Joe Rau seeks to build on his success at 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial
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by Alexandra Pernice
Joe Rau of the Minnesota Storm locks up an opponent at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International at 80 kg. Photo by Robbert Wijtman.
It would be an understatement to describe the past year as exciting for 2014 World team member Josef Rau. By dropping down to 80 kg/176 lbs, he feels strong, and is finding more success as his young career develops.
“I feel like 80 is my spot. I got really heavy after separating my shoulder, so I wanted to come back out here and prove that I could make the weight again and wrestle well at it,” said Rau.
Last year, Rau made the U.S. Senior World Team and competed at his first World Championships. It was a bit unexpected, but Rau aims to make winning a habit.
Wrestling was not always his main focus, however. He grew up in inner city Chicago, in a family with no background in the sport. When it came down to it, even finding the right school was a struggle.
“It was a unique experience, growing up in Chicago. The public schools don’t have the best programs, so you have to make a lot of sacrifices. My parents and grandparents found a way to send me to Catholic school, St. Patrick, and there I got some great coaching,” he said.
According to Rau, though, life’s challenges didn’t stop him from finding his way onto the mat.
“Wrestling kind of found me, I feel like it was my calling. Even at a young age, everybody knew that I was a scrappy kid. It came to a point where I kept getting told I needed to join wrestling. I’ve loved the sport ever since,” said Rau.
Rau moved on to collegiate wrestling at Elmhurst College, an NCAA Division III program out of Elmhurst, Illinois.
“My coach, Steve Marianetti, was a World team member and an NCAA champion. So even though I was at a Division III school, I had Division I caliber and world level coaching. He worked with me every day, and even though it has been a long road to where I am today, my college experience and commitment to Greco-Roman wrestling really helped me,” said Rau.
Now, he is starting to become a seasoned member of Team USA. With experience as a member of the 2014 World team, he has started down the track to reach his life goals.
“My experience on the World team was completely surreal. After a year or so of wrestling Greco, making the team was amazing. Now I want to reach the next step, I want to medal,” said Rau.
His performance at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International has shown just how committed he is to dominating at the 80 kg weight class. However, the morning victories did not come without its difficulties.
“I had to come in here and push the pace. I got a really good warm up, but in the first match I started to die out. I felt like I might get sick, but I stuck it out,” said Rau.
He defeated Maximilian Prudenzano of Argentina 8-4 in the quarterfinals, and went on to grab a victory over Askhat Dilmukhamedov of Kazakhstan 11-5 in the semifinals.
“I got a good cool down and felt great in my second match against Dilmukhamedov. I listened to my coach and kept the pace up,” said Rau.
With winning the Dave Schultz Memorial as one of his goals moving forward, Rau is looking forward to a bang-up finals round. He will face off 2012 Olympian Ben Provisor in the finals. It will be a rematch of the 2014 Phase II World Team Trials in Fargo, N.D., won by Rau.
“Winning Schultz would be big for me. Ever since I started doing senior Greco-Roman, I’ve wanted to win Schultz, NYAC, I want to make the world team, I want to medal. Schultz is one of those goals that I want to cross off of my list. I’ve been following this competition ever since I was a little kid, so to win today would be awesome,” said Rau.
It would be an understatement to describe the past year as exciting for 2014 World team member Josef Rau. By dropping down to 80 kg/176 lbs, he feels strong, and is finding more success as his young career develops.
“I feel like 80 is my spot. I got really heavy after separating my shoulder, so I wanted to come back out here and prove that I could make the weight again and wrestle well at it,” said Rau.
Last year, Rau made the U.S. Senior World Team and competed at his first World Championships. It was a bit unexpected, but Rau aims to make winning a habit.
Wrestling was not always his main focus, however. He grew up in inner city Chicago, in a family with no background in the sport. When it came down to it, even finding the right school was a struggle.
“It was a unique experience, growing up in Chicago. The public schools don’t have the best programs, so you have to make a lot of sacrifices. My parents and grandparents found a way to send me to Catholic school, St. Patrick, and there I got some great coaching,” he said.
According to Rau, though, life’s challenges didn’t stop him from finding his way onto the mat.
“Wrestling kind of found me, I feel like it was my calling. Even at a young age, everybody knew that I was a scrappy kid. It came to a point where I kept getting told I needed to join wrestling. I’ve loved the sport ever since,” said Rau.
Rau moved on to collegiate wrestling at Elmhurst College, an NCAA Division III program out of Elmhurst, Illinois.
“My coach, Steve Marianetti, was a World team member and an NCAA champion. So even though I was at a Division III school, I had Division I caliber and world level coaching. He worked with me every day, and even though it has been a long road to where I am today, my college experience and commitment to Greco-Roman wrestling really helped me,” said Rau.
Now, he is starting to become a seasoned member of Team USA. With experience as a member of the 2014 World team, he has started down the track to reach his life goals.
“My experience on the World team was completely surreal. After a year or so of wrestling Greco, making the team was amazing. Now I want to reach the next step, I want to medal,” said Rau.
His performance at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International has shown just how committed he is to dominating at the 80 kg weight class. However, the morning victories did not come without its difficulties.
“I had to come in here and push the pace. I got a really good warm up, but in the first match I started to die out. I felt like I might get sick, but I stuck it out,” said Rau.
He defeated Maximilian Prudenzano of Argentina 8-4 in the quarterfinals, and went on to grab a victory over Askhat Dilmukhamedov of Kazakhstan 11-5 in the semifinals.
“I got a good cool down and felt great in my second match against Dilmukhamedov. I listened to my coach and kept the pace up,” said Rau.
With winning the Dave Schultz Memorial as one of his goals moving forward, Rau is looking forward to a bang-up finals round. He will face off 2012 Olympian Ben Provisor in the finals. It will be a rematch of the 2014 Phase II World Team Trials in Fargo, N.D., won by Rau.
“Winning Schultz would be big for me. Ever since I started doing senior Greco-Roman, I’ve wanted to win Schultz, NYAC, I want to make the world team, I want to medal. Schultz is one of those goals that I want to cross off of my list. I’ve been following this competition ever since I was a little kid, so to win today would be awesome,” said Rau.
