Day 1 of WIN’s Preview of the upcoming Final X
Between May 23 and June 2, WIN Magazine is creating daily previews of the Best-of-3 Final X matches that will take place, either June 3 in Stillwater, Okla., or June 8 in New York City.
The 30 wrestlers — 10 each in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman — who win the Final X bouts will be the U.S. representatives at the 2022 UWW World Championships, Sept. 10-18, in Belgrade, Serbia.
The following is a schedule of when the Final X previews will take place. Action begins at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater with Round 1 matches at 2 p.m. (CDT) and Round 2 at 7 p.m., Round 3 bouts (if needed) will follow after the completion of Round 2. The Final X in NYC will take place in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Round 1 matches begin at 2 p.m. EDT and Round 2 at 6 p.m.
Monday, May 23
MFS – 57k: Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion WC) vs. Vito Arujau (Spartan) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater, Okla.
Thomas Gilman has earned both a silver (2017) and gold (2021) medal in two of the three Worlds he has wrestled. He also earned Olympic bronze last March. (Justin Hoch photo)
Gilman, 28, advanced to Stillwater after winning his first World championship last fall. The native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was a three-time All-American at Iowa, was also on the 2017 (silver) and 2018 World teams before moving to State College, Pa., where he also earned an Olympic bronze medal last August.
Arujau, 22, reached Final X when he won a pair of technical falls (10-0 and 13-0) over Jakob Camacho at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament May 22 in Coralville, Iowa. Arujau, who will be a senior at Cornell (where he has earned two All-American honors), earned silver medals at the 2016 Cadet World and 2019 Junior World Championships.
Vito Arujau reached Final X with a pair of technical falls over Jakob Camacho. (Sam Janicki photo)
Gilman defeated Arujau, 11-4 and 2-2 (criteria) in the Best-of-3 finals of the 2020 Olympic Trials in April of 2021 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
The World Team Trials Challenge tournament was Arujau’s first mat experience since he settled for third place at the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships in Detroit, Mich., in March 17-19.
“For me, this is a long journey and wrestling is my life,” Arujau said after winning the Challenge tourney. “I try not to let one hiccup in the road derail me. The most important thing is to keep trying to get a little bit better every day.”
GR – 55k: Max Nowry (Army WCAP) vs. Brady Koontz (Ohio RTC) at Final X (June 3) in Stillwater, Okla.
Matt Nowry beat Brady Koontz to qualify for his second World Championships last fall. (Sam Janicki photo)
Nowry, 32, reached Final X with a pin against Drew West in Coralville, while Koontz, 23, also scored a fall against Dalton Duffield at the Challenge tourney.
Nowry, a native of Wheeling, Ill., has appeared in two World Championships, claiming fifth in 2019 and ninth place in 2021. He also finished as an Olympic Team Trials runner-up in 2012. In last year’s Worlds, Nowry scored a technical fall against Iran’s Saijad Abbaspourragani before losing a match and was eliminated.
Brady Koontz trains with his brother Dylan, who finished second at 60k at the WTT. (Sam Janicki photo)
Koontz hails from Stevens Point, Wisc., and continues to train at the Ohio RTC. He has competed in three age-group Worlds; finishing 18th at U23 in 2019, 13th at Juniors (2018) and 17th at Cadet (2015).
Nowry defeated Koontz, 2-1 and 3-1, in the Best-of-3 2021 World Team Trials.
WFS – 50k: Sarah Hildebrandt (NYAC) vs. Alyssa Lampe Sunkist Kids WC at June 8 Final X in New York City
Sarah Hildebrandt is a two-time World silver medalist. (Justin Hoch photo)
Hildebrandt, 28, had a successful run last year, first claiming a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in August and a second World silver medal last October in Oslo, Norway. The native of Granger, Ind., has appeared in four Worlds, also finishing ninth in 2019 and 10th in 2016.
Lampe, 34, reached Final X with a 10-9 decision and a pin against Erin Golston at the WTT Challenge tournament, May 22, in Coralville. The native of Tomahawk, Wisc., has competed in five previous Worlds, highlighted by bronze-medal performances in 2012 and 2013. She also competed at the 2010, 2014 (5th) and 2015 (9th) World Championships. After finishing third at the 2020 Olympic Trials and fourth at the 2021 World Trials, she became an assistant coach at Linfield University in McMinnville, Ore.
Alyssa Lampe (left) won a pair of matches of Erin Golston to reach Final X. (Sam Janicki photo)
Even though Lampe has not competed on the World stage in seven years, she said the reason she continues competing is that she “is still learning and having fun. When that stops, I will move on. Every day I keep learning more about myself as a human being is what is keeping me going.”
FUTURE PREVIEWS
Tuesday, May 24
MFS – 61k: Daton Fix vs. Seth Gross (Sunkist. Kids WC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater, Okla.
GR – 60k: Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP) vs. Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP) at June 8 Final X in New York City
WFS – 53k: Felicity Taylor (Bearcat WC) vs. Dominique Parrish (Sunkist Kids WC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
Wednesday, May 25
MFS – 65k: Evan Henderson (Ohio RTC) vs. Yianni Diakomihalis (Spartan) at June 8 Final X in New York City
GR – 63k: Sammy Jones (NYAC) vs. Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater.
WFS – 55k: Jenna Burkert (US Army WCAP) vs. Jacarra Winchester (TMWC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater.
Thursday, May 26
MFS – 70k: Zain Retherford (NLWC) vs. Jordan Oliver (Sunkist Kids WC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
GR – 67k: Alejandro Sancho (Army WCAP) vs. Nutter (Sunkist Kids WC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
WFS – 57k: Helen Maroulis (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Alex Hedrick (USOP/TMWC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
Friday, May 27
MFS – 74k: Kyle Dake (Spartan) vs. Jason Nolf (NLWC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
GR – 72k: Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm) vs. Benji Peak (Sunkist Kids WC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
WFS – 59k: Lexie Basham (Spartan) vs. Abigail Nette (Army WCAP) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater.
Saturday, May 28
MFS – 79k: Jordan Burroughs (Penn RTC) vs. Chance Marstellar in June 8 Final X in New York City
GR – 77k: Britton Holmes (Army WCAP) vs. Kamal Bey (Army WCAP) at June 8 Final X in New York City
WFS – 62k: Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Jennifer Rogers (NLWC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
Monday, May 30
MFS – 86k: David Taylor (NLWC) vs. Zahid Valencia at June 8 Final X in New York City
GR – 82k: Ben Provisor (NYAC) vs. Spencer Woods (Army WCAP) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
WFS – 65: Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Mallory Velte (BDRT) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
Tuesday, May 31
MFS – 92k: J’den Cox (TMWC) vs. Nathan Jackson (NYAC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
GR – 87k: Alan Vera (NYAC) vs. Timothy Young (Illinois) at June 8 Final X in New York City
WFS – 68k: Tamyra Mensah Stock (TMWC) vs. Sienna Ramirez (Southern Oregon) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
Wednesday, June 1
MFS – 97k: Kyle Snyder (NLWC) vs. Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
GR – 97k: G’Angelo Hancock vs. Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
WRS – 72k: Skyler Grote (NYAC) vs. Amit Elor (NYC/TMWC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
Thursday, June 2
MFS – 125k: Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC/RTC) vs. Nick Gwiazdowski (Spartan/TMWC) at June 8 Final X in New York City
GR – 130k: Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Tanner Farmer (NYAC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
WFS – 76k: Dymond Guilford (USOP/TMWC) vs. Yelena Makoyed (Card/TMWC) at June 3 Final X in Stillwater
