Today is Monday June 5, which is just five days before Final X, June 10, in Newark, N.J., where the best-of-3 series of matches over 30 weight classes — 10 each in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling — will determine this year’s Team USA that will compete in UWW World Championships this September in Belgrade, Serbia.
Since May 31, WIN Magazine has provided a countdown to the event that will be held in the Prudential Center and today WIN is providing a preview at 79k in men’s freestyle, 62k in women’s freestyle and 77k in Greco-Roman.
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.
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The following is WIN’s daily preview of all 30 weight classes. Click on previous days to view those previews:
- May 31: X (10) Days before Final X: 57k MFS, 50k WFS, 55k GR
- June 1: IX (9) Days before Final X: 61k MFS, 53k WFS, 60k GR
- June 2: VIII (8) Days before Final X: 65k MFS, 55k WFS, 63k GR
- June 3: VII (7) Days before Final X: 70k MFS, 57k WFS, 67k GR
- June 4: VI (6) Days before Final X: 74k MFS, 59k WFS, 72k 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 5 Final X Previews
Men’s Freestyle – 79k/174lbs: Jordan Burroughs (Pennsylvania RTC) vs. Chance Marsteller (New York City RTC / TMWC)
Jordan Burroughs
This is a rematch of last year’s Final X in New York City, where Burroughs beat Marsteller in three matches; Burroughs winning the first bout 4-0; Marsteller winning the second 2-2 on criteria and Burroughs winning the rubber match, 5-0. That victory sent Burrough to the World Championships where he won a record sixth World gold medal, which also earned him an automatic spot in this year’s Final X. Marsteller, meanwhile, defeated former Oklahoma State Hodge winner Alex Dieringer, 3-2, in the finals of the U.S. Open to earn a second straight trip to Final X.
No American men’s wrestler has ever accomplished as much as Burroughs who has combined to win seven World/Olympic championships. The 34-year-old native of Sicklervielle, N.J., won a state championship for Winslow Township High School and two NCAA titles and a Hodge Trophy at Nebraska before he started his freestyle career. And just a few months after completing his collegiate career, Burroughs won his first World championship at 74 kilos and duplicated that effort in both the 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds. His final four World gold medals came in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2022 (the final two at 79k). Overall, Burroughs has 10 World medals and he also claimed bronze medals in the 2014, 2018 and 2019 World Championships. The father of four (Beacon, Ora, Rise, and Banner) and his wife Lauren moved to Philadelphia and joined the Pennsylvania RTC in 2021.
Chance Marsteller
Marsteller, 27, certainly has lived roller coaster career on and off the mat since the native of New Park, Pa., went undefeated (166-0) and won four PIAA state championships (and three OW honors) at Kennard-Dale in Fawn Grove, Pa. He also placed fifth in the 2012 Cadet World Championships. He later started his college career at Oklahoma State, but then transferred to Lock Haven, where he earned two All-American honors (fourth in 2018 and third in 2019). Marsteller also has been very candid about his past addictions and hopes to help others with his story.
Women’s Freestyle – 62k/136lbs: Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Adaugo Nwachukwu (Titan Mercury WC)
Kayla Miracle
Miracle has pretty much owned this weight class since making her first World Team in 2019 and representing the United States at the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 in Tokyo) where she finished 12th. But it wasn’t until the last two years that the 27-year-old native of Culver, Ind., made the medal podium at the Senior level, earning silver medals in the 2021 and 2022 World Championships; the latest earning her an automatic spot in this year’s Final X.
Adaugo Nwachukwu
Miracle also had plenty of success earlier in her career, competing in eight different age-group World Championships, and had silver-medal performances in the 2012 Cadet and 2019 U23 Worlds and won a pair of bronze medals in the 2014 and 2016 Junior Worlds. She wrestled for her father, Lee, at Campbellsville, where she won four WCWA titles.
Nwachukwu, 20, is a two-time NAIA champ from Iowa Wesleyan (and will now wrestle at William Penn after Wesleyan closed its doors), who earned her shot at Miracle with a 10-8 victory over Jennifer Page at the U.S. Open in April. The native of San Jose, Calif., has also excelled in freestyle and earned a bronze medal in last year’s U20 World Championships.
Greco-Roman – 77k/169.5lbs: Kamal Bey (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Aliaksandr Kikiniou (California)
Kamal Bey
This is a rematch from the U.S. Open, where Bey won by a 9-0 technical fall over Kikiniou, which earned Bey the first spot in Final X. Kikiniou earned a second chance to make a World Team when he won the World Team Challenge Tournament, one month later with a technical fall over Payton Jacobson.
Aliaksandr Kikiniou
Bey, a 25-year-old native of Bellwood, Ill., has already represented the United States in two Senior Worlds in 2018 and last year. He is still looking for his first medal at the Senior Worlds. He also has wrestled in four age-group World Championships, highlighted by a gold-medal performance in the 2017 Junior Worlds. He first competed in the 2016 Junior Worlds (4th), the 2017 U23 Worlds (dnp) and the 2018 Junior Worlds, where he finished fifth.
Kikiniou, 43, actually has a lot more international experience, but for another country: Belarus. He was a two-time Olympian (2004 and 2012) and also earned a bronze medal in the 2009 World Championships for his home country. He recently earned his U.S. citizenship and lives in Poway, Calif.
