Zahid Valencia dominated Alex Dieringer to advance to Final X (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Two months after capping an undefeated collegiate season with an NCAA title, Zahid Valencia punched his ticket to Final X.
Valencia tore through the U.S. World Team Trials at 79 kilograms. After a 10-0 semifinal victory over Josh Asper on Saturday, Valencia dominated Alex Dieringer two matches to 0 on Sunday afternoon. Valencia won the first match 7-1 and followed it up with a 5-0 shutout victory.
"I just love freestyle," said Valencia. "I think it's my sport. I just went to the wrestling room every day, working on little things. I already knew my shots were there. Just having my coaches on me … my conditioning was probably the main factor on why I was able to pull away."
Valencia, a Junior world silver medalist last year, will face Kyle Dake at Final X.
"I think Dieringer and Dake are somewhat similar," said Valencia. "If you take 100 shots, hopefully at least five land."
Four wrestlers avenged U.S. Open losses to advance to Final X: Daton Fix (57 kilograms), Logan Stieber (65 kilograms), Nick Reenan (86 kilograms) and Kyven Gadson (97 kilograms).
Daton Fix advanced to Final X at 57 kilograms (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Fix, a 2017 Junior world champion, avenged his U.S. Open finals loss by beating Tony Ramos in the finals at 57 kilograms. Fix controlled the first match, winning 4-1 on the strength of a takedown, step out point and passivity point. In the second match, Fix used an inside trip in the first period to score four points and then scored with gut wrench to take a 7-0 lead into the break. He would add a late takedown and win 10-3.
Fix remained confident after his loss at the U.S. Open and just focused on improving, specifically his leg attacks.
"There are always areas we can improve," said Fix. "The room I'm in, that's one thing I can get really good at … is leg attacks."
The 20-year-old Fix will now face returning world silver medalist Thomas Gilman at Final X on June 9 in Lincoln, Neb.
Logan Stieber avenged his U.S. Open loss to Jaydin Eierman (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Stieber, a 2016 world champion, bounced back from a loss at the U.S. Open to earn a spot in Final X at 65 kilograms. In the finals, Stieber avenged his U.S. Open loss to Jaydin Eierman, beating the Missouri Tiger two matches to zero. In the first match, Eierman jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Stieber battled back to win 10-5. Stieber cruised to a 7-1 victory in the second match.
His Final X opponent will be his Ohio RTC teammate Joey McKenna, a U.S. Open champion and past Junior world silver medalist.
"He's helped me a lot," Stieber said of McKenna. "I think I've helped him a lot. It will be fun. We'll wrestle hard. We'll be friends before, we'll be friends afterwards. It's going to be fun and exciting for Ohio State."
Nick Reenan defeated Richard Perry (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Reenan avenged his only U.S. Open loss by topping Richard Perry in the finals at 86 kilograms. Reenan, who is coming off a redshirt season at NC State, won in two straight matches by scores of 4-2 and 6-3.
"I just listened to my coaches more," Reenan said of his preparation for the World Team Trials. "They know what they are talking about. It's a great place to train so I've just been going to all the practices making sure I'm doing everything right, trying to get my body right."
He will meet U.S. Open champion David Taylor in Final X.
Gadson rebounded from a third-place finish at the U.S. Open to advance to Final X at 97 kilograms by avenging a loss to U.S. Open champion Austin Schafer. Gadson won 8-1 in the opening match, a match in which Schafer suffered an injury. The former Cowboy was forced to default in the second match, giving Gadson the victory.
"I felt like I wrestled good," said Gadson. "I thought I got to my offense early and often, and I think that's something I'm going to definitely have to do June 9."
The former Iowa State NCAA champion will face Olympic champion Kyle Snyder at Final X. Gadson pinned Snyder, a true freshman at the time, to win his NCAA title.
"Obviously, Kyle is a tough competitor," said Gadson. "To make the World Team that's who I have to beat. It's another competitor to get to the World Championships."
Nahshon Garrett dominated Nico Megaludis at 61 kilograms (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)At 61 kilograms, Nahshon Garrett, a runner-up at the U.S. Open, advanced to Final X by dominating Nico Megaludis two matches to zero. Garrett, who trains in Tempe, Ariz., took the first match 11-0, and then closed out the victory with another shutout win, 10-0. Garrett topped 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross in the semifinals on Saturday. He will meet Joe Colon at Final X in rematch of the U.S. Open finals won by Colon.
