World Team Trials preview at 98 kg/215.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman

G'Angelo Hancock at the 2017 Dave Schultz Memorial International. 

Joe Rau was crowned the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials champion at 98 kg/215.5 lbs. in Iowa City last April.

On a mission to qualify the weight for the Olympic Games, Rau suffered a knee injury and fell short of sending an American to represent at 98 kg in Rio.

He recently made a comeback from injury, wrestling in the Hungarian Grand Prix last month. He wrestled two matches but was outlasted in both.

However, his past achievements speak for themselves.

A 2014 World Team member at 80 kg/176 lbs., Rau won five medals while competing at the lighter weight, collecting two gold, one silver and two bronze. He was also the 2014 University Nationals champion at 80 kg, beating out Ben Provisor for the title.

In 2015, Rau moved up from 80 kg to 98 kg, where he saw success almost immediately, winning bronze overseas in his first tournament, the Spanish Grand Prix, at the new weight.

Since then, he has won three other international medals, including gold at the 2015 Bill Farrell International, silver at the 2016 Grand Prix Zagreb Open and bronze at the 2016 Pan-American Olympic Games Qualifier.

Should he be 100 percent come next week, he’ll likely be a problem to his competitors.

Several others in the talented weight class are eyeing the World Team spot, including world-ranked youngsters No. 18 G’Angelo Hancock and No. 19 Hayden Zillmer. Both have been active recently and produced some exciting battles.

Since November, the two have met three times in tournament finals, with Hancock taking the win in each match.

The first meeting was at the 2016 Bill Farrell International finals in New York City last November, where Hancock walked away with a tightly contested 2-0 win.

The result was the same in the finals of the U.S. Senior Nationals a month later: Hancock, 2-0.

Their most recent meeting came at the Dave Schultz Memorial International finals in February in Colorado Springs. Points were flying from both wrestlers, but it was Hancock who came out on top in an exciting 6-5 match.

Hancock and Zillmer both made the 2016 National Team, with Hancock finishing third at Olympic Trials at 98 kg and Zillmer taking third at 85 kg/187.5 lbs.

By winning December’s Senior Nationals, Hancock will receive an automatic No. 1 seed in next week’s Trials.

A two-time Junior World Team member, Hancock broke through on the international circuit, capturing a Junior World bronze medal at the 2016 Junior World Championships in Macon, France. He also earned a spot on the 2016 University World Team, but the U.S. did not compete.

He’s secured five other medals—four at the Senior level—since last year, including gold medals from the 2017 Junior Greco-Roman Austrian Cup and the 2016 Klippan Cup.

With three international silver medals and other top-10 finishes overseas, Zillmer could pose a threat next week in Vegas.

Nationally, he owns championship performances from the 2013 University Nationals in Greco and the 2015 University Nationals in freestyle. Additionally, he produced a third-place finish from the 2016 University Nationals and four Cadet National titles, two in Greco and two in freestyle.

Most recently, Zillmer traveled to Denmark and Croatia for Thor Masters and the Grand Prix Zagreb Open. In Denmark, he finished seventh and improved on that performance a week later, finishing fifth in Croatia.

Similar to Rau, Zillmer recently changed weights, going from 85 kg/187 lbs. to 98 kg.

Fresh off a bronze medal at the respected 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix last month, Daniel Miller will be in the mix. He has traveled to several tournaments this year, gaining valuable international experience. In addition to his third-place showing in Hungary, Miller also won bronzes at the 2017 Paris International in January and the 2016 Grand Prix of Zagreb Open.

He is a two-time Armed Forces champion in freestyle and two-time Armed Forces runner-up in Greco.

Enock Francois is a 2016 Canada Cup bronze medalist and a 2015 Henri Deglane Challenge silver medalist, both in freestyle. In December, Francois showed that he could wrestle Greco with the best of them, taking third at U.S. Senior Nationals.

There will likely be some Division I college studs at the event.

Duke’s Jacob Kasper, who finished third at 2016 University Nationals and represented the USA in the 2016 Pan-American Championships, is expected to attend.

Former Oklahoma State wrestler Austin Schafer is trading in his leg attacks for throws as he is registered to compete at the weight.

We could also see Old Dominion star Kevin Beazley in the mix. He took an Olympic redshirt year during the 2015-16 college season to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

The World Team spot at 98 kg will be determined April 28, along with 66 kg, 80 kg and 130 kg at the 2017 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials in Las Vegas.

2017 World Team Trials qualifiers at 98 kg/215.5 lbs.
’15 Vantaa Cup medalist – Caylor Williams, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’16 Junior World medalist – G’Angelo Hancock, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC/USOTC)
’16 University Nationals runner-up – Orry Elor, Marquette, Mich. (New York AC/NMU-OTS)
’16 University Nationals third place – Jacob Kasper, Mansfield, Ohio (Roughhouse WC)
’16 Grand Prix Zagreb Open medalist – Joe Rau, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
’16 Bill Farrell medalist –Zach Merrill, Norman, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals runner-up – Hayden Zillmer, Fargo, N.D. (Minnesota Storm)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals third place – Enock Francois, Ithaca, N.Y. (New York AC)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fourth place – Micah Burak, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals fifth place – James Souza, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals sixth place – Trent Osnes, Oceanside, Calif. (U.S. Marines)
’17 U.S. Senior Nationals seventh place – Daniel Miller, Jacksonville, N.C. (U.S. Marines)
’17 Armed Forces Championships first place – Endyr Meza (U.S. Army)
’17 Armed Forces Championships third place – Antonio Harris, Oceanside, Calif. (U.S. Navy)

2017 U.S. Senior Nationals results at 98 kg/215.5 lbs.
1st - G'Angelo Hancock (NYAC) dec. Hayden Zillmer (Minnesota Storm), 2-0
3rd - Enock Francois (New York AC) dec. Micah Burak (Titan Mercury WC), 4-1
5th - James Souza (U.S. Army WCAP) win by fall Trent Osnes Camp (Marines), 0:46
7th - Daniel Miller (Marines) tech fall Anthony Riopelle (NMU-OTS), 8-0

2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials results at 98 kg/215.5 lbs.
1st - Josef Rau (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) dec. Caylor Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), two matches to none
Williams pin Rau, 1:36
Rau dec Williams, 3-2
Rau dec Williams, 6-5
3rd– G’Angelo Hancock (New York, N.Y./NYAC) technical fall Orry Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./NYAC), 9-0