InterMat Staff

Scituate

Jefferson

Owen J. Roberts

Delbarton

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday approved making all takedowns in wrestling worth 3 points, effective with the 2023-24 season. Members of the Wrestling Rules Committee, which proposed the change, agreed that increasing the scoring for takedowns by an additional point will enhance the sport by rewarding offensive actions and risk-taking. The committee also agreed there was a need to create a more appropriate point differential between takedowns and escapes and incentivize offense when competitors are in the neutral position. Eliminating the hand-touch takedown also was approved by the panel. Rules committee members think demonstrating control is an important component of college wrestling, so it made sense to eliminate the hand-touch takedown in favor of a single requirement for all takedowns. To help balance the new takedown scoring rule, there also are new requirements for the top wrestler to work toward a near fall or pin. A 3-point near-fall scoring component was added. Previously, officials could award 2 or 4 points for near falls. The rationale for the rule change includes giving wrestlers a chance to be more creative in attempting to earn points. Video review Panel members also approved a change to the coach's video review request. The rule change provides the referee with the authority to confirm or overturn all calls or missed calls during a video review challenged sequence. For coach's challenges, the sequence is described as the time from the alleged error until the match is, or should have been, stopped by the referee. Other rule changes The first medical forfeit of a tournament will count as a loss on the wrestler's record. An exception will be if the medical forfeit occurs immediately after an injury default in a tournament. The penalty for a delayed coach's video review challenge request will be changed to a loss of the video review. Previously, it was a control-of-mat violation and 1-point deduction from the team total. Any true placement matches conducted in an event will not alter the final team score. Officials can let action continue after penalizing an illegal hold and not require a stoppage after imminent scoring finishes when the safety of wrestlers is not in danger. The current mandatory five-second count for the waist and ankle ride will be expanded to include all situations in which the top wrestler grasps the bottom wrestler's ankle. Weigh-in times across all competition types will be standardized to two hours or sooner before the start of competition. Previously, tournament weigh-ins were two hours or sooner, but dual meet weigh-ins were permitted only one hour or sooner before the start of competition. Weight certification for all schools will be permitted to start Sept. 1. The rule limiting facial hair to no longer than half an inch has been eliminated.

