- Brandon Cain
5 Olympic, 11 World champions highlight field for Final X, Beat the Streets Annual Benefit
Nineteen matchups feature at least one World or Olympic medalist competing.
The field is finalized for Final X, presented by Tezos, on June 10 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Athletes qualified for Final X by winning a 2022 World medal or winning the 2023 U.S. Open or 2023 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. The top two athletes in each weight class, based on the qualifying process, have emerged to compete in Final X.
Final X will determine the 2023 U.S. Senior World Team in all three Olympic disciplines: men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. There will be 30 weight classes contested, 10 in each Olympic discipline. The winner of each Final X best-of-three championship series will represent the United States at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The first match of the best-of-three series will be during the first session (2-4:30 p.m.). The second match and third match, if necessary, will be in the second session (6-9 p.m.).
The Final X field features five Olympic gold medalists: 2012 champion Jordan Burroughs (74 kg men’s freestyle), 2016 champions Helen Maroulis (57 kg women’s freestyle) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg men’s freestyle) and 2020 champions Gable Steveson (125 kg men’s freestyle) and David Taylor (86 kg men’s freestyle).
The field includes 11 World champions who have won a combined 30 World titles: Burroughs (6x), Adeline Gray (x6, 76 kg women’s freestyle), Kyle Dake (x4, 74 kg men’s freestyle), Maroulis and Snyder (3x) and Taylor and J’den Cox at 92 kg men’s freestyle (2x). Thomas Gilman (57 kg men’s freestyle), Dominique Parrish (53 kg women’s freestyle), Jacarra Winchester (55 kg women’s freestyle) and Amit Elor (72 kg women’s freestyle) each won one.
It also features 10 Olympic medalists who have won 12 Olympic medals: Synder (2x, 2016 gold and 2020 silver), Maroulis (2x, 2016 gold, 2020 bronze), Burroughs (2012 gold), Steveson (2020 gold), Taylor (2020 gold), Gray (2020 silver), Cox (2016 bronze), plus 2020 bronze medalists Dake, Gilman and Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg women’s freestyle).
There will be 16 World medalists who have won a combined 53 World medals: Burroughs (9x); Gray (8x); Maroulis and Snyder (6x); Cox (x5); Dake (4x); Gilman, Hildebrandt and Taylor (3x), two-time silver medalist Kayla Miracle (62 kg women’s freestyle), two-time bronze medalist Mallory Velte (65 kg women’s freestyle), 2022 silver medalists Yianni Diakomihalis (65 kg men’s freestyle) and Zain Retherford (70 kg men’s freestyle), 2021 bronze medalist Forrest Molinari (68 kg women’s freestyle), 2009 bronze medalist Aliaksandr Kikiniou (77 kg Greco-Roman) and 2018 silver medalist Adam Coon (130 kg Greco-Roman).
There are 13 Olympians with a combined 19 Olympic appearances: Burroughs, Gray, Ildar Hafizov (60 kg Greco-Roman), Kikiniou, Maroulis and Snyder (x2); and Dake, Gilman, Hildebrandt, Miracle, Steveson, Winchester and Alejandro Sancho (67 kg Greco-Roman). Hafizov competed for Uzbekistan in 2012 and the U.S. in 2020. Kikiniou competed for Belarus in 2004 and 2012.
Of the 30 matchups on the Final X card, 19 of the pairings have at least one World or Olympic medalist competing. The men’s freestyle 97 kg matchup features both athletes with World and Olympic medals, Snyder against Cox.
It is the second straight year Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit. This year’s event will be the 13th BTSNY Annual Benefit. These unique and electrifying annual events help BTSNY raise more than $1 million each year to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party will follow the conclusion of Final X.
Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages (Final X plus exclusive after-party celebration access), that also provide the best wrestling-event seats, are available at give.btsny.org/beatthestreetsbenefit2023. For more information on ticket packages, email Katrin Pokalyukhin at katrin@btsny.org.
Proceeds from Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages will directly help BTSNY, which provides a safe, positive atmosphere for student-athletes to learn the essential life lessons of discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility and a strong work ethic through wrestling.
Event-only tickets for Final X without access to the BTSNY after-party celebration are available on Ticketmaster.
FloWrestling will serve as the host broadcasting partner for Final X, presented by Tezos.
Final X, presented by Tezos At Prudential Center, Newark, N.J., Saturday, June 10
Men’s Freestyle Qualifiers to Date 57 kg - Thomas Gilman (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Zane Richards (Champaign, Ill./Illinois RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
61 kg - Vitali Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Nahshon Garrett (Bethlehem, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Lehigh Valley WC)
65 kg – Yianni Diakomihalis (Rochester, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Nick Lee (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
70 kg - Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Tyler Berger (Philadelphia, Pa./Pennsylvania RTC/Sunkist Kids WC)
74 kg – Kyle Dake (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jason Nolf (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
79 kg – Jordan Burroughs (Philadelphia, Pa./Pennsylvania RTC/Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Chance Marsteller (Hoboken, N.J./New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg - David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Aaron Brooks (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
92 kg - Michael Macchiavello (Raleigh, N.C./Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Zahid Valencia (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC)
97 kg - Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. J’den Cox (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
125 kg – Gable Steveson (Minneapolis, Minn./Gopher WC-RTC) vs. Mason Parris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Women’s Freestyle Qualifiers to Date 50 kg – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC) vs. Audrey Jimenez (Tucson, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC)
53 kg – Dominique Parrish (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Katie Gomez (Van Nuys, Calif./Sunkist Kids WC)
55 kg – Alisha Howk (River Falls, Wis./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/USOPTC)
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Humble, Texas/Rise RTC)
59 kg – Michaela Beck (New York, N.Y./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Jennifer Page (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC)
62 kg – Kayla Miracle (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Adaugo Nwachukwu (San Jose, Calif./Titan Mercury WC)
65 kg – Mallory Velte (Corvallis, Ore./Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Macey Kilty (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids WC)
68 kg – Forrest Molinari (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Emma Bruntil (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/USOPTC)
72 kg – Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Joye Levendusky (Avon, N.Y./Southern Oregon RTC)
76 kg – Kennedy Blades (Chicago, Ill./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Adeline Gray (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
Greco-Roman Qualifiers to Date 55 kg – Brady Koontz (Dubuque, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Dubuque RTC) vs. Dalton Duffield (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)
60 kg – Dalton Roberts (Fountain, Colo./Army WCAP) vs. Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)
63 kg – Hayden Tuma (Nampa, Idaho/Suples WC) vs. Xavier Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)
67 kg – Robert Perez III (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Alejandro Sancho (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP)
72 kg – Justus Scott (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) vs. Patrick Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
77 kg – Kamal Bey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) vs. Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway, Calif.)
82 kg – Spencer Woods (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP) vs. Ryan Epps (Cannon Falls, Minn., Army WCAP)
87 kg – Alan Vera (Jersey City, N.J./New York AC) vs. Zachary Braunagel (Belleville, Ill./Illinois RTC/Illini WC)
97 kg – Josef Rau (Chicago, Ill./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Christian DuLaney (Shakopee, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
130 kg – Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Adam Coon (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/New York AC)
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