IX (9) Days Until Final X Preview – May 31: 61k MFS, 53k WFS, 60k GR

June 10 is an important date for Team USA in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. For that date is once again billed as Final X, the annual event which crowns a U.S. Senior World Team member in the 10 weights in each style that will compete in the 2023 UWW World Championships this September in Belgrade, Serbia.

With that in mind, WIN Magazine is continuing its countdown to Final X and previewing three of the 30 best-of-3 Final X matchups each day between May 31 and June 9. We also invite you to subscribe to WIN Magazine in time to receive the next issue of WIN, printed June 22, that will provide comprehensive coverage of this year’s Final X, which will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

The following is a list of the other Final X previews. Click on previous days to view those previews.

• May 31: X (10) Days before Final X: 57k MFS, 50k WFS, 55k GR
• June 2: VIII (8) Days before Final X: 65k MFS, 55k WFS, 63k GR
• June 3: VII (7) Days before Final X: 70k MFS, 57k WFS, 67k GR
• June 4: VI (6) Days before Final X: 74k MFS, 59k WFS, 72k GR
• June 5: V (5) Days before Final X: 79k MFS, 62k WFS, 77k GR
• June 6: IV (4) Days before Final X: 86k MFS, 65k WFS, 82k GR
• June 7: III (3) Days before Final X: 92k MFS, 68k WFS, 87k GR
• June 8: II (2) Days before Final X: 97k MFS, 72k WFS, 97k GR
• June 9: I (1) Day before Final X: 125k MFS, 76k WFS, 130k GR

June 1 Final X Previews

Men’s Freestyle – 61k/134lbs: Vito Arujau (Spartan Combat) vs. Nahshon Garrett (Lehigh Valley WC/TMWC)

This is a battle between two NCAA champions from Cornell University; Arujau winning his first this past March at 133 pounds and Garrett topping the NCAA All-American stand at 133 pounds in 2016. These two already met once this freestyle season with Arujau beating Garrett, 9-2, the last week of April in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, which Arujau eventually won and earned a spot in Final X. Garrett came back to win the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament with a 12-4 victory over former World silver medalist Daton Fix.

Vito Arujau

Nahshon Garrett

Arujau, 23, was born in Belarus and comes from a strong international freestyle lineage. He’s the son of Vougar Oroudjov, a two-time World champ and 1992 Olympic bronze medalist for­ Russia. Vito has competed in three age-group World Championships; claiming silver medals as a Cadet in 2016 and 2019 as a Junior. He also represented the USA in the 2022 U23 Worlds.

Garrett, 29, is a native of Chico, Calif., who also finished second and third, respectively, in the 2014 and 2013 NCAAs. In freestyle, he finished second in the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open and also competed in the 2017 World Cup.

Women’s Freestyle – 53k/116.5lbs: Dominique Parrish (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Katie Gomez (Sunkist Kids WC)

Dom Parrish

Both of these wrestlers represent the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club in Tempe, Ariz., but Parris, 26, has already proven herself in international competition as the native of Scotts Valley, Calif., won a gold medal in last fall’s Senior World Championships … and earned a spot in the 2023 Final X. Before that, the three-time WCWA All-American from Simon Fraser had also competed in three straight U23 Worlds between 2017 and 2019.

Katie Gomez

Gomez is a year from graduating from Birmingham Charter High School in California and won a gold medal at the 2021 Cadet World Championships. She earned a spot in Final X when she won the U.S. Open in April.

Greco-Roman – 60k/132lbs: Dalton Roberts (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Ildar Hafizov (U.S. Army WCAP

This is a rematch of the 2023 U.S. Open in Las Vegas where Roberts won 7-6 and earned the automatic spot in Final X. Hafizov earned the Final X rematch when he defeated Randon Miranda in the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament championship a month later.

Dalton Roberts

This is also a rematch of 2022 Final X, when the two wrestled three matches in NYC. Hafizov won the first 11-7; Roberts the second 3-2; before Hafizov won the rubber match 4-1 to represent the United States in the 2022 World Championships.

Ildar Hafizov

Hafizov, 35, is an immigrant from Uzbekistan, where he represented his home country in the 2008 Olympics before coming to this country in 2014. Since then, he had qualified to wrestle for Team USA in two Worlds (also 2019) and the 2020 Olympics.

Roberts, 27, is a native of Fowlerville, Mich., and has wrestled in two World Championships in 2018 and 2021. He also competed in two Junior Worlds (2015 and 2016) and two U23 Worlds (2017 and 2019).