Princeton

Nixa

Amery

It’s almost here! We’re only a few days away from the best domestic event of the year during the freestyle and Greco-Roman season, Final X. For the first time since it was established in 2018, will all three styles be held at the same location on one day. Saturday’s winners will go on to Belgrade, Serbia in September to represent the United States at the 2023 World Championships. We’ll move along in our three previews by looking at the Senior women’s freestyle matchups. The 2022 team was able to bring home seven medals, during an excellent showing at World’s. However the 2023 team shakes out, we should have the opportunity to match that number. This world team has the potential to be a very veteran-laded group. There’s only one weight class (59 kg) that features a matchup with two wrestlers that have never competed at Senior World’s. Before we get ahead of ourselves and look at Belgrade, we have a preview of the action in the ten weight classes, with information about each wrestler and their previous head-to-head matchups, if any. 50 kg - Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Audrey Jimenez What a contrast we have here at 50 kg with Sarah Hildebrandt, one of the staples of the women’s national team and Audrey Jimenez the young star. Hildebrandt made her first world team in 2016 and suffered a gruesome injury during the 2017 Trials, but since then, she’s been a part of every World/Olympic Team. During that stretch, Hildebrandt has medaled four of five times, highlighted by an Olympic bronze and two trips to the world finals. Her bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships afforded her the opportunity to wait in Final X. A year ago, Jimenez was competing in the World Championships at the U17 and U20 levels. Interestingly enough, she missed out on a medal at U17’s, but made the world finals at U20’s. Don’t expect the moment to be too big for Jimenez, as she faced a pair of seasoned vets in the semis and finals of the US Open and never blinked. Just to get a shot at the finals, she teched and nearly pinned national team member Erin Golston. In the finals, Jimenez appeared to be on the brink of getting teched (8-0), but stayed in the match and came all the way back to down Alyssa Lampe, Hildebrandt’s 2022 Final X opponent. This will be the first meeting between these two. It will be a nice mix between Hildebrandt’s experience, polish and poise, compared to Jimenez’s fearlessness and scrappy style. Pick: Sarah Hildebrandt 53 kg - Dom Parrish vs. Katie Gomez Like 50 kg, this is another weight where the young talent shined at the Open and Katie Gomez booked a spot opposite 2022 world champion Dom Parrish. In each of the last two years, Gomez has represented the United States at age group World Championships and came home with hardware. Gomez was a U17 world champion in 2021 and U20 bronze medalist a year later. She came into the US Open as the third seed and ended up winning the title going away. After a pair of tech falls, Gomez downed 2022 Final X participant Felicity Taylor. For the spot in Final X, Gomez downed another upstart, Samara Chavez, 12-2. After an early Chavez score, Gomez reeled off 12 consecutive points for the win. Parrish broke through and made her first world team last year after making Final X and falling to Jacarra Winchester in 2019. That wasn’t enough, though. Parrish came away with a gold medal from Belgrade at 53 kg. She was largely in control for the entire tournament outsourcing her competition by a 27-3 margin across four matches. 2023 hasn’t gone quite as smoothly for Parrish who was fifth at the Pan-American Championships, 11th at the Rankings Series event in Egypt and 22nd at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series tournament. Gomez was 15th in Zagreb though the two did not meet. Their clash on Saturday will be the first meeting between the pair. Pick: Dom Parrish 55 kg - Alisha Howk vs. Jacarra Winchester Jacarra Winchester was the world team representative at this weight in 2022, but she came up a match shy of earning a medal, so she needed to qualify for Final X through either the US Open or the World Team Trials. The 2019 world champion, Winchester, is seeking to make her fourth world team appearance. Winchester did not compete at the US Open which gave Alisha Howk an opening. Howk took advantage of the opportunity as she won the tournament despite starting as the third seed. In each of her final three bouts, Howk was put to the test and prevailed in tight matches. In all three contests, Howk got the win despite surrendering the first score. She earned the Open title with an 8-3 victory over the tournament’s top seed, Lauren Mason. With Howk earning the first berth in Final X, Winchester was forced to win the World Team Trials. In her first WTT bout, Winchester was pushed by Amanda Martinez and trailed 4-2 after a period. Winchester didn’t panic and ended the bout in the second period via fall. In the finals, Winchester blew through Areana Villaescusa, 11-0. Winchester’s only other competition in 2023 saw her win the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event. Howk was the American representative at the Pan-American Championships for the first time at the Senior level and took silver. She also was ninth at the Zagreb Open earlier this year. Winchester has been undefeated against Howk with three straight techs. Her most recent win (11-0) came at the 2022 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Pick: Jacarra Winchester 57 kg - Helen Maroulis vs. Xochitl Mota-Pettis This series has been delayed due to a medical issue on Helen Maroulis’ part. We’ll have more information once it has been rescheduled. 59 kg - Michaela Beck vs. Jennifer Page This weight was up for grabs at the US Open after 2022 world team rep Abby Nette failed to medal. Once again, it was the third seed who ended up winning the tournament. That was Michaela Beck, a past member of the U20 and U23 World Teams. Beck ensured there would be a changing of the guard by edging Nette, 4-4 in the semifinals. For the title, Beck used a third-period surge to push her past a second former world team member, Maya Nelson, to the tune of 5-3. One of the wrinkles of this year’s qualification format is that only certain weights would be contested at the World Team Trials. That allowed wrestlers who lost at the Open to move up or down in weight to challenge in a bracket that took place at the WTT’s. Jennifer Page was one of the wrestlers who took advantage of this format. She dropped a heartbreaker to Adaugo Nwachukwu in the Open finals, then dropped in weight to 59 kg. Page nearly made the 2022 World Team as she pushed Kayla Miracle to three matches in their delayed wrestle-off. To make it back to Final X, Page ran through an impressive list of opponents at the WTT’s, past Final X participants Lexie Basham and Alex Hedrick, along with Nelson. Beck and Page do not have an extensive history against each other, so you have to go back to Senior Nationals in late 2019 to find their most