reason for whisker close losses being due to a lack of luck only works when such occurrence happen only rarely. I know you are a regular user/peruser of WrestleStat. Take a gander at the frequency with which whisker-close losses occur for the Illini wrestlers throughout the season, paying particular attention to the 5 NCAA qualifiers.

I'm still a fan of Coach Poeta. But, knowing the fierce competitor that he is, I would be shocked if he would agree with you that ALL of his decisions have been golden. That would imply that NOTHING needs to change and better results will just happen. I'm pretty sure Poeta and his coaching staff will not take such a dangerous gamble. I too like the decisions he made around his coaching staff, the plans for a new facility, much of the recruiting, etc. As a fan, I am not thrilled about the lack of all-americans for the first time since before anyone on the current roster was even born. Coach Poeta was a bantam for the Highland Park Little Giants the last time there wasn't an Illini wrestler on the NCAA awards podium.

If I were a betting man, I'd put money on the likelihood that Byrd and the Braunagels, if they haven't started to already, will soon embark on setting out an intense plan to try their hardest to make sure they do not have a repeat of this year's NCAA performance next year. I think that plan can and should pay off for Byrd and ZB. I'm still not sure what to make of Ruth. Like I said before....all the talent in the world, but thus far very inconsistent execution. I would never go as far as to question is effort, but I will question his approach. He needs to open up and he needs to do it early and often. I also fully expect Connell to take a step up next year. It's the kind of kid he is and has always been. Great athlete. Loves the sport. A ton of heart. Extremely hard worker. He will only get better. I want to see this team take the next step. Don't you? Why hasn't that happened yet? What are your theories? Is it all bad luck? I'm serious? Or, is that just not important?

[626386]

I believe this next season will be very telling for this team and coaching staff in particular. They will have the 5 NCAA qualifiers back, along with hopefully an improved Cardani and Luffman at 125 and Hwt, I would hope Baysinger, Webster and Scoels have an opportunity to compete for starting spots at 141, 149, and 157 which were not as strong as you would like. If there is not a significant improvement at the Big 10 tournament and a few more NCAA qualifiers next season, I don't. have a lot of confidence that this coaching staff is as qualified as their wrestling accomplishments would indicate. Just my thoughts

[ChiefIllini1]

I want to see this team take the next step. [1] Don't you? [2] Why hasn't that happened yet? [3] What are your theories? [4] Is it all bad luck? I'm serious? Or, is that just not important?

1. Duh.

2. "Taking the next step" has happened in terms of dual meets. The ILLINI were much better this year. They will be even better next year.

3. Had you read my post, you would've seen that I did posit a theory: The ILLINI need to get bigger and stronger at almost every weight.

4. See #3 above.

5. No, you can't be serious. You must be trolling.

6. Duh.

The team did much better this past year in duals, and that fact actually fits snuggly into my theory about getting bigger and stronger. In duals, it can be a benefit not to have to lose too much water weight. But during tournaments, as long as you get past that first round, you can rehydrate and re-energize and be as much as 10 to 15 pounds bigger (as well as stronger) than your opponent.

The ILLINI will be salty next year, with an additional year of experience, as well as an off season to gain strength and mass. Add in Luffman, Cardani, Roberts and the huge recruiting class, and I can't wait!

[Nelson*0.5]

1. Duh.

2. "Taking the next step" has happened in terms of dual meets. The ILLINI were much better this year. They will be even better next year.

3. Had you read my post, you would've seen that I did posit a theory: The ILLINI need to get bigger and stronger at almost every weight.

4. See #3 above.

5. No, you can't be serious. You must be trolling.

6. Duh.

The team did much better this past year in duals, and that fact actually fits snuggly into my theory about getting bigger and stronger. In duals, it can be a benefit not to have to lose too much water weight. But during tournaments, as long as you get past that first round, you can rehydrate and re-energize and be as much as 10 to 15 pounds bigger (as well as stronger) than your opponent.

