2026 Final X Preview: 86 kg MFS Zahid Valencia vs. Kyle Dake

It’s about that time! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve spent time having loose discussions about Final X; however, it’s time to start talking about the individual matches themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll break down all 20 Final X matchups - leading into the event itself on June 19th, from Newark, New Jersey. Prior Previews 57 kg MFS 61 kg MFS 65 kg MFS 70 kg MFS 74 kg MFS 79 kg MFS 92 kg MFS 50 kg WFS 53 kg WFS 55 kg WFS 57 kg WFS 59 kg WFS 62 kg WFS 86 kg men’s freestyle This is one of the big ones! All the Final X series’ are important and deserve attention from wrestling fans; however, this one might be worthy of just a bit more attention. In one corner, you have the most dominant world champion from 2025. In the other, you have a legend of USA Wrestling, who had four world titles and two Olympic medals. And it’s a rematch of a 2025 Final X series. Zahid Valencia famously blitzed the entire world at the 2025 World Championships with a gold medal and a 49 points scored, opposed to zero surrendered, over the course of five matches. It marked the second world medal for Valencia, as he was a bronze medalist in 2023 up at 92 kg. Valencia entered 2026 as “the guy” worldwide for the first time and has been getting everyone’s best shot all year; that won’t change in Final X. With a loss to Valencia at Final X 2025, Kyle Dake snapped a seven-year streak where he made every world and Olympic team available. Dake has also returned from each of those events with some sort of medal. Now, he’s still looking to make his first world team at 86 kg. His first two came at 79 kg and the last five at 74 kg, after unseating the legendary Jordan Burroughs. Jokes have been made over the years about how Kyle Dake has never won hypothetical matches or matches on paper. In this series, he’ll return to the underdog status, a role that I’m sure he’ll be happy to assume. How They Got Here Valencia: With his world title, Zahid Valencia was able to automatically forgo the Open/Trials portion of the spring and wait in Final X. Dake: Dake was in unfamiliar territory - needing to qualify for Final X, rather than sitting there after winning a world title. That made him have to win the US Open in order to get another shot at Valencia. That’s exactly what Dake did and he had to get by some tough competition to win in Vegas. He defeated U20 World Team member Aeoden Sinclair in the semi and NCAA champion Parker Keckeisen in the finals, 8-2. Recent Form Valencia: Valencia’s recent form has been fine, but maybe not what you’d expect from a wrestler that shutout the entire world in 2025. At the Zagreb Open, Valencia was teched by Georgia’s Vladimeri Gamkrelidze. At RAF 04, he was teched by Parker Keckeisen. Since then, Valencia has won twice in RAF and earned championships at the Dan Kolov - Nikola Petrov and the Pan-American Championships. I would explain this as Valencia riding the wave of a dominant world championship performance and slowly rounding into shape. He’ll be closer to the 2025 world’s version in Newark. Dake: Like Valencia, Dake has a result this year that was not Dake-like. He was fifth at the Muhamet Malo; however, his two losses were to highly capable opponents. Dake has kept himself busy in RAF with four wins in the organization’s first ten shows. Prior History This is actually the third Final X series between Valencia and Dake. The pair clashed in the very first Final X (2018) and Dake was victorious for the 79 kg world team spot. Last year, the two also met in the US Open finals, with Valencia getting an 8-4 win in a match that was surprising (at the time). Keys to Victory Valencia: Choose attacks carefully. Valencia can’t put himself in a position where he gives Dake the opportunity to lock up a chest wrap. A four-pointer from standing could change the entire course of a match. So could a situation where Dake and repeatedly tilt Valencia back and forth and add points quickly. Valencia has generally done a good job of avoiding these situations in their 2025 matches. Dake: Get out to an early lead. In both of their 2025 Final X matches, it was Valencia who struck first and did so within the first minute. Playing from behind against an opponent that did not surrender a point at the 2025 World Championships is not an ideal situation. Dake is also at his best when he has a lead, even a small one, and can dictate the pace and action in a match.

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2026 Final X Preview: 86 kg MFS Zahid Valencia vs. Kyle Dake

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