recent meeting. That time, Page got her hand raised after an 11-0 win. Pick: Jennifer Page 62 kg - Kayla Miracle vs. Adaugo Nwachukwu 2022 marked the second consecutive year with a world silver medal for Kayla Miracle at 62 kg. That medal allowed Miracle the opportunity to sit in Final X and wait for an opponent to emerge. Some may have expected Miracle’s 2022 Final X opponent, Jennifer Page, to come out from the Open; however, it was collegiate sensation Adaugo Nwachukwu who prevailed. Nwachukwu has won a pair of national titles for Iowa Western, before the school closed down and she followed the coaching staff to William Penn. For more on Nwachukwu, a nominee for USA Wrestling’s inaugural Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award, check out Morgan Kopitsky’s feature article . Miracle has seen international competition in three different events in 2023. She was stunned at the Pan-American Championships and took the bronze, while settling for fifth at the Ibrahim Moustafa and another bronze at the Zagreb Open. Nwachukwu also has international experience, as she captured a bronze medal at the U20 World Championships in 2022. These two have met on one previous occasion and Miracle won via tech at the 2022 US Open. Pick: Kayla Miracle 65 kg - Mallory Velte vs. Macey Kilty After a four-year absence, Mallory Velte returned to the world team in 2022. Not only did she compete at the world level for the first time since 2018, but Velte also grabbed her second world bronze medal, a feat she also achieved in 2018. This year, Velte has been very solid with a Pan-American championship and a silver medal at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. During her career in Final X, Velte has engaged in two series’ that went the full three matches and won both (against Kayla Miracle and Forrest Molinari). She’ll be well-equipped for another battle like those. Velte will have to contend with Macey Kilty, a five-time age-group world medalist at three different levels. Kilty looks ready to make her mark at the Senior level. She was a match away from an Olympic berth in 2020(1) and in the finals of the 2022 World Team Trials and had to injury default in both instances. Kilty had an impressive showing at the US Open with three techs in four matches. In the finals, she grabbed a pair of takedowns to get by Emma Bruntil, 5-1. For the tournament, Kilty outscored her competition 36-1. Despite Velte’s Senior-level success, she’s 0-2 career against Kilty. Both wins for Kilty came during the 2021 calendar year, a tech at the Captain’s Cup and a 4-2 win at the Olympic Trials. Pick: Macey Kilty 68 kg - Forrest Molinari vs. Emma Bruntil Initially, we expected Tamyra Mensah-Stock to be sitting in Final X based off of her bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Mensah-Stock declined her invitation to Final X and later revealed she has signed with the WWE. With her not competing, the Open winner grabbed the first slot in Final X. As we saw at 59 kg, this was another weight where a competitor fell at the US Open, then changed weights and won at the World Team Trials. This time it was Emma Bruntil, who lost to Kilty at 65 kg, then jumped up to 68 kg. Bruntil crushed the field in Colorado Springs with three tech falls in three matches. The final one came over top-seeded Alex Glaude and Bruntil only needed 93 seconds to rack up 12 points on the past Final X participant. Bruntil is seeking to make her first Senior world team. She’s been a part of the last two U23 World Teams, but has not medaled. Forrest Molinari made three world teams in a row at 65 kg (from 2018-21) and broke through with a bronze medal in her last appearance. She was prevented from making the team last year after losing to Mallory Velte in three matches at Final X Stillwater. Molinari put herself two wins away from the 2023 team after a dominant US Open showing. In four matches in Vegas, Molinari tallied two falls and two techs. She also defeated Glaude to punch her ticket to Newark. The two had a tactical match for a period, but Molinari opened it up in the second and got the fall while leading 8-0. These two have quite the history against each other dating back to 2018. In their most high-profile meeting, Molinari downed Bruntil 4-3 and 9-0 in the 2021 World Team Trials. Bruntil does own a win over Molinari, which came at the 2022 Yarygin. Pick: Forrest Molinari 72 kg - Amit Elor vs. Joye Levendusky 2022 was quite the year for Amit Elor. Elor rewrote the American record books with world titles at three different age groups (Senior, U23, and U20). Elor became the youngest American (18) to win a Senior title and the first American to win all three age groups in the same year. She is only the second wrestler in the world to accomplish this feat. Not only did Elor win at a young age, but she’s also been utterly dominant. In her 11 world championship matches in 2022, Elor only had one that went the distance. In her only competition of 2023, Elor grabbed gold at the Pan-American Championships. Playing the underdog role will be Joye Levendusky. During her collegiate career, Levendusky was a three-time national finalist (2x NCWWC; 1x NAIA) for McKendree and Southern Oregon. Earlier this year, she also made the finals at the U23 Trials. Levendusky earned her place in Final X with an excellent showing at the Open. In the semifinals, she pinned one of the veterans at the weight, Nahiela Magee. Levendusky’s title-winning match saw her tech Rose Cassioppi. This will be the first meeting at the Senior level between these two women. Pick: Amit Elor 76 kg - Kennedy Blades vs. Adeline Gray We’re saving the best for last! Or at least I hope the matches are structured in a manner to highlight this huge series. We have one of the all-time greats of USA Wrestling against one of its future (and current superstars). Kennedy Blades and Adeline Gray met in a much-anticipated US Open final that was dominated by 12-2. Apparently, Gray had only been cleared to return to the mat a few weeks before the Open. She was getting back into training after giving birth to twins. Gray was back in action at the World Team Trials and looked closer to her normal self with a fall and two techs against a loaded field. In the semis, she defeated U20 world champion Kylie Welker, while her title-winning tech was at the expense of 2022 World Team member Dymond Guilford. Blades was a U20 World Champion in 2021, a few months after losing to Tamyra Mensah-Stock in the Olympic Trials finals. At the Open, Blades started with a pair of techs before pinning 2022 Final X participant Yelena Makoyed during a wild, high-scoring match. So far, Blades has appeared in two international tournaments this year, winning the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event and taking fifth at the Henri DeGlane. The tech fall at the US Open is the only prior meeting between these two. The question is how much better is Gray since the World Team Trials (and Open). Will it be enough to close the gap between the two? Pick: Kennedy Blades

