Takedown Report

2020 OLYMPIANS HAFIZOV, SANCHO AMONG CHAMPIONS AS U.S. GRECO-ROMAN WORLD TEAM SET AT FINAL X

NEWARK, N.J. – It was a highly-competitive night as the 2023 U.S. Senior Greco-Roman World Team was determined at Final X on Saturday night.
Five of the 10 best-of-three series went the full three bouts, and the U.S. team will be a mix of proven veterans and some new faces. Winners in Final X will compete at the Senior World Championships in Serbia in September.
A pair of 2020 U.S. Olympians claimed titles, Ildar Hafizov at 60 kg and Alejandro Sancho at 67 kg. Hafizov needed three matches to beat Army WCAP teammate Dalton Roberts in the finals. Hafizov pinned Roberts in the first match in 4:01, but Roberts rallied for an impressive 9-0 technical fall in the second bout. In a tense third match, the match ended at 1-1 for Hafizov with criteria, but Roberts’ corner challenged at the end, which was denied. It was the third time Hafizov and Roberts had wrestled each other in Final X, with Hafizov having won two of the three times.
Sancho showed his experience edge with a two-match sweep of rising young talent Robert Perez III. Sancho won a tight 3-2 match in the first round, then came back with a 5-1 victory in bout two. Sancho will compete at the Senior Worlds for the second straight year.
Five other Final X Greco-Roman champions have competed on at least one previous Senior World Team: Patrick Smith at 72 kg, Kamal Bey at 77 kg, Spencer Woods at 82 kg, Josef Rau at 97 kg and Cohlton Schultz at 130 kg.
Smith needed three matches to defeat 2023 U.S. Open champion Justus Scott in the final series. Scott won the first match in a 3-3 criteria decision, but Smith rallied to win the second bout 5-4. In the deciding third match, … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/June/11/Final-X-Greco

June 14, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized