Illinois

[Cali_Nittany]

Life after IMar is going to be tough for Illinois.

125 – Piotrowski (Jr) <Praire Ridge, IL>

Two-time qualifier (2-2 in 2018, 1-2 in 2017) had a 19-10 record last season.

133 – Duncan (So) <Montini Catholic, IL>

In his first year as a starter, Duncan went 20-9 and qualified for the NCAA tournament, going 0-2. He had a nice Big 10 tourney run, beating Keener, Renteria and McKee to place 3rd.

141 – Carr (So) <South Fayette, PA>

Carr went 20-7 in his first year as a starter and earned the #11 seed at the NCAA tournament making it to the round of 12. He upset Nick Lee in the Big 10 tournament and also had a win against Red in the regular season.

149 – Barone (Jr) <Crystal Lake South, IL>

Barone went 9-15 last year and didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament. He did qualify in 2017, going 0-2 (with a 10-11 season record).

157 – ?

I just don’t know who’s going to start here. No one particularly stands out so I’m not going to venture a guess. (Wrestlestat lists Carver (Jr) as the starter.) Last year’s starter, Langenderfer went 12-10 and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament (he did qualify in 2017 and went 2-2).

165 – Gunther (Jr) <Libertyville, IL>

Two-time qualifier (0-2 in 2018 @174, 2-2 in 2017 @165) transfers in from Iowa and takes over for one of the best (talk about an impossible act to follow). IMar went 1st in 2015 @157, 1st in 2016 @157, 2nd in 2017 @165 and 2nd in 2018 @165. He had just 3 career loses. All coming to Penn State guys who are both already 2-time champions themselves and who he has an overall winning record against. Just an incredible wrestler.

174 – Montalvo (Jr) <Montini Catholic, IL>

Montalvo went 0-1 last year (I don’t know why he was only in one match) and 13-3 in open tournaments in 2017, with his best win coming against former AA, Jake Residori. Last year, Riojas started as a true freshman and went 2-15.

184 – Parker (Sr) <Warren Twp, IL>

Parker had a great tournament last year, finishing 3rd place from the 10 seed (28-4 season record). He also qualified in 2017, going 2-2.

197 – Andre Lee (Sr) <Oak Park, IL>

Lee has started for 3 years and has not yet qualified for the NCAA tournament. He went 10-13 last season. Wroblewski (Fr) could also be an option here. He went 9-5 in opens last year.

Heavy – Rachal (Sr) <Chicago Washington, IL>

Rachal went 10-12 last year and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Illinois loses a legend and keeps one AA (Parker) from last year. It just doesn’t look like Illinois has enough to replace IMar’s points and probably won’t be able to match their 13th place/37.5 points results from last year. They may even finish behind Minnesota this year.

Edit: added high school info

 

[bowandarrow]

This Illini team is actually made up of a lot of Illinois guys, but often the "second tier" recruits. In every sport Illinois can never seem to get the in state blue chippers. I think FRL discussed recently the lack of success of Illinois wrestlers in NCAA despite all of their ranking/Fargo prowess which speaks to this Illini lineup-- solid but unspectacular.

There is some talent here though. Duncan should be really good this year, but 133 is a beast. We know what Mikey Carr is capable of (see Nick Lee match). Montalvo was as good as they come out of HS but hasn't done anything. Parker can be inconsistent but can take down anyone including MMartin.

 

[TheJimReaper]

The Illini are starting to go downhill.

 

[matter7172]

Ouch.

 

[diggerpup]

Somewhere in Iowa City, Mark Perry reads this thread & shrugs his shoulders.

 

[matter7172]

I'll say one thing for Rachal. I've never seen a wrestler at any level throw themselves onto their own back with such gusto.

 

[dunkej01]

@PapaBearSLIM what are the challenges to recruiting to illini......if they could keep the best the state has to offer and cherry pick the nearby states they would have something.

 

[PapaBearSLIM]

@PapaBearSLIM what are the challenges to recruiting to illini......if they could keep the best the state has to offer and cherry pick the nearby states they would have something.

I along with several of my family members went to Illinois so I can tell you Champaign, IL is not desirable to teenagers from greater Chicagoland where most of the top talent in the state is.
Hef is a nice guy but his relatively bland personality isn't enough to over come Champaign.

Most of the top guys spend enough time down there between Fargo training camps, the state tournament and even many events before hs in nearby Danville. By the time its time to choose a college IMO most cant envision living there over other options that can either offer a more vibrant setting outside of classes and workouts or better performing programs.

Perry had no IL roots and focused quite a bit of his energy outside of the state. Bringing in Poeta last year was huge as he is plugged into IL high school wrestling and has had the doors to his club open to the elite kids in the state. Getting Bryan Medlin to run the RTC along with a commitment to stay on from Imar were also big plusses. All the elite high schoolers have spent time with Medlin preparing to compete in freco and he is nationally recognized as one of the best (if not the best) age level freco coaches in the biz.

They were able to get one of the top big men in 2019, Luffman, as well as the Braunagel twins this year who are from more rural central Illinois (Champaign is more like home to them). They were also able to pull in Fabian Lopez, who I think will be top 20 in his class of 2021, from Dekalb which is closer in proximity to Chicago but feels more like Champaign.

I think that similar to Iowa City you'll see more kids willing to get over the living in Champaign hurdle once they establish more success throughout the lineup. Will be a slow start but it should snowball from here.

 

[El-Jefe]

I along with several of my family members went to Illinois so I can tell you Champaign, IL is not desirable to teenagers from greater Chicagoland where most of the top talent in the state is.

That's exactly what we've been hearing for decades about PSU hoops: State College is not attractive to kids from the cities. Funny, because that has never been an obstacle for PSU football. (Though I'm unaware of hoops having a ton of camps and events in Central PA.)

So I suspect your conclusion is correct: winning cures all ills. Build it and they will come.