With Final X coming up this weekend many eyes are looking forward. However, last weekend’s U20 and U23 events featured multiple spectacular tournaments and some strong individual performances. The following looks at some of the top statistical performers across all four of the different tournaments. U20 Freestyle Point Differential (Points per Minute minus Point Against per Minute) Christian Carroll 125 kg (12.37) It was only two matches, but Christian Carroll was absolutely dominant in his performance. He secured the heavyweight spot on the U20 World Team with a pair of 10-0 victories over challenge tournament champion Aden Attao. Both of the wins came in a combined 97 seconds, and he did not surrender a single point. Carroll averaged 12.37 points per minute, allowed zero points and therefore finished with the highest point differential across the entire tournament. As you can see in the following chart nobody was particularly close to the future Oklahoma State freshman. Carroll was nearly as dominant this past April as he ran through the field at U20 Nationals. In that event, he outscored his opposition 61-7 to earn a spot in the best-of-three finals this past weekend. He now heads to the U20 World Championships in August. The event should be a good primer for his first season of college wrestling in the Big 12, which might not be a walk in the park. U23 Freestyle Point Differential Wyatt Hendrickson 125 kg (8.30) If Carroll wanted to see what kind of opposition he should expect next season, he simply needed to wander over to another part of the gym. Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson, who finished at last year’s NCAA tournament, dominated his way through the heavyweight bracket of the U23 division. Along the way, he averaged 9.06 points per minute, allowed only 0.77 points per minute and therefore finished with an 8.30 differential. No other competitor in the U23 freestyle tournament even came close to Hendrickson in terms of this metric. The wrestler with the next best point differential was Princeton’s Luke Stout, who finished with a 3.82 differential at 92 kg. Hendrickson disposed of his first two opponents, Jason Guadarrama and Ryan Catka, by a combined 23-0 score in only 61 seconds. In his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, he did allow six points, but he still managed to terminate both matches to advance to the best-of-three final. There he scored a pair of 10-0 matches over Illinois’ Luke Luffman to win the tournament title. Luffman redshirted this past season but previously qualified for the NCAA tournament twice. With the graduation of Michigan’s Mason Parris, Hendrickson is expected to be one of the top contenders for the NCAA crown at heavyweight. This past college season, he lost only two matches with one coming against fellow returner Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) at the NCAA tournament. U23 Greco Roman Point Differential Kaleb Reeves 130 kg (6.38) The trend of heavyweight dominance continued into the Greco ranks. At 130 kg on the U23 level, NCAA Division III runner-up Kaleb Reeves finished with the highest point differential. He averaged 8.12 points per minute and allowed only 1.74. This resulted in a 6.38 differential, which was the highest across the board in the style. Reeves did not allow a single point on his path to the finals. He defeated Johnny Black, Tony Caldwell, and Nick West by a combined 16-0 score, and he needed only 72 seconds to win all three matches. In the best of three finals, his opponent Spencer Trenary did manage to score some points, but both matches ended via first-period falls, so there was little dent to his statistics. While Carroll and Hendrickson eclipsed the field by a wide margin in terms of point differential, the race for the crown in U23 Greco was actually quite close. Reeves had the highest point differential, but Payton Jacobson down at 77 kg was right behind him. He averaged 6.29 points per minute and did not allow a single point on his way to the title. All six of Jacobson’s matches, including his pair over Michigan State’s Caleb Fish in the finals, ended as shutout match termination victories. U20 Greco Roman Point Differential Derek Matthews 77 kg (4.96) Thanks to winning the U20 national tournament, Derek Matthews was sitting in the finals waiting for an opponent. Interestingly enough, that opponent turned out to be his Northern Colorado teammate Ayden Rix-McElhinney. Perhaps the familiarity came in handy as he dispatched Rix-McElhinney in two-straight matches. Both of the bouts were 10-0 match-termination victories in the first period. Those performances equated to a 4.96 point differential, which was the highest in the division. During this past college season, the two wrestlers actually faced off in a pair of opponent tournaments under folkstyle rules. Their first meeting came in early December with Rix-McElhinney taking a 13-8 decision victory. Their rematch came at Western Colorado Open in January. This time, Matthews won by first-period fall. Most Match Time Yusief Lillie 55/57 kg (54:56) It is quite rare on the senior level for competitors to compete in both styles. However, it is somewhat common at the age-group level. Utah Valley’s Yusief Lillie had the opportunity to enter both the U23 Greco and freestyle tournaments, and took full advantage of that opportunity. His best performance came on the Greco side where he won the tournament title at 55 kg. All five of his matches went the full six minutes, and he needed all three matches to edge Davian Guanajuato in the finals. Over on the freestyle side, Lillie entered the 57 kg bracket as the second seed but finished short of placing. He still got in five full matches. He lost against Cornell’s Brett Ungar in the round of 16, but continued to wrestle on the backside. In the end, Lillie finished with 54:56 match time, which was the most across the entire event. Interestingly enough, the wrestler with the second-most match time only competed in a single style. Oklahoma wrestler Jared Hill wrestled nine matches in the 70 kg freestyle bracket and finished with 50:49 on the way to a fourth-place finish.

