Kannon Webster, Zane versus Spencer, and Joe Rau

KANNON WEBSTER

 

We have another ILLINI registered for the US Open. Kannon Webster is now listed at 65 kg in the U20 division. This weight is going to be massive, as there are already 104 wrestlers registered for it.

Moreover, registration doesn’t close for another week. 

There aren’t that many college wrestlers listed so far, although the ILLINI have Kole Brower and Charlie Fifield making the trip at 65 kg. Whomever wins this weight will have faced and conquered a ridiculous obstacle to make a world team.

Every high school-age wrestler near the weight who has made a name for himself has signed up. This should be a gourmet feast for ILLINI wrestling fans.  

 

ZANE RICHARDS vs. SPENCER LEE

Smash on head. Sweep single to the right. Leaning hard. Afraid of space.

That’s how Spencer Lee’s semifinal match with Matt Ramos began. Everybody remembers what happened at the end of the match, but many have forgotten that, in the first period, Lee was reaching and leaning in so much that he was off balance and Ramos hit him with a double that scored four points.

Lee went straight to his back.

Also, in the third period of that match, Spencer was only leading 5-4 when he attempted to step over Ramos while in a seatbelt whizzer position and was thrown to his back. Ramos didn’t receive points because he never gained control, but it was close. That would've been exposure in Freestyle.

We all know what happened in the final seconds of the match with the head pinch and fall.

There were three times in less than seven minutes that Spencer Lee found himself on his back in that one match. Lee’s offensive arsenal included attempts at throw-bys, high crotches and sweep singles.

In the quarterfinal against Anthony Noto, the eighth seed, Spencer Lee scored with a plain old single, then got four back points twice. In the second period, though, Noto was able to turn Lee for four back points on a cheap tilt. 

Noto rode him for 1:45 in that second period, which doesn’t mean much in Freestyle, but it shows that Spencer can be manhandled on top when he begins to tire.

To that point, Noto actually chose top in the third period and had Lee on his back for a second with a half-nelson. There was also a stalling call on Spencer who was getting ridden. Based on his cheap tilts, the Hawkeye managed a comfortable victory, but Noto was the one to end up with more riding time.

 

LEE’S LAST FREESTYLE MATCHES

His last Freestyle matches were way back on December 22, 2019 at the Senior Nationals. In the final, Spencer beat Nathan Tomasello 8-2, scoring with an underhook to ankle pick, a push out set up by a double leg attempt, hand fighting to a bit of a sweep single, and an over/under pancake.

He gave up two by reaching too much on a single and simply being pushed to his side.

In the semifinals of that 2019 Senior Nationals tournament, Lee beat Vito Arujau 14-4. During this match, Spencer was big into high crotches, but the first one he almost scored on ended up in points for Arujau, who used a semi-cartwheel to jump over Lee for two exposure. He would later score with a double for his four points.

Lee scored on a reversal for one, a two-on-one to a single for two, two trapped-arm guts for four, and two head-outside singles/high crotches.

The Hawkeye wrestler was a completely different wrestler back then: He's gotten bigger in his arms and shoulders, but his neutral is much less stable and explosive.

 

KNEES, FITNESS, WEIGHT AND SEEDS

 

The evidence was there that Spencer Lee was shaky on his feet in the NCAA tournament. He is still likely recovering from double knee surgery. There is also a question of fitness. How much has he trained since the psychological shock of his loss in the NCAA semifinals?

One advantage that both Lee and Zane should have is weight. They will both be large later in the day. Weigh-ins are set for 7:30 to 8:00 am, while the semifinals begin at 6:00 pm, and that would be the earliest the two would meet. 

The semifinal winners will need to weigh in the next day at 8:00 am and wrestle the finals at 6:00 pm. Both days are scratch weight, but there should be plenty of time for the bigger guys like Zane and Spencer to rehydrate in time for the important matches.

As for seeding, FloWrestling is calling for a Suriano/Lee semifinal, which would mean that they are the second and third seeds. As the only current world team member in the field (Gilman is waiting in Final X and Arujau is wrestling at 61 kg), Zane Richards should get the first seed. That would likely mean a semifinal with either Jakob Camacho or Patrick Glory. 

As the loser of the true third match for the World Team, Camacho has a case for that fourth seed, but Glory can point to his recent NCAA championship. For ILLINI fans, it doesn’t matter who of the two is seeded fourth or fifth, as they will have to wrestle in the quarterfinals to face Zane.

 

JOE RAU

We had listed Rau as wrestling Freestyle in our previous article on this subject, but he has since been switched to Greco. He had recently enjoyed success at Freestyle, so that choice hadn't been a surprise. 

But for the Open, the Raustler will be up in weight at 97 kg and in a field that is pretty small at sixteen. I didn’t recognize any of the other names, so you’d think that the former IRTC World Teamer will snatch that number one seed.

There is a very good opportunity for the wily veteran to make another World Team!

 

ZAC BRAUNAGEL

 

We had already shared that the Brawlnagel was registered for 87kg in the Senior Greco division at the US Open. We also noted that John Stefanowicz and Alan Vera were registered at that weight. A name that we missed was Ben Provisor. He’s 32 years old now, but we would be remiss in not mentioning the two-time Olympian (2012, 2016).

If you are aware of other ILLINI or ILLINI-adjacent wrestlers who have registered or will register, please leave a comment or drop us a line. Cheers and GO ILLINI!!!

Photo credits: Tony Rotundo, FloWrestling, USA Wrestling, University of ILLINOIS Campus News Bureau