The ILLINI will be salty next year, with an additional year of experience, as well as an off season to gain strength and mass. Add in Luffman, Cardani, Roberts and the huge recruiting class, and I can't wait!

Trolling or wanting you to actually add some substance to your posts. Like I said....to an extent, I can appreciate your schtick. But, some people are students of the sport in addition to being fans of a team. I would love to get below the surface of your very surfacey analysis, not because I'm trying to troll, and not necessarily because I think your wrong. I do think you're wrong with a lot of your takes, but maybe I'm missing something. I admit that it's possible that I might not know as much about a situation as you. So, if you disagree with my take, please share and more importantly share why.

I would love to get some more insight on why you feel it's a size thing. Going through the weight classes, I guess I don't see it as being a primary problem. Byrd is a small 133, but he's always been a small 133 and that hasn't been a problem when you see him placing 5th 2 years in a row. I agree with you that Harrier is very undersized for a D1 149. Danny Braunagel is NOT an undersized 165. Ruth doesn't strike me as undersized at 174. Connell is a decent size 184, but not particularly strong for the weight. I think he will be a 197 before his career is over. Zac Braunagel is definitely not a big 197, but 197 is a weight class that runs the gamut of oversized, undersized and rightsized wrestlers. You'll be hard pressed to convince anyone that Zac was at any disadvantage due to his size. In fact, I think most who have watched Zac wrestle for years have recognized that he wrestles bigger guys better.

I'm fine with your theory regarding them being undersized. But, I really hope you have something to back that up. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hot air. You crying "TROLL" every time someone criticizing your posts for lacking substance is akin to Trump labeling every report that he doesn't like "FAKE NEWS". I know you can clearly do better than that.

[ChiefIllini1]

I won't call you a troll, I'll call you a ******* troll.

This is how I define a troll:

A troll shows up on the bad days and whines and complains and blames and hates.

A troll doesn't show up on the good days to praise or compliment or cheer.

There was a great day for the ILLINI on the first day of the NCAA tournament. Not every match was won, but it was still great day, a beautiful day. You did not show up to comment. All year long, Lucas Byrd, Zac Braunagel and Edmond Ruth had FANTASTIC showings, you did not show up to comment. Entire months passed with Lucas Byrd doing Byrd things, Edmond Ruth on a massive 20+ win streak and Zac Braunagel getting one huge gutsy upset after another. You did not show up to comment.

They ended their season on one bad note: Here you are.

So **** off, troll!

[626386]

I won't call you a troll, I'll call you a ******* troll.

This is how I define a troll:

A troll shows up on the bad days and whines and complains and blames and hates.

A troll doesn't show up on the good days to praise or compliment or cheer.

There was a great day for the ILLINI on the first day of the NCAA tournament. Not every match was won, but it was still great day, a beautiful day. You did not show up to comment. All year long, Lucas Byrd, Zac Braunagel and Edmond Ruth had FANTASTIC showings, you did not show up to comment. Entire months passed with Lucas Byrd doing Byrd things, Edmond Ruth on a massive 20+ win streak and Zac Braunagel getting one huge gutsy upset after another. You did not show up to comment.

They ended their season on one bad note: Here you are.

So **** off, troll!

I am not sure why you get so angry when someone tries to point out that Illini fans would and should expect more than mediocrity from this team, which is at best what we have seen the last several years. Sure, there was a slight improvement over last year but not what you would hope for. I do enjoy the information you provide on the team, because if not for you there would be very little talk about illinois wrestling, but come on man, you and all fans ( even trolls) need to see more out of this team next year. Anyone who has followed Illinois wrestling knows Poeta brings a ton of energy, enthusiasm, and personality to the job, but this is Illinois, one of the top high school wrestling states in the country so a tenth-place finish at the Big 10 and 31st place at the Ncaa's is not something to be proud of.