Homewood-Flossmoor

Maroulis at Final X NYC in 2022 (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) NEWARK, N.J., June 7, 2023 - 2022 World silver medalist Helen Maroulis (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) has received a delay of her 57 kg women's freestyle Final X series for medical reasons. Maroulis was scheduled to face Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Humble, Texas/Rise RTC) in Final X at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Saturday, June 10. Maroulis notified USA Wrestling and followed all of the proper procedures under the Athlete Selection Procedures, 2023 Senior World Team, 2023 Senior Pan American Games - Women's Freestyle, 1.2.2, which includes the following: Only a 2022 Senior World Championship medalist who earned an automatic berth into Final X or a 2022 Senior Women's Freestyle World Championship medalist who relinquished their automatic berth by who wins the 2023 U.S. Open in the same weight category, can request a delay of the Final X for medical reasons. This request must be submitted as set forth below at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled weigh-in time (no request for delay will be allowed or granted otherwise). The site and date of this Final X best-of-three series has yet to be determined. The winner of each Final X Championship Series will represent the Team USA at the Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 16-24. For more information on the 2023 Team Selection Proceduresclick here

Jordan Burroughs (left) and Chance Marsteller at Final X NYC in 2022 (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It’s almost here! We’re only a few days away from the best domestic event of the year during the freestyle and Greco-Roman season, Final X. For the first time since it was established in 2018, will all three styles be held at the same location on one day. Saturday’s winners will go on to Belgrade, Serbia in September to represent the United States at the 2023 World Championships. We’ll start off our three previews by looking at the Senior men’s freestyle matchups. As has been the case for the last eight years or so, we have the potential to have an incredible team. The 2022 squad came home with medals in eight of ten weight classes and all of those medalists return (though two will wrestle head-to-head) along with some very capable challengers. However things shake out at 61 and 92 kgs, we will have a first-time representative at those weights, but any of the possible winners should fare well at the World Championships. Before we get ahead of ourselves and look at Belgrade, we have a preview of the action in the ten weight classes, with information about each wrestler and their previous head-to-head matchups, if any. 57 kg - Thomas Gilman vs. Zane Richards We’re getting things started with a battle between two grizzled veterans, both of whom come from the high school Class of 2012. Thomas Gilman’s silver medal at the 2022 World Championships allowed him to wait in Final X. That marked the third consecutive World/Olympic tournament with hardware for Gilman and the fourth overall. So far this year, Gilman has won the Pan-American Championships and taken eighth at the Dan Kolov/Nikola Petrov. Richards seemed like an unlikely candidate for Final X, but that’s why they wrestle the matches. A solid showing at the World Cup and a 2022 title at the Bill Farrell led to Richards grabbing the top seed at the 2023 US Open. There he downed Jakob Camacho in the semis and shocked Nick Suriano for the title. Richards secured a takedown with under :30 seconds remaining in the bout to tie the contest at three, but go ahead on criteria. These two last met at the 2020(1) Olympic Trials when Gilman teched Richards in the quarterfinals. It’s difficult to make sense of that match because both have improved significantly since that point. Richards, in particular, which is something that we haven’t become accustomed to seeing at the Senior level recently. Typically, the world team contenders are great right out of college (or before). Pick: Thomas Gilman 61 kg - Vito Arujau vs Nahshon Garrett We’ve got a pair of national champion 133 lber from Cornell squaring off for the world team spot at 61 kg. Nahshon Garrett finished up at Cornell in 2016, while Arujau still has another year of eligibility with the Big Red. Arujau stormed through the 2023 NCAA bracket with decisive wins over Daton Fix and Roman Bravo-Young and has seemingly ridden that wave of momentum through the US Open. Arujau posted three techs in the US Open, including one in the finals against Austin DeSanto in only :54 seconds. Just a week after his Open triumph, Arujau won the Pan-American Championships. One of the two matches for Arujau that went the distance at the Open was against Nahshon Garrett. It was a 9-2 victory for Arujau in the quarterfinals. Garrett went on to defeat quality opponents like Cody Brewer and Daniel Deshazer on his way to third place. A few weeks later, Garrett mowed through Nathan Tomasello and DeSanto to make the finals of the World Team Trials. For a spot in Final X, he put a 12-4 beating on world silver medalist Daton Fix. Garrett is only two matches away from his first world team. That being said, Garrett does have positive history at Final X. In 2018, Garrett downed Joe Colon in an epic three-match series to put himself in line to make the world team. Unfortunately, an injury prevented him from competing and Colon captured a bronze medal. Since that time, Garrett has moved up and down between Olympic weights, but finally came back home to 61 kg. Earlier this year, Garrett went traveled to the Henri DeGlane and came away with a bronze medal. Despite having the age and experience edge, Garrett hasn’t defeated Arujau at the Senior level. Both tend to wrestle in high-scoring matches, so this may be one of the more aesthetically pleasing series of bouts to watch. Pick: Vito Arujau 65 kg - Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Nick Lee There’s plenty of familiarity between the two competitors at 