ILLINI Summer Camps, Final X and the New Jombo!

ILLINI CAMPS

If you are looking for instruction from the best of the best, the ILLINI and IRTC coaching staff can give you that. As you can see from the graphic below, the Team Camp has space limitations, so sign up now! 

FINAL X

Run to the storm shelter, hide the kids, and get ready for Final X on June 10. Zane Richards will be wrestling Freestyle, while Zac Braunagel, Kamal Bey and Joe Rau will be in the Greco lineup. These are best two of three matches. TheMat.com has previews for Greco up here:

77 kg – Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) vs. Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway, Calif.)

This Final X series has one of the better story lines among Greco-Roman battles. Kamal Bey, who has been competing at a high level in Greco-Roman since high school, is now a veteran star who is still seeking his first Senior World or Olympic medal. Aliaksandr Kikiniou won a World medal and made two Olympic Teams for Belarus before emigrating the United States. Since being here, Kikiniou has entered international events such as the Dave Schultz and Bill Farrell Memorials, winning the Farrell gold medal twice. At 43 years old, his citizenship came through, and Kikiniou used his skills and experience to reach the U.S. Open finals, where Bey opened it up on the way to a 9-0 technical fall. When Kikiniou won the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, he earned another shot at Bey in Final X.

Bey has been throwing people around since his Illinois youth wrestling days. He came to Colorado as a high school senior, influenced by Olympian T.C. Dantzler, and changed to a full-time Greco-Roman focus. He won a U20 World title in 2017, and made a nice run at the 2018 Senior Worlds, finishing seventh. Bey went from the USOPTC to the Army WCAP program. He was not able to compete during the Olympic year but came back in 2022 for another Senior World Team berth. In his two competitions this year in Las Vegas and Colorado Springs, Kikiniou showed great technical skills, with some slick throws of his own. The big question at Final X is whether Bey will be able to again quickly score big points, or if Kikiniou will have a game plan that would allow his abilities to be showcased.

Most recent match: 2023 U.S. Open finals – Bey tech fall Kikiniou, 9-0

87 kg – Alan Vera (Jersey City, N.J./New York AC) vs. Zachary Braunagel (Belleville, Ill./Illinois RTC/Illini WC)

2023 U.S. Open champion Alan Vera comes to Final X as a two-time U.S. Senior World Team member, while World Team Trials Challenge Tournament winner Zachary Braunagel, a University of Illinois student-athlete, is just getting his Senior career unleashed. Vera defeated Braunagel in an 9-0 technical fall in the U.S. Open semifinals in Las Vegas, then won the finals over 2020 U.S. Olympian John Stefanowicz. It was Stefanowicz who beat Vera in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. In the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, veteran Richard Carlson beat Stefanowicz in the semifinals, then Braunagel stopped Carlson to qualify for Final X.

Vera learned his Greco-Roman basics competing for Cuba, where he won a Senior Pan American Championships title and a Pan American Games bronze medal. He emigrated to the USA, wrestling in open international events until he became a citizen. He is looking to make his third straight Senior World Team. Braunagel came up through the Illinois USA Wrestling program, winning a Junior Nationals Greco-Roman title and freestyle runner-up finish in 2018. Braunagel talks about enjoying competing in all three styles, including his college efforts for the Illini. Greco-Roman seems to be the style he has taken the farthest, making a U20 World Team and placing third at the U.S. Open twice. This will be a battle of a true Greco-Roman specialist against a rising young star with impressive skills in all styles.

Most recent match – 2023 U.S. Open semifinals, Vera tech fall Braunagel, 9-0

97 kg – Josef Rau (Chicago, Ill./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Christian DuLaney (Shakopee, Minn./Minnesota Storm)

Josef Rau, who has competed in a number of weight classes during his Senior Greco-Roman career, continues to put himself in position to achieve great things. An NCAA Div. III champion for Elmhurst, he made his first Senior World Team at 80 kg in 2014, then made his next World Team in 2019 at 86 kg. In 2016, he won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at 98 kg, but was unable to qualify the weight class for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. For a time, he was entering Senior events in both Greco-Roman and freestyle. Joe Rau comes back year after year and proves himself time after time. By winning the 2023 U.S. Open, beating Nick Boykin in the finals, he made Final X with another chance to go to the Worlds.

His opponent will be Christian DuLaney, who was a 2022-23 Senior National Team member at 86 kg but decided to move up to 97 kg this year. Another product of the Minnesota USA Wrestling program, he made three stops in his college career, going from Iowa Lakes CC to Northern Iowa to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. He is pursuing his Greco-Roman passion back with the Minnesota Storm. DuLaney was third in the 2023 U.S. Open, losing only to Boykin in the semifinals. At the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, Boykin was defeated by college wrestler Clay Lautt, who DuLaney beat in the finals. While DuLaney has good Greco-Roman credentials, Rau has a track record and skill set that makes him the favorite.

Most recent match – 2020 U.S. Open semifinals – Rau tech fall DuLaney, 10-0

JOMBO MCFEEDSTORE

The new Jombo cartoon NFT is out. As usual, the price is one billion dollars (US) to own this piece of Hawkeye wrestling history. If you are really dumb and have lots of money somehow, this is the investment for you. 

What will Jombo do next?