Hitting the mat at three years old from the motivation of their dad, the Rauser brothers started a new journey that would lead them to a life full of success and accomplishments.
Although they may be twins, they sure are one of a kind. Jade, 125-pound redshirt led UVU at the 31st Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend placing eighth overall.
J. Rauser started the tournament off with a strong 10-8 victory against Northern Idaho’s Brock Banta advancing him into the medal rounds. With spontaneous signs of sickness, he was pulled out for the remaining of his matches but continued to finish off the tournament with a well-earned placement.
“I thought I did good but got a little ill and sick on the second day,” J. Rauser said. “I feel that if I wasn’t sick I would have done a lot better than I finished out. But I’m still really happy I placed without finishing the day.”
Being sick wasn’t going to keep him down as he went into the tournament just like any other day, wrestling as hard as he can to take down his competitor.
“He’s young and still has a lot to learn along with everyone else on the team, but he had a great tournament and beat a ranked kid,” Val Rauser said.
Although it may get heated on the mat at times, the motivational words spoken to each other help support the brotherly love that these Rauser twins have.
Overall, UVU finished 23rd out of 32 teams with 20.5 points behind Ohio State who took the Invitational victory.
A month ago, both brothers Jade at 125 pounds and Val at 133 pounds, respectively, also took third place at the NC State Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, North Carolina.
With almost a month off, the Rauser brothers as well as the rest of the UVU wrestling team will brawl it out, using that time to prepare for upcoming competitors as they head east to Evanston, Ill., where they will compete in the Midlands Championship on Dec. 29th.
It’s a fresh start to the season as the Wolverines stand 1-1 overall with more heated matches to come and more monumental goals to set.
“My personal goals this season are to make it to Nationals and be an All-American, so that’s what I’m focusing on right now,” J. Rauser said.
Rachel Anderson, assistant sports editor
randerson3x@gmail.com
