Moline's Musings

UI Wrestling Notes

Posted by: Brian Moline

Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:39 AM

The start of the wrestling season has gone well for Mark Johnson's Illini.  They won three dual meets in convincing fashion at the ACC/Big Ten Clash, then had several wrestlers finish well at the always competitive Missouri Open.  Add to that Jimmy Kennedy's win over #2 Jayson Ness of Minnesota at the All-Star meet in Columbus, Ohio, and there are plenty of reasons to be bullish on Illinois wrestling.

We'll have an even better idea of how the Illini stack up nationally after the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Friday and Saturday.  The #7 Illini are just one of seven top 10 teams taking part of this event, along with #3 Ohio State, #4 Cornell, #6 Nebraska, #8 Minnesota and #10 Lehigh.  There are also seven Big Ten teams involved, with #11 Wisconsin, #12 Michigan, #19 Indiana and Purdue wrestling, along with the Illini, Buckeyes and Gophers.

As strong as the Illini have been thus far, they figure to improve dramatically as the season progresses.  They should have Mike Poeta (#1 at 157 lb.) and John Dergo (#13 at 174) back in plenty of time for the Big Ten season.  Both have yet to wrestle this season, as they're recovering from minor knee surgery in the offseason.  From what I've heard, I doubt we'll see either Poeta or Dergo in the lineup this weekend, but I know both are itching to get back on the mat, so you never know.  With those two wrestlers back in the starting lineup, the Illini will have the ability to fight for the Big Ten championship against the likes of #1 Iowa and Ohio State.

Three other Illinois grapplers should continue to improve individually throughout the season as well.  True freshmen B.J. Futrell (125 lb.) and Jordan Blanton (184) have both gotten off to fast starts with 8-1 and 6-1 records respectively.  The competition they face this weekend in Vegas and at the Midlands Invitational at the end of the month should pay dividends once the Big Ten season rolls around.  Also, junior Patrick Bond (#18 at 197) has gotten off to a slow start this season, as he had shoulder surgery in the offseason.  Bond stands at just 4-3 in the early going, but as he continues to gain strength in that shoulder, he may be able to once again crack the top 10, as he did through most of last season.

They'll announce the seedings and brackets for this event later today.  I'll try to post them as they become available.  Everything gets started at 11 am central time tomorrow and will run through the entire day and evening without much of a break.  I'll update those results tomorrow evening on Sportstalk, as I'm filling in for Steve Kelly.  You can also see results online at The Wrestling Mall's website.  I'll talk to you tomorrow.

bmoline@wdws.com

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