Final X Lincoln: A Unique Storm
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Photo: BDI aka Rimmelpics.com
2019’s Team USA delegation to the World Championships will be without several medalists in this quad, speaking to the current depth of the Olympic ladder. Six (and possibly seven with Dake’s deferment) medalists in this quad will not be making the trip to Kazakhstan in September.
Saturday night in Lincoln brought three Men’s Freestyle series to the 3rd match. Isiah Martinez closed the gap from a year ago with Jordan Burroughs. The king needed a takedown in the final seconds of match one to win 5-4 and then Martinez won the 2nd match 5-5. Martinez had led for almost the entire twelve minutes of those two matches, but Burroughs always finds that extra gear when he needs to and took the third match 7-1.
Daton Fix, unsatisfied with how his redshirt freshman season at Oklahoma State went, defeated 2017 Silver Medalist Thomas Gilman in three matches. Several times Gilman appeared to be deep enough on shots for points but the hips and “rubber knee” from Fix not only stopped him but also put points up in the other direction.
Joe Colon won a bronze medal last year when Nahshon Garrett could not compete. Colon was stopped in Final X again, this time by 30-year old Tyler Graff. Both guys are known for their par terre work and it should throughout the series. Then right on queue, the series was finished on such as a low single from Graff turned into a leg lace that Colon could not get to the out of bounds to stop the scoring before the tech. Graff was emotional immediately as he finally punches his ticket to a World Championships after being so close for so long.
James Green is heading to his 5th World Championship, but needed some revenge to do it. Ryan Deakin pulled off the upset in the US Open, and Green had to battle through the trials to make it back to his former collegiate arena. Green wasted no time in the first match with a low single and a leg lace to finish match one in approximately 15 seconds. He won the second 4-3 and himself, Burroughs, and Snyder are the first USA teammates to head to five consecutive World Championships.
Mallory Velte defeated Kayla Miracle last year in Final X and brought home a bronze medal. However, Miracle would turn the tables with a 12-2 tech and a 5-4 decision to send the 23-year old to her first World Championship. This is an Olympic weight class so qualifying and a medal for her will be paramount.
Adam Coon bounced back from his Freestyle Trials finals loss to maintain his Greco spot. He dispatched the phenom Schultz easily and will return to the World Championships after taking silver last year.
The penultimate year in the quad is very important, and Team USA will look a bit different flying to Kazakhstan than what we expected. However, they look to bring another great medal haul and qualify for Tokyo in 2020.
Men’s freestyle
57 kg: Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC) df. Thomas Gilman (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC), 2 matches to 1
Round 1 – Fix dec. Gilman, 9-1
Round 2 – Gilman dec. Fix, 3-2
Round 3 – Fix dec. Gilman, 6-3
61 kg: Tyler Graff (Princeton, N.J./Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC) df. Joe Colon (Fresno, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC), 2 matches to 1
Round 1 – Colon dec. Graff, 6-4
Round 2 – Graff dec. Graff, 9-2
Round 3 – Graff TF Colon, 12-2
70 kg: James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/NWTC) df. Ryan Deakin (Broomfield, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/Chicago RTC), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Green TF Deakin, 10-0
Round 2 – Green dec. Deakin. 4-3
74 kg: Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/NWTC) df. Isaiah Martinez (Champaign, Ill./Titan Mercury WC/Illini RTC), 2 matches to 1
Round 1 – Burroughs dec. Martinez, 5-4
Round 2 – Martinez dec. Burroughs, 5-5
Round 3 – Burroughs dec. Martinez, 7-1
97 kg: Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) df. Kyven Gadson (Ames, Iowa/Sunkist Kids/Cyclone RTC), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Snyder dec. Gadson, 4-0
Round 2 – Snyder TF Gadson, 12-1
Women’s freestyle
53 kg: Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/OTC) df. Katherine Shai (Denver, Colo./Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Hildebrandt dec. Shai, 3-0
Round 2 – Hildebrandt dec. Shai, 8-0
62 kg: Kayla Miracle (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids/Hawkeye WC) df. Mallory Velte (Sacramento, Calif./Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Miracle TF Velte, 12-2
Round 2 – Miracle dec. Velte, 5-4
76 kg: Adeline Gray (Denver, Colo./New York AC) df. Precious Bell (Lancaster, Calif./Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Gray df. Bell, fall 1:57
Round 2 – Gray TF Bell, 10-0
Greco-Roman
130 kg: Adam Coon (Ann Arbor, Mich./New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) df. Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 2 matches to 0
Round 1 – Coon TF Schultz, 8-0
Round 2 – Coon dec. Schultz, 5-1
