Dake showed supreme defense in his challenge tournament semifinal win against Andrew Howe and his finals match against longtime rival David Taylor, who he dominated 8-2.
"Just because a guy's good at finishing doesn't mean he can't be stopped," Dake said after beating Taylor.
In regards to how close he was to one-hundred percent, Dake said, "I can't put a percentage on it. But sometimes breaks are good. I listened to my body, but I feel like I have a lot more to offer."
Dake's victories set up a best-of-three finals against Olympic gold medalist and two-time World champion Jordan Burroughs.
Dake started off strong, taking a 2-1 lead into the second period. But a four-point move by Burroughs followed by a challenge on the scoring by Dake resulted in Burroughs taking a 6-2 lead. Dake scored on a pushout in the final minute, but could not narrow the gap closer than 6-3.
Jordan Burroughs celebrates with his wife Lauren and son Beacon (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"He's a beast, dude," Burroughs said of Dake. "In the first match, I got some fortunate calls. But that's the way it is, so I wanted to come out and dominate the second match and I think I did that."
Burroughs will look to win his fourth world-level gold medal and his fifth World medal overall this September at the World Championships in Las Vegas.
USA's other standing Olympic champion Jake Varner did not fare as well at the Trials on Sunday, winning the challenge tournament, but then dropping two straight matches to U.S. Open champion Kyle Snyder 4-1 and 3-0.
Although he defeated Varner at the U.S. Open last month, Snyder was able to take Varner down for the first time at the Trials with a low single leg. "I'm just a low single guy," said Snyder. "I think I can hit it on anybody."
While at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs preparing for the Junior World Championships as a high school senior, Snyder was able to work out with Varner. "He helped me technically. He was whipping me bad a few years ago. But I got more mature, got a bit stronger and made some adjustments."
By earning the spot on the World Team by beating the standing Olympic champ, Snyder feels ready for Vegas.
"I think I'm the best wrestler in the world," he said. "I've got to prove it, obviously."
Varner looked sharp in his opening matches, earning a technical fall over former Iowa State teammate David Zabriske 11-0 and then another technical fall over Dustin Kilgore 12-0. In the challenge tournament finals, he beat J.D. Bergman, an opponent he has previously had difficulty with, on criteria 2-2. When asked how he was able to get past Bergman, Varner said "Get the takedown early. That's not how I wanted it to end, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do."
The two-out-of-three finals at 66 kilos featured U.S. Open champion Brent Metcalf against Jordan Oliver, who won the finals of the challenge tournament over four-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber 8-5.
"We have history," Oliver said of Stieber. "I knew I was going to have laser focus and be ready to score at all times."
Oliver went into the best-of-three finals against Metcalf with a 1-5 record, most of which had been very close matches. This time, however, Metcalf dominated 9-4 and 7-0.
"Pretty good," Metcalf said of his sweep. "Against a guy who historically we've had a whole lot of close matches. And you take away a silly four-point move I gave him in the first match, and I think you have a pretty larger separation than you've had in the past. So you feel pretty good about that."
Reece Humphrey defeated Daniel Dennis in two matches (Photo/Larry Slater)After winning the spot, Humphrey made it clear that the Worlds would be his last competition at 61 kilos.
"It's a really hard cut for me, but I did it with a purpose in mind and that is to be a World champion."
The women's freestyle team saw the final four members determined. Just as with the men's team, all four women champion swept their opponents in two matches on Sunday.
Of the four champions, only one, Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, had close matches. She beat Jennifer Page 6-5 in the first match and 8-8 on criteria in the second.
"I didn't know if I was winning or losing," said Jaynes-Provisor after the victories. "I just knew I needed to score more points."
Jaynes-Provisor said she feels prepared to win in Vegas because of the competition she has faced. "Jen Page, Sally Roberts. All those people make me better."
At 55 kilos, Helen Maroulis looked especially impressive, beating Sharon Jacobson in the first match 12-2 and then winning by fall in the second match in 38 seconds. Maroulis competed at 58 kilos at the U.S. Open, but made the move down to 55 kilos.
"I just wrestled my style," said Maroulis. "I didn't scout anybody. I just really trusted in my coaching and everything he prepared me for. He just kind of told me, 'Go out there, be aggressive and do what you do.' It worked."
Alyssa Lampe outscored Victoria Anthony 19-6 in two matches (Photo/Larry Slater)"Victoria is a really good wrestler," said Lampe. "The top three girls at 48 could place at Worlds. It's definitely a tough weight class. I think I've struggled before because just mentally I wasn't believing in myself."
At 69 kilos, Elena Pirozhkova, a World champion and four-time World medalist, dominated Tamyra Mensah 12-2 and 10-0.
"I know Tamyra pretty well," said Pirozhkova. "We have trained together at various camps coming up to last year's Worlds. So we know each other pretty well. She did a great job today. But I have to do what I have to do to make the World Team."
Men's freestyle finals results
61 kilos:
Reece Humphrey def. Daniel Dennis, 2 matches to 0
Humphrey won by tech. fall over Dennis, 12-1
Humphrey dec. Dennis, 4-1
65 kilos:
Brent Metcalf def. Jordan Oliver, 2 matches to 0
Metcalf dec. Oliver, 9-4
Metcalf dec. Oliver, 7-0
74 kilos:
Jordan Burroughs def. Kyle Dake, 2 matches to 0
Burroughs dec. Dake, 6-3
Burroughs won by tech. fall over Dake, 14-4
97 kilos:
Kyle Snyder def. Jake Varner, 2 matches to 0
Snyder dec. Varner, 4-1
Snyder dec. Varner, 3-0
Women's freestyle finals results
48 kilos:
Alyssa Lampe def. Victoria Anthony, 2 matches to 0
Lampe dec. Anthony, 9-2
Lampe dec. Anthony, 10-4
55 kilos:
Helen Maroulis def. Sharon Jacobson, 2 matches to 0
Maroulis won by tech. fall over Jacobson, 12-2
Maroulis pinned Jacobson, 0:38
60 kilos:
Leigh Jaynes-Provisor def. Jennifer Page, 2 matches to 0
Jaynes-Provisor dec. Page, 7-5
Jaynes-Provisor dec. Page, 8-8
69 kilos:
Elena Pirozhkova def. Tamyra Mensah, 2 matches to 0
Pirozhkova won by tech. fall over Mensah, 12-2
Pirozhkova won by tech. fall over Mensah, 10-0
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