65 kg’s with Yianni Diakomihalis and Nick Lee. After missing out on a medal in his first world team appearance (2021), Diakomihalis came home from Serbia with a silver medal last year. Since then, Diakomihalis has appeared at the World Cup and struck gold at the Pan-American Championships. In between the World Cup and Pan-Am’s, Diakomihalis became only the fifth wrestler to ever win four national titles at the DI level. Lee gets another shot at Diakomihalis after a second-period rally against Joey McKenna in the US Open finals. McKenna led 5-0 after the first period, but the second stanza was all Lee. In his first international competition after winning his second NCAA title, Lee got second at the Bill Farrell. Later he would finish seventh at the Zagreb Open. These two only met once in college and Diakomihalis prevailed 12-7 during his freshman year. Though they would be in the same weight class for two seasons, that was their only meeting. They did cross paths at the 2020(1) Olympic Trials and Lee was victorious 16-8. Could that be a sign of things to come on Saturday? Pick: Yianni Diakomihalis 70 kg - Zain Retherford vs. Tyler Berger The third time was truly the charm for Zain Retherford as he came away with a silver medal from the 2022 World Championships after coming up empty-handed in 2017 and 2019. That medal clinched a spot in Final X for the Penn State legend. In Retherford’s preparation for Final X, he won a gold medal at the 2023 Pan-American Championships. This will be his second year up at 70 kg after his previous world team appearances and his 2020(1) Olympic Team run came at 65 kg. 70 kg was one of the most interesting weight classes at the Open as top-seeded Alec Pantaleo was pinned in the opening round. That opened the door for Tyler Berger and others to take advantage. Berger made the finals after a wild 11-10 win over Hayden Hidlay in the semifinals. A match later he had a back-and-forth battle with Sammy Sasso that saw him secure the winning takedown with only :08 seconds left in the contest. That victory put the one-time Big Ten and NCAA finalist just two wins away from the world team. So far, in 2023, Berger has participated in a pair of ranking series events, placing seventh in Croatia and 11th in Egypt. He and Retherford last met at the 2021 World Team Trials and it was a one-sided affair in Retherford’s favor, to the tune of 11-0. Obviously, Berger has improved substantially since then, so I’m not sure how much can be taken from that result. Pick: Zain Retherford 74 kg - Kyle Dake vs. Jason Nolf This is one of only two rematches from last year’s version of Final X in men’s freestyle. Kyle Dake won a pair of close matches 4-2 and 2-1. That put him on a World/Olympic Team for the fifth consecutive year. Dake went on to win his fourth world championship and claimed his fifth World/Olympic medal. Though Dake is now ten-plus years removed from his unique and incredible collegiate career at Cornell, he has shown no signs of slowing down or vulnerability. Earlier this year, Dake won his third consecutive Pan-American Championship. Jason Nolf gets another shot at Dake based on his title at the US Open. In each of his five matches, Dake put up at least nine points. His semifinal win against 2021 U20 World Champion Keegan O’Toole featured tons of great scrambles and Nolf was generally a step or two ahead of the young star from Missouri. A match later, Nolf rebounded from a quick four-point deficit to former Penn State teammate Vincenzo Joseph to ultimately win 10-5. Before the Open, Nolf was victorious over a talented field at the Ranking Series event in Croatia. Aside from last year’s meeting at Final X NYC, these two still have plenty of history. They first met at a Nittany Lion Wrestling Club Card in 2021 and Dake pitched a 5-0 shutout. Just over a month later, Dake teched Nolf 11-0 at the 2020(1) Olympic Trials. Since last year, Dake has moved his training situation and works out of the NLWC. It’s unclear whether or not these two actually train together, as I’m sure they anticipated a possible Final X rematch. Either way, it makes for an interesting dynamic. Nolf has closest the gap on Dake, but a lot of opponents have wrestled close matches with Dake over the last decade and a half, only to come out on the short end of the stick. Pick: Kyle Dake 79 kg - Jordan Burroughs vs. Chance Marsteller This is the other men’s freestyle match that is a rematch of Final X 2022. The audience at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden was on pins and needles as Chance Marsteller forced a third match against all-time great Jordan Burroughs. Ultimately, it was Burroughs who prevailed with a 5-0 win in the deciding bout, but there was plenty of drama and anticipation surrounding the rubber match. Burroughs went on to make history and won his seventh World/Olympic gold medal, a feat that no other American man or woman has achieved. A win at Newark would put Burroughs on his tenth world team and give him 12 overall, counting the Olympics. In his only competition of the 2023 calendar year, Burroughs won his sixth career Pan-American title. Marsteller got back to Final X after a gritty 3-2 win over former Oklahoma State teammate Alex Dieringer. Before that win, Marsteller cruised to the finals with a fall, two techs and a 6-1 decision over Burroughs’ Penn RTC teammate David McFadden. So far, in 2023, Marsteller has captured bronze medals at the Ranking Series events in Egypt and Croatia. In addition to the two wins at Final X NYC, Burroughs also owns two other wins over Marsteller. One coming at the 2022 Yasar Dogu and another in the 2021 World Team Trials. Like most opponents, Marsteller will attempt to slow down the offense of Burroughs. Because of his body type, his power, and his defensive skills, Marsteller is one of the few capable of doing so, evidenced by his 2-2 win over Burroughs in match two last year. He’s proven he can do it once, but can Marsteller string multiple wins together over Burroughs. Pick: Jordan Burroughs 86 kg - David Taylor vs. Aaron Brooks Like 61 kg, this is another matchup between alums of the same school (Penn State), though David Taylor and Aaron Brooks were nowhere near being teammates. But like 74 kg, both are training under the umbrella of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Though they haven’t officially met in competition, you have to assume there’s plenty of familiarity between the two since Brooks was Taylor’s training partner for the 2020(1) Olympics. 