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Updated: June 4, 2023

Today is June 4, which is just six days before the 2023 United States World Championships teams in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will be decided at Final X, June 10, in Newark, N.J.

And today, WIN Magazine is continuing countdown of this annual event by previewing three more weight classes — 74k in men’s freestyle, 59k in women’s freestyle and 72k in Greco-Roman wrestling — as the best-of-3 matches in the Prudential Center next Saturday will send 30 wrestlers to the 2023 UWW World Championships this September in Belgrade, Serbia.

We also invite you to subscribe to WIN Magazine in time to receive the next issue of WIN, printed June 22, that will provide comprehensive coverage and a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s Final X.

Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

The following is WIN’s daily preview of all 30 weight classes. Click on previous days to view those previews:

  • June 5: V (5) Days before Final X: 79k MFS, 62k WFS, 77k GR
  • June 6: IV (4) Days before Final X: 86k MFS, 65k WFS, 82k GR
  • June 7: III (3) Days before Final X: 92k MFS, 68k WFS, 87k GR
  • June 8: II (2) Days before Final X: 97k MFS, 72k WFS, 97k GR
  • June 9: I (1) Day before Final X: 125k MFS, 76k WFS, 130k GR

June 4 Final X Previews

Men’s Freestyle – 74k/163lbs: Kyle Dake (Nittany Lion WC) vs. Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC)

Kyle Dake

This is the second straight year these two former multiple-time NCAA champions will meet at Final X after Dake won 4-2 and 2-1 in New York City and eventually won his fourth UWW World championship, which earned him an automatic spot in the 2023 Final X.

Internationally, Dake, 31, has dominated the World Championships at this weight by winning gold medals in 2021 and 2022 … after Dake also won World titles at 79 kilos in 2018 and 2019. In between, he also earned a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics, held in 2021 (because of COVID) in Tokyo.

But last year, Dake — the former four-time NCAA champ from Cornell between 2010 and 2013  — represented the Spartan Combat WC, where he trained at his alma mater and in his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y. Following the 2022 Worlds, Dake announced that he was moving to State College, Pa., where he would train with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

Jason Nolf

That, of course, is where Nolf — a former four-time All-American and three-time champion between 2016 and 2019 for Penn State — also trains. The 27-year-old native of Yatesboro, Pa., won three PIAA state championships for Kittanning High School. On the freestyle mat, Nolf has enjoyed a strong year while helping Team USA win the World Cup last December before winning the Zagreb Open in Croatia this past February when he beat 2022 World bronze medalist Younes Emamichoughuei in the finals. He also won a Pan-Am championship in 2020.

Women’s Freestyle – 59k/130lbs: Michaela Beck (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Jennifer Page (Nittany Lion WC)

Michaela Beck

Beck became the first woman at this weight to earn a spot at Final X when she defeated Maya Nelson, 5-3, in the finals of the 2023 U.S. Open this past April in Las Vegas. Page also competed at that tournament, but at a different weight as she finished second to Adaugo Nwachukwu at 62 kilos. That’s when she decided to drop down a weight class and earned a trip to Newark by beating Nelson, 11-4, in the finals of the World Team Trials Challenge tournament in May.

Internationally, Beck, 22, has competed in two age-group World Championships; finishing 11th in the 2019 Junior Worlds before settling for ninth in the 2021 U23 Worlds. This has been quite a year for the native of New York City. She also wrestled for Team USA in last December’s World Cup where she met Ukranian Alina Akobia — a 2022 Senior World bronze medalist and 2021 U23 World champion. They became friends, leading Beck to train for a month in the war-torn country this past winter.

Jennifer Page

Page, 30, has come a long way since the native of California competed in her first U.S. Open in 2010 and finished third at the 2012 Olympic Trials; the same year she competed in the first of two Junior World Championships (where she later earned a bronze medal in 2013).

The former college wrestler from Oklahoma City joined the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club in 2020 and also reached the 2022 Final X, where she lost to Kayla Miracle at 62 kilos. Page actually won the first match by technical fall before Miracle came back to win the final two matches to earn a spot on the 2022 World Team.

Greco-Roman – 72k/158.5lbs: Justus Scott (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm)

Justus Scott

Scott, a 22-year-old native of Las Vegas has limited international experience, but certainly made his name at the 2023 U.S. Open in his hometown where he defeated Smith, a three-time World Team member, in the finals … and earned a spot in Final X.

Scott, who wrestled at the NAIA school Baker in Kansas, joined the Army in 2021, shortly after he won the UWW Junior World Team Trials at 72 kilos.

Pat Smith

Smith, 32, came back to earn a rematch against Scott in Newark when he won the World Team Trials Challenge tournament in May. The native of Chaska, Minn., and former college wrestler at the University of Minnesota first made national news when he finished second in the 2016 Olympic Trials, then earned spots for Team USA in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Championships.

Smith also earned a trip to the 2022 Final X in Stillwater, Okla., where he lost to Benji Peak in a series that went three matches.

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