Elmhurst’s Joe Rau makes Olympic Team
Joe Rau, a three time All-American and NCAA champion from Elmhurst College, won the Olympic Team Trials this past weekend at 98kg in Greco-Roman. Rau won a pair of shutout victories to reach the finals against Caylor Williams. Williams threw and pinned Rau in the first match, but the former Blue Jay was able to even the three match series with a 5-2 win. In the rubber match, Rau scored a late takedown to win 6-5 and win the Olympic Team Trials.
Rau is not yet an Olympian, however. The United States has not qualified for Rio in the 98kg weight class. There are two more chances for the US to qualify. The first qualifier is in Mongolia April 22-24. Rau will need to finish in the top three at that tournament to qualify. Should he fail to do so, there is another qualifier in Turkey on May 6-8 where the US entry needs to make the finals in order to qualify. Only countries that have not qualified at a weight may enter the tournament, and each country may only enter one wrestler in a weight class.