2022 saw David Taylor win his third World/Olympic title and avenge a loss from the previous year against rival Hassan Yazdani of Iran. The world finals in September were the last time that we saw Taylor in action; however, it’s unlikely that he’ll need to shake off any rust. Aaron Brooks gets to Final X on the strength of a semi-unlikely US Open run. After three straight techs, Brooks posted a 6-1 victory over former Penn State teammate Mark Hall in the semifinals. For the Open title, Brooks shocked rival Zahid Valencia with a second-period sabotage. With under two minutes left in the bout, Valencia led 6-0. That didn’t prove to be enough as Brooks continued to push and left with a 10-6 win. I could see this matchup playing out in a similar fashion as Taylor’s 2022 Final X series against Valencia. He took a close 4-2 win in match one, but was able to open it up more in the second bout. Pick: David Taylor 92 kg - Mike Macchiavello vs. Zahid Valencia With J’den Cox moving up to 97 kg in preparation for an Olympic run, 92 kg will be represented by someone other than Cox for the first time since the inception of the weight in 2018. However it shakes out, we’ll have a first-time world team member at this weight, which is fun. Mike Macchiavello was the first one to punch his ticket to Final X after a surprising win at the US Open. Macchiavello knocked off one of the favorites, Nate Jackson, in the semifinals. He then drew rival Kollin Moore in the finals. The two engaged in what was a tactical affair for most of the first five minutes. With Macchiavello ahead 2-2 on criteria, he extended his lead with another takedown, then quickly ended the match with four leg laces. Zahid Valencia is also an unlikely contender. Not because of talent, but because of the fact that he fell short at the Open, then moved up from 86 kg for the World Team Trials. Valencia ran through 2023 U23 World silver medalist Tanner Sloan before teching a wounded-looking Moore in the finals. With his WTT’s win, Valencia became the first male freestyler to appear in Final X at three different weights. Because of the normal discrepancy in weight (Macchiavello competing at 97 kg) these two do not have any history against each other. Both were national champions in 2018, with Valencia winning at 174 lbs and Macchiavello at 197 lbs. While Valencia is talented and dynamic offensively, my read is that he’ll have trouble with the horsepower of Macchiavello. Pick: Mike Macchiavello 97 kg - Kyle Snyder vs. J’den Cox We finally will get to see these two world champions renew the rivalry as J’den Cox has moved up from 92 kg and is ready to take Kyle Snyder’s spot on the world team. The pair had a handful of matches as high schoolers in Fargo and even met again in college during Kyle Snyder’s true freshman year at 197 lbs. After the inception of the 92 kg weight class, the rivalry went on pause while Cox racked up world medals at the weights. It appeared that the two were on a collision course for the 2020(1) Olympic Trials; however, Cox did not weigh in. The 2022 Rudis Super Match gave us a taste of what this competition looks like, though it didn’t have the stakes that Final X does and wasn’t an event the wrestlers likely peaked for in their training. Snyder gets the spot in Final X based off of his fourth World/Olympic gold medal in 2022. He’s quietly in the midst of one of the greatest careers ever under the USA Wrestling banner. Snyder has won the World/Olympic Trials every year since 2015 at this weight and has shown no signs of slowing down. Cox had to go through the US Open since he changed weights, but that didn’t seem to matter much. His closest bout at the Open was a 12-3 win over Isaac Trumble in the finals. Snyder has competed three times internationally in 2023 with gold medals at the Pan-American Championships, the Zagreb Open, and the Dan Kolov/Nikola Petrov Tournament. Cox’s re-debut at 97 kg saw him take fifth at the Henri DeGlane. For more on Snyder versus Cox, check out James Hackney’s feature on the rivalry. Pick: Kyle Snyder 125 kg - Gable Steveson vs. Mason Parris The US Open marked the return of Gable Steveson to the wrestling world after spending the last year plus in “sports entertainment” with the WWE. Steveson didn’t need long to shake off the rust, because there didn’t appear to be any. Across four matches, Steveson outscored the competition to the tune of 44-1. He had to travel a rather tough path with a win over his Final X opponent, Mason Parris, two-time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski and U23 Trials champion Wyatt Hendrickson. The ease at which Steveson dispatched the trio makes it evident that he’s ready to jump in where he left off, which was in the Olympic finals. Parris had to wrestle in the World Team Trials to earn his rematch with Steveson. He had to go through quite the list of contenders himself. In the opening round, he teched collegiate rival Tony Cassioppi, before prevailing in a classic shootout against Hendrickson. For the spot in Final X, Parris had to get by Gwiazdowski, something had done only once prior in four attempts. Neither of these two talented big men (winners of the last two Hodge Trophy’s) have competed internationally this year. During their head-to-head meeting, Parris got on the scoreboard with a step-out point, but it still came in a 12-1 loss. He was the only opponent to score a single point on Steveson. Though Parris is probably good enough to be a medal threat himself, it’s difficult to pick against Steveson after seeing him at the Open and knowing he’s had about six weeks of practice since then. Pick: Gable Steveson

