J'den Cox defeated Hayden Zillmer two matches to zero (Photo/Juan Garcia)BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Returning world bronze medalists J'den Cox and Nick Gwiazdowski earned spots on the U.S. World Team with victories in two straight matches on Saturday night at Final X, which was held at Grace Hall on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
The 23-year-old Cox, an Olympic and world bronze medalist, topped Hayden Zillmer, 5-2 and 10-0 at 92 kilograms. It was a rematch of the U.S. Open finals won by Cox, 2-0.
"I knew I paid the price just to do what I need to do to get here," said Cox. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to get to where I want to be in the future."
Cox left Missouri to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
"I've put myself in a good environment that will lead to me bigger places," Cox said.
Nick Gwiazdowski topped Adam Coon (Photo/Juan Garcia)Gwiazdowski cruised in two straight matches over Adam Coon at 125 kilograms. Coon earned a spot on the U.S. World Team in Greco-Roman on Friday in Tulsa, Okla. Gwiazdowski won both matches over Coon 6-1.
Gwiazdowski was able to overcome Coon's size advantage.
"That's like part of the job description," Gwiazdowski said of Coon's size. "Guys are going to be big. We've got the weight limit. He made that weight limit, and that's that. I've done it my entire life."
Nahshon Garrett (Photo/Juan Garcia)Nahshon Garrett battled back to defeat Joe Colon to earn a spot on the U.S. World Team at 61 kilograms. After dropping the first match 7-5, Garrett battled back to defeat Colon 10-5 in the second match before closing out the series with a 12-0 technical fall shutout. Colon defeated Garrett 20-13 in the U.S. Open finals.
"That first match I came out slow," Garrett said. "I was slow. I wanted to feel it out. But the thing is, I can't wrestle slow against him. He's too good in his positions. So every match I had to put up a little bit more."
Garrett, who won a national title at Cornell, now trains in Tempe, Ariz. He believes in his coaching.
"One of the reasons I actually went out there was because of Zeke Jones," said Garrett. "Knowing his technique, knowing his ability, I trust him a lot. I've always trusted my coaches. So being out there and at this level you've got to have somebody who has been at this level and experienced that, and Zeke Jones is one of those guys."
In the women's wrestling competition, Whitney Conder, Sarah Hildebrandt and Forrest Molinari punched their tickets to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Conder topped Victoria Anthony in three matches at 50 kilograms to make her fourth U.S. World Team, but first since 2015. Conder took the first match 10-4, but Anthony battled back with a 4-2 victory in the second match to force a third and deciding match. In the third match, it was all Conder as she claimed a technical fall victory, 11-0.
"There's been a lot of changes in my life since I made the last World Championships," said Conder. "I've gone down a weight class. I've been changing my lifestyle."
While Conder has moved down in weight, her opponent, Anthony, moved up in weight this year from 48 kilograms.
"I definitely felt like I was a lot bigger," said Conder. "She a strong wrestler and very strong opponent, and she knows her way to wrestle. So I knew it was going to be a tough match no matter what happened."
Conder, who joined Army WCAP program six years ago, fell short of last year's U.S. World Team, losing in the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials to 2016 Olympian Haley Augello.
"Last year was very disappointing," said Conder. "I was very down on myself and very angry that I didn't make the team. But my coaches got on me right away and they kept talking to me about going down and kept talking to me about finding new ways to score."
Hildebrandt dominated former King University teammate Augello two matches to zero, outscoring her 14-0.
"I've done everything right," Hildebrandt said. "I was eating well. I was training hard. I was going to bed early. I was reading books. I was feeling good about myself. And it's like, how do you not just feel good going out there? There was nothing where I could have been like, 'You should have done more.' I did what I needed to do. Now I'm going to step it up another notch, and I'm going to win at Budapest."
Forrest Molinari (Photo/Juan Garcia)Molinari avenged a U.S. Open loss by defeating Julia Salata two matches to zero. She blanked Salata 5-0 in the first match and then closed out the victory with another dominant victory, 10-2.
"I didn't wrestle well at the Open," said Molinari. "I wasn't offensive. This match I wanted to keep my position, attack when the opportunity was there, not rush anything."
Molinari attended all three Final X events.
"It was hard, but I'm so glad I that got to all three. I got to experience it all and help my teammates. So it's just been an awesome year going to all these tournaments and helping my teammates out, and finally making that senior team."
Freestyle results
61 kilograms: Nahshon Garrett def. Joe Colon, 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Colon dec. Garrett, 7-5
Match 2: Garrett dec. Colon, 10-5
Match 3: Garrett dec. Colon, 12-0
92 kilograms: J'den Cox def. Hayden Zillmer, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Cox dec. Zillmer, 5-2
Match 2: Cox dec. Zillmer, 10-0
125 kilograms: Nick Gwiazdowski def. Adam Coon, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Gwiazdowski dec. Coon, 6-1
Match 2: Gwiazdowski dec. Coon, 6-1
Women's wrestling results
50 kilograms: Whitney Conder vs. Victoria Anthony, 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Conder dec. Anthony, 10-4
Match 2: Anthony dec. Conder, 4-2
Match 3: Conder tech. fall Anthony, 11-0
53 kilograms: Sarah Hildebrandt def. Haley Augello, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Hildebrandt dec. Augello, 6-0
Match 2: Hildebrandt dec. Augello, 8-0
65 kilograms: Forrest Molinari def. Julia Salata, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Molinari dec. Salata, 5-0
Match 2: Molinari dec. Salata, 10-2
True third-place results
Freestyle:
57 kilograms: Tony Ramos dec. Zach Sanders, 4-2
65 kilograms: Jaydin Eierman dec. Andy Simmons, 9-5
86 kilograms: Richard Perry dec. Pat Downey, 7-4
97 kilograms: Ty Walz by forfeit over Austin Schafer
Women's wrestling:
53 kilograms: Cody Pfau pinned Gabrielle Weyhrich, 1:45
59 kilograms: Kelsey Campbell dec. Lauren Louive, 4-0
68 kilograms: Alex Glaude dec. Yvonne Galindo, 2-2
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