Created in 2018, Final X is the final step to make the U.S. Senior World Team. The stand-alone event has delivered iconic wrestling moments, including delayed best-of-three wrestle-offs.
Any returning World or Olympic medalist can postpone due to injury, which is why Vito Arujau and Jax Forrest will wrestle at Junior Nationals on July 14 in Fargo, North Dakota, one month after 2025 Final X.
Below is a breakdown of previous delayed Final X wrestle-offs, what transpired, and links to matches.
2018: 57 kg — Helen Maroulis vs. Alexandra Hedrick
Match 1 — Maroulis TF Hedrick 10-0
Match 2 — Maroulis TF Hedrick 12-0
Maroulis was scheduled to face Hedrick at Final X on June 23 at Lehigh, but postponed it to October 6, two weeks before the World Championships in Budapest. The pair faced off at Grace Hall during Who’s Number One, with Maroulis winning 10-0 and 12-0.
The Rockville, Maryland, native had a brilliant three-year run from 2015 to 2017. She didn’t surrender a point at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships (87-0 in nine matches), and in 2016, became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s freestyle wrestling.
Concussions were the name for Maroulis entering the Hedrick series. She was concussed in a match against Pooja Dhanda during an Indian pro wrestling league series in January, leading to a tumultuous year. Maroulis was pinned in her opening match at the 2018 World Championships and skipped the following season.
2019: 65 kg — Zain Retherford vs. Yianni Diakomihalis
Match 1 — Retherford dec. Diakomihalis 10-4
Match 2 — Retherford dec. Diakomihalis 9-8 (nullified)
Rewrestled Match 2 — Retherford dec. Diakomihalis 2-1
Retherford won the first match, but an arbitrator nullified the second bout of the June 8 Final X series “due to an untimely challenge after the bout” by Retherford’s corner.
There’s a lot to unpack, but the second match was re-wrestled on September 2 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Retherford won, 2-1, to make the World Team. Diakomihalis won the U.S. Open final and their head-to-head at the Yasar Dogu, but Zain notched two victories in the best-of-three World Team Trials finals.
FloWrestling’s Andy Hamilton wrote two stories about the series that you can read below.
Yianni vs. Zain: The saga continues for World Team berth after arbitrator rules in favor of Diakomihalis
Retherford shuts down Diakomihalis to secure trip to World Championships
Bonus Matches
2019 US Open: Diakomihalis over Retherford, 6-4
2019 Yasar Dogu: Diakomihalis over Retherford, 9-5
2019: 79 kg — Kyle Dake vs. Alex Diereinger
Match 1 — Dake dec. Dieringer 3-2
Match 2 — Dake dec. Dieringer 4-2
Dake, a returning World champion, was scheduled to wrestle Dieringer at Final X-Rutgers on June 8, but delayed the series until August 17 at Round Rock High School in Texas.
The Ithaca, New York, native won the first match, 3-2, with neither wrestler scoring a takedown. Dake won the second match, 4-2, and, once again, neither wrestler scored a takedown.
Dake wrestled two tactical gems to secure his second World team berth in as many years.
Controversy surrounded the series when the U.S. superstar competed in — and won — the Grand Prix of Spain on July 5 in advance of his three-match series with Dieringer. The Oklahoma State camp cried foul since Dake delayed the series due to injury, but competed before the special wrestle-off.
Dake won his second World title a few weeks later.
Watch this 2019 interview with former Cornell coach Rob Koll to learn more about what transpired before the Retherford-Diakomihalis and Dake-Dieringer series.
Bonus Match
2019 US Open: Dake over Dieringer, 5-5
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2022: 62 kg — Kayla Miracle vs. Jennifer Page Rogers
Match 1 — Page Rogers TF Miracle 13-2
Match 2 — Miracle TF Rogers 12-2
Match 3 — Miracle dec. Rogers 5-3
There’s never been a series like this one.
Miracle was scheduled to face Rogers at Final X New York on June 8 but delayed the series until August 13 at J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The two met in the U.S. Open finals on April 29, and Miracle was a heavy favorite after an 18-second fall.
Instead, Rogers dominated Miracle, 13-2, in the first match of the special wrestle-off, leading some to wonder if Miracle was healthy enough for a return.
Then, Miracle rebounded with a 12-2 tech in match two.
Rogers was ahead 3-1 in match three before Miracle hit a strange four-point throw out of bounds with 47 seconds left for a 5-3 win and a spot on the World Team. She went on to win her second straight silver medal at the World Championships.
Bonus Match
2019 US Open: Miracle over Page, Fall :18
2023: 57 kg — Helen Maroulis vs Xochitl Mota-Pettis
Match 1 — Maroulis tech. Mota-Pettis, 10-0
Match 2 — Maroulis FALL Mota-Pettis, 2:12
Maroulis faced Xochitl Mota-Pettis on August 12 at the Air Force Academy Cadet Fieldhouse during an age-level Pan-Am qualifier. She delayed the series on June 7 and was scheduled to face Mota-Pettis at Final X on June 10 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The former Simon Fraser University star looked sharp, securing a tech and a fall to make her 13th Senior World/Olympic Team. Maroulis won a bronze medal at the World Championships.
Pre-Final X
2015: 70 kg — James Green vs Nick Marable
Match 1: Green dec. Marable, 4-0
Match 2: Green dec. Marable, 2-1
Intrigue was high for this series after Marable defeated Jordan Burroughs in 2014 and knocked off Green to make the World Team. Marable didn’t show up for weigh-ins and received a delay after he “tripped on a treadmill” cutting weight.
Learn more about the series with this eight-minute film, including incredible behind-the-scenes footage.
