The biggest USA Wrestling event of the year officially wrapped in Newark, New Jersey last Friday, much to the delight of wrestling fans across the country.
Despite one wrestle-off happening a week early and three more being delayed until a time to be determined, the 16 best two-of-three series delivered scintillating, hackle-raising thrills to thousands of fans inside the Prudential Center and many thousands more watching on their screen of choice live on FloWrestling.
Six of those 16 series went to match three, a higher proportion than in any previous Final X, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that only 15 wrestle-offs were contested, as Amit Elor clinched a return to the senior world team at 72kg via forfeit.
The Three-Match Instant Classics
That five of the six matchups that went the distance were at Olympic weights only speaks to the incredible depth Team USA has been building. Let’s take a closer look at those extraordinarily entertaining Final X matchups.
61kg - Marcus Blaze defeats Jax Forrest: 2-2, 1-6, 5-2
A battle of rising stars, these two phenoms have gone back and forth a number of times already, as youth wrestlers, as college rivals, and now as senior level freestylers. The margin between them is razor thin, as evidenced by the cumulative score of 8-10 in favor of Jax (which counts for nothing, but is still interesting!) The real winners are naturally the fans, who have a reasonable expectation of this rivalry stretching a decade or longer into the future.
74kg - James Green defeats David Carr: 6-3, 5-6, 4-1
Count out James Green at your own peril. A year off the mat and a new, surgically repaired artificial hip didn’t slow down the two-time world medalist. Green made his first world team back in 2015. This makes it eight senior world teams for the Lace Man, though Green may be headed back to Blacksburg to become a Hokie assitant coach, he still had his Nebraska coaches Manning and Snyder in his corner as he defied the odds and unseated the returning 74kg Team USA rep and world 5th placer David Carr.
86kg - Kyle Dake defeats Zahid Valencia: 3-2, 4-1, 4-0
Experience trumped youth again at 86kg, as Kyle Dake defeated the reigning 2025 86kg World Champ to once again claim a senior world spot. The two-time Olympic medalist is redefining grit and determination with every match. Perhaps when he eventually retires, Dake will reveal the exact location of the fountain of youth he has apparently discovered.
97kg - Kyle Snyder defeats Stephen Buchanan: 5-2, 5-5, 4-0
Stephen Buchanan was undaunted as he matched up with one of the biggest favorites of Final X. Kyle Snyder would not be denied his twelfth consecutive world or Olympic team at 97kg, but not before taking his first domestic loss at this weight class since the 2016 Olympic Team Trials (Jake Varner is the answer to that trivia question). Despite this, Snyder’s sustained dominance at 97kg continues to astound.
50kg - Morgan Turner defeats Katie Gomez: 7-2, 1-3, 8-3
Youth was served at the lightest weight class in international wrestling. Just weeks after collecting her high school diploma, Chicago native Morgan Turner was turning heads at Final X, defeating the talented Katie Gomez in a hard-fought scrap. Turner will now be teammates with Helen Maroulis, who was an inspiration and role model for Morgan ever since she began her wrestling journey.
62kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu defeats Macey Kilty: Fall 1:40, 0-4, 4-3
One of the wildest series of the evening, Adaugo Nwachukwu and Macey Kilty went back and forth with three very different outcomes in each match. After getting pinned in the first period, two-time world medalist Macey Kilty bounced back with a dominant shutout victory in match two. However, Adaugo, who defeated two-time world medalist Kayla Miracle last year to make her first senior world team, dug deep to get the one point victory in the deciding match three.
But That’s Not All
It wasn’t just the series that went to three matches that provided the wrestling community with thrills, chills and moves so sick they make you ill. Virtually every weight class was a spectacle personified.
Spencer Lee got revenge on Luke Lilledahl, who bested the Hawkeye legend in the US Open finals, in two punishingly physical bouts. The Paris Olympic silver medalist has now made back-to-back senior world teams at 57kg.
Zain Retherford saw James Green back in action and said we may as well get the band back together. Zain and James were first on a world team together back in 2017. The Penn State two-time Hodge Trophy winner bested Ridge Lovett to make his sixth senior world or Olympic team. Retherford was also back up at 70kg where he’s had more international success, as both of his world medals, including his 2023 gold, were at 70kg.
Wyatt Hendrickson continues to win over new fans. Whether it’s in the service of America as an officer in the Air Force or in service of the spectators watching him compete, Hendrickson always gives maximum effort. The result in Newark is that Hendrickson gets to go back to the World Championship and handle some unfinished business after missing the podium in Croatia last year.
America’s distaff freestylers also brought the heat. Everest Leydecker joined Morgan Turner as teenaged world teamers. The Phoenix native made her first world team at 55kg after falling short at Final X last year at a mere 17 years old.
Cristelle Rodriguez moved down from 55kg, where she made the 2025 world team, to 53kg. The Doane University grad dominated her two bouts and is poised to make some noise in Kazakhstan.
Abby Nette is also back on the senior world team at 59kg after two commanding wins at Final X. It will be Nette’s second trip to Worlds, having previously repped the Red, White & Blue in 2022.
Kayla Miracle scored another victory for the veterans. The Indiana native won world silver at 62kg in 2021 and 2022 but more recently took some time off the mat in 2025. Miracle is back, now at 65kg and on her fifth senior world team. Kayla has also made eight other age-level world teams.
In the least dramatic matchup of the day, Amit Elor made her third world team at 72kg via forfeit. At just 22 years old, Elor has already acquired two senior world titles and an Olympic gold medal. The Californian also had her first child last January. Not too shabby!
Last, but most assuredly not least, is Helen Maroulis, who just made her twelfth senior world team. The Maryland native made her first senior team as a teenager in 2008. She is also a three-time Olympian, collecting a medal on each trip, including her legendary gold medal at Rio in 2016 over Saori Yoshida, a 16-time world and Olympic gold medalist. Maroulis will be looking to defend her 2025 world gold and add to her collection of five gold and 11 world and Olympic total medals.
What About The Weights That Weren’t Contested In Newark?
Excellent question. 2025 gold medalist Trent Hidlay already won his spot on Team USA at 92kg when he defeated Michael Macchiavello two weeks ago in a specially scheduled wrestle-off.
Additionally, three series will be postponed due to requests from returning medalists for medical reasons. Wrestle-offs between Real Woods vs Bo Bassett at 65kg, Kennedy Blades vs Bella Mir at 68kg, and Kylie Welker vs Dymond Guilford at 76kg, will be held at a date and location TBD.
Last Time In Kazakhstan
October 24 will be the start of the second UWW Senior World Championships to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan in seven years, as Astana (then called Nur-Sultan – Kazakhstan has a weird habit of changing the name of their capital rather frequently) in 2019.
Team USA finished fourth in men’s freestyle and third in women’s freestyle that year. The Americans are very capable of improving on both finishes this year.
Kyle Dake and J’den Cox won gold for the USA at 79 and 92kg respectively. Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder secured bronze at 74 and 97kg, and the US finished with four men’s freestyle medals.
The women notched three golds, by Jacarra Winchester at 55, Tamyra Mensah-Stock at 68, and Adeline Gray at 76kg, which were the only medals of the tournament for the women freestylers.