The Illinois Fighting Illini wrestling team is coming off its worst season in years, but it wasn't all bad. Edmund Luce was an All-American and B1G champion, and freshman Kanon Webster was performing very well, but he redshirted and didn't play in the conference or NCAA tournaments.
That being said, I am pretty optimistic about next season as Illinois should field a strong dual team that will also perform better in the tournament.
Illinois didn't add a whole lot, but five of their top six wrestlers sat out last year due to injuries (Lucas Byrd and Luke Loughman), an Olympic redshirt (the Braunagel brothers) and a regular redshirt (the aforementioned Kanon Webster). What will this year's lineup look like? Glad you asked. There are eight starters ranked in FloWrestlings' initial rankings for next year.
133 #8 Lucas Byrd: If Byrd is 100% healthy, eighth is obviously too low, but we can’t complain about the ranking until we know his health.
141 #22 Danny Puccino: The redshirt junior competed in the national tournament last year and posted a strong 8-5 record in duals, including 5-2 in the B1G dual.
149 #11 Kanon Webster: I don't think there are 10 fighters better than him, but he'll have a chance to prove it on the mat. I expect AA from him.
157 #22 Jason Kreiser: The grad transfer from the Iowa State Cyclones will bolster an area where Illinois has struggled recently.
174 #10 Danny Braunagel: Danny is moving up in weight after his Olympic RS. He is 2X NQ, has loads of experience and always wrestles hard.
184 #5 Edmund Ruth: After taking 7th place AA in addition to the B1G trophy at 174 last year, he is transitioning to a more comfortable weight.
197 #9 Zach Braunagel: Like his twin brother, he also competed in the Olympic RS. Also like his brother, he is a very tough guy. He has placed 4th and 3rd in the B1G the past two years and has been in the NQ three times.
HWT #16 Luke Loughman: Like the other Lucas players from Illinois, he's just coming back from injury and if he's 100% he'll probably be better than #16, but he'll have to prove it.
The remaining 125 could be another Cyclone transfer in Ramazan Atasauob, who is reportedly committed to Illinois but is not currently on the roster. At 165, it could be freshman Chris Moore, who showed some flashes of talent last year, or freshman Collin Kelly, who was ranked 30th overall among high school recruits by Flow.
This team is rich with experience and potential, it will be interesting to see if Mike Poeta and team can put it all together on the mat.