/Files/image/articles/snydercox740.jpgJ'den Cox (left) and Kyle Snyder at the 2022 Rudis Super Match (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In June 2011 in Fargo, North Dakota, a new rivalry was born between two young phenoms. At the time, J'den Cox was a two-time Missouri State champ as a sophomore, and Kyle Snyder had just won his first National Prep Championship as a freshman. These two battled at Fargo and split matches across styles. Snyder won in freestyle while Cox won in Greco-Roman. Since then, these two have faced off in Fargo (again), NCAA's, the US Open, and even in a Rudis Supermatch. All in all, they have faced eight total times, in every major style. Now, they're ready to face off again. This time for another best-of-three series at Final X to decide who will be the world team member at 97kg. After the two wrestlers split matches in 2011, they met again at Fargo in 2012. This time, Snyder won in Greco, and Cox won in Freestyle. In both years, these were the wrestler's only losses at Fargo. Neither wrestler won by more than a one-point differential. Snyder went on to win gold and bronze at the Junior World Championships in 2013 and 2014, respectively, while in high school. At the same time, Cox had finished his high school career and won his first NCAA title for the Missouri Tigers in the 2014 season. Coming out of high school, Snyder was #1 in the class of 2014, while Cox was #6. Their eventual college match was highly anticipated, but didn't occur until late in the 2015 season at NCAA's. Ohio State and Missouri had a dual earlier that year, but Missouri's coach Brian Smith made the strategic move to bump Cox up to heavyweight to get the dual win. Just months later the two finally met again, in the NCAA semifinals. Cox was the undefeated #1 seed, while Snyder was the #4 seed. Again, the two had a razor-thin match, where Snyder scored the lone takedown on a picture-perfect ankle pick for the 3-2 win. Cox went on to finish 5th, while Snyder finished as a runner-up. Ironically, this was the worst NCAA performance by either wrestler through the rest of their careers. Both were four-time All-Americans and three-time NCAA champs without a redshirt. While it seemed like the match-up was bound to happen with both wrestlers so young, Snyder ended up bumping up to 285 for the rest of his career while Cox stayed at 197. They both only had one loss for the rest of college. While they didn't have another meet-up in college, the pair faced off once again at the 2015 US Open at 97kg. Again, Snyder took a one-point win. He went on to not only make the world team over Olympic champ Jake Varner, but also won his first world title at 19. Going into the 2016 Olympic Trials, it once again seemed like the two could match up. However, Cox made the decision to actually cut down to 86kg, while Snyder remained at 97kg. The cut paid off, as Cox made the Olympic team taking out Kyle Dake at the Trials. Meanwhile, Snyder beat Jake Varner in three matches to lock up the spot for his first Olympics. While both wrestlers still had college eligibility, they each came home from Brazil with Olympic medals. Snyder won gold while Cox finished with a bronze medal. Both wrestlers seemed set at their weights. Cox stayed at 86kg in 2017 and won another bronze medal at Worlds after beating David Taylor at the World Team Trials. In 2018 the non-Olympic weight of 92kg was added, and Cox immediately found success with consecutive World titles in 2018 and 2019. At the same time, Snyder was dominant himself. He won his third Olympic/World title in 2017, then finished with silver and bronze in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic brought a postponement for the Olympic Team Trials. On paper, this was a benefit for Cox who had already announced the move to 97kg. However, a late attempt at weigh-ins disqualified the challenger. Snyder went on to win the Trials then win a silver medal at the Olympics. Due to the timing of 2021 Worlds, Snyder was the automatic representative for the United States thanks to his medal. Cox dropped back down to 92kg to compete on the same team as Snyder. Cox finished with a bronze and Snyder won another silver medal. The night before the 2022 NCAA's began, Cox and Snyder squared off for a best two-of-three series at 97kg hosted by Rudis. Once again, Snyder beat Cox, this time with a 5-5 criteria win in match one and a 7-2 win in match two. This was the biggest score differential in their match history. Cox returned to his previous weight of 92kg for the 2022 Worlds while Snyder stayed at 97kg. Snyder won his fourth gold and eighth Olympic/World medal. Cox finished with silver for his sixth Olympic/World medal. Now in 2023, the two are set to battle once again at Final X in another best two-of-three series. Snyder earned his spot with his 2022 World medal, while Cox made his way there with a dominant run at the US Open, with his closest match being a 12-3 win over Isaac Trumble in the finals. Despite the two having battled for over a decade now, both wrestlers are below 30 years old with years of competition potentially left. While the two have a long history, they've also been on many teams together and trained together multiple times. The two beat battle-tested legends while still in college to make their early world teams, and have medals to show for it. They've both spent time at multiple clubs; Cox has spent time at Missouri's RTC (Tiger Style Wrestling Club), the OTC, New Jersey RTC, Ohio RTC, and is now at the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club while Snyder went from the Ohio RTC to PSU's Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Their careers mirror each other in numerous ways throughout high school, college, and senior level, although Snyder currently has the lead on World/Olympic medals. Kyle Snyder has already made USA Wrestling history twice, being the youngest American to win a World title at 19, then the youngest American to win Olympic gold at 20. With four golds and eight medals overall, he could be on a legendary path similar to Jordan Burroughs or Bruce Baumgartner. J'den Cox could be considered one of the more dynamic wrestlers for the United States with his unique footwork and incredible takedown defense. His multiple Senior level wins over domestic foes and fellow World champions Kyle Dake and David Taylor are only matched by the aforementioned Jordan Burroughs. This match-up could be especially important, as a 2023 World medal means that they can sit in the finals of the Olympic Team Trials in 2024. Snyder has the advantage historically, but both wrestlers are sure to have new wrinkles to their game for this match. While Final X is filled with intrigue and incredible matches, the Snyder-Cox pairing will have a huge influence on not just World/Olympic teams, but individual legacies as well.

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