Isaiah Martinez, a two-time NCAA champion and four-time NCAA finalist for Illinois, secured his spot in Final X by rolling to consecutive victories over Nazar Kulchytskyy at 74 kilograms. Both victories by Martinez were by identical scores of 13-2.
He will face Olympic champion and multiple-time world champion Jordan Burroughs at Final X.
"Who wouldn't want to be in my position? I'm 23 years old," said Martinez. "I'm starting to come into my own in freestyle. I'm getting real confident. I believe I can be the best. I'm just excited for the opportunity."
Hayden Zillmer topped Deron Winn to advance to Final X (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Top-seeded Hayden Zillmer, a Minnesota native, advanced to Final X at 92 kilograms in front of his home crowd. He defeated Deron Winn two matches to zero, coming from behind in both matches. In the final match, Zillmer trailed 7-3 late, but mounted a late comeback to steal the victory and earn a spot in Final X against Olympic silver medalist J'den Cox.
U.S. Open champion Adam Coon punched his ticket to Final X by defeating two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson two matches to zero. Coon outscored Nelson 16-5 in those two matches. Coon's Final X opponent will be returning world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski.
In the lone final series that went three matches, Jason Chamberlain defeated 2016 Olympian Frank Molinaro at 70 kilograms. Chamberlain opened with a 4-1 victory. Molinaro came out strong in the second match, picking up a 7-1 win. In the final match, Chamberlain edged Molinaro 2-1. Chamberlain will face multiple-time world medalist James Green at Final X.
The Final X events will take place June 9 (Lincoln, Neb.), June 16 (State College, Pa.) and June 23 (Bethlehem, Pa.).
Finals results
57 kg: Daton Fix def. Tony Ramos, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Fix dec. Ramos, 4-1
Match 2: Fix dec. Ramos, 10-3
61 kg: Nahshon Garrett def. Nico Megaludis, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Garrett tech. fall Megaludis, 11-0
Match 2: Garrett tech. fall Megaludis, 10-0
65 kg: Logan Stieber def. Jaydin Eierman, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Stieber dec. Eierman, 10-5
Match 2: Stieber dec. Eierman, 10-3
70 kg: Jason Chamberlain def. Frank Molinaro, 2 matches 1
Match 1: Chamberlain dec. Molinaro, 4-1
Match 2: Molinaro dec. Chamberlain, 7-1
Match 3: Chamberlain dec. Molinaro, 2-1
74 kg: Isaiah Martinez def. Nazar Kulchytskyy, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Martinez dec. Kulchytskyy, 13-2
Match 2: Martinez dec. Kulchytskyy, 13-2
79 kg: Zahid Valencia def. Alex Dieringer, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Valencia dec. Dieringer, 7-0
Match 2: Valencia dec. Dieringer, 5-1
86 kg: Nick Reenan def. Richard Perry, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Reenan dec. Perry, 4-2
Match 2: Reenan dec. Perry, 6-3
92 kg: Hayden Zillmer def. Deron Winn, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Zillmer dec. Winn, 8-2
Match 2: Zillmer dec. Winn, 9-7
97 kg: Kyven Gadson dec. Austin Schafer, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Gadson dec. Schafer, 8-1
Match 2: Gadson by injury default over Schafer
125 kg: Adam Coon def. Tony Nelson, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Coon dec. Nelson, 6-1
Match 2: Coon dec. Nelson, 10-4
Final X schedule
Lincoln, Neb., June 9
57 kg: Thomas Gilman vs. Daton Fix
70 kg: James Green vs. Jason Chamberlain
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs vs. Isaiah Martinez
97 kg: Kyle Snyder vs. Kyven Gadson
State College, Pa., June 16
65 kg: Joey McKenna vs. Logan Stieber
79 kg: Kyle Dake vs. Zahid Valencia
86 kg: David Taylor vs. Nick Reenan
Bethlehem, Pa., June 23
61 kg: Joe Colon vs. Nahshon Garrett
92 kg: J'den Cox vs. Hayden Zillmer
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski vs. Adam Coon
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