Zane Richards is Competing at Final X Wrestling 2023. What to Know
Zane Richards is Competing at Final X Wrestling 2023. What to Know
Zane Richards qualified for Final X Wrestling 2023 at the US Open Wrestling championship. Here’s what to know about him.
Two-time All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier Zane Richards stunned the wrestling world when he defeated Nick Suriano at the 2023 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships and now he’s headed to Final X 2023.
Richards, competing at 57 Kgs, will wrestle at Final X against Thomas Gilman, who qualified by medaling at Worlds in 2022. Gilman is ranked No.1 in the domestic freestyle wrestling rankings on FloWrestling.
Final X 2023 will take place in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center on June 10, 2023. This event will feature the top-two wrestlers at every weight class in a best-of-three series with the winners making the 2023 United States World Team.
Subscribe to FloWrestling and the FloSports app to watch Final X Wrestling
Gable Steveson Could Join The Most Exclusive Club In Wrestling
The world team will then travel to Belgrade, Serbia to compete at the 2023 Senior World Championships on September 16-24.
Check out the below article to view the current matchups and a brief explanation of how each wrestler qualified for Final X.
Here’s what to know about Zane Richards.
Zane Richards is an Illinois Wrestling legend
Richards wrestled at Illinois from 2012 to 2017 and ranks 13th on the Illini’s all-time wins list and 12th in all-time win percentage. Richards was the Big Ten runner-up in 2016, a year when he started 23-0. He finished fourth at the NCAA Tournament that season.
Zane Richards' Illinois High School Wrestling Career Yielded 2 Championships
Richards won two Illinois High School Athletics Class 2A State Championships at 125 pounds and 132 pounds. He competed at the 2011 World Championships in Hungary.
Zane Richards Wrestling Ranking
In the most recent Domestic Men’s Freestyle rankings on FloWrestling, Zane Richards ranked fourth in the 57Kg weight class.
Here are the top 5:
- Thomas Gilman
- Vito Arujau
- Nick Suriano
- Zane Richards
- Jakob Camacho
Here are the complete rankings.
How Wrestlers Qualify For Final X Wrestling 2023
A wrestler can qualify for Final X in one of three ways.
First, all 2022 senior world medalists automatically qualified for Final X. There were seven wrestlers in men’s freestyle, six in women’s freestyle and zero in Greco-Roman who met this criterion.
Next, all champions from the 2023 US Open (held April 26-30) automatically qualified for Final X.
Finally, for the weights that didn’t have a returning world medalist, the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament (May 20-21) champion will earn a spot in Final X.
Men’s Freestyle Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023
- 57 kg: *Thomas Gilman vs Zane Richards
- 61 kg: Vito Arujau vs Nahshon Garrett
- 65 kg: *Yianni Diakomihalis vs Nick Lee
- 70 kg: *Zain Retherford vs Tyler Berger
- 74 kg: *Kyle Dake vs Jason Nolf
- 79 kg: *Jordan Burroughs vs Chance Marsteller
- 86 kg: *David Taylor vs Aaron Brooks
- 92 kg: Michael Macchiavello vs Zahid Valencia
- 97kg: *Kyle Snyder vs J’den Cox
- 125 kg: Gable Steveson vs Mason Parris
*Denotes 2022 World Medalist
Women’s Freestyle Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023
- 50 kg: *Sarah Hildebrandt vs Audrey Jimenez
- 53 kg: *Dominique Parrish vs Katie Gomez
- 55 kg: Alisha Howk vs Jacarra Winchester
- 57 kg: *Helen Maroulis vs Xochitl Mota-Pettis
- 59 kg: Michaela Beck vs Jennifer Page
- 62 kg: *Kayla Miracle vs Adaugo Nwachukwu
- 65 kg: Mallory Velte vs Macey Kilty
- 68 kg: Forrest Molinari vs Emma Bruntil
- 72 kg: *Amit Elor vs Joye Levendusky
- 76 kg: Kennedy Blades vs Adeline Gray
*Denotes 2022 World Medalist
Men’s Greco-Roman Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023
- 55 kg: Brady Koontz vs Dalton Duffield
- 60 kg: Dalton Roberts vs Ildar Hafizov
- 63 kg: Hayden Tuma vs Xavier Johnson
- 67 kg: Robert Perez III vs Alejandro Sancho
- 72 kg: Justus Scott vs Patrick Smith
- 77 kg: Kamal Bey vs Aliaksandr Kikiniou
- 82 kg: Spencer Woods vs Ryan Epps
- 87 kg: Alan Vera vs Zachary Braunagel
- 97 kg: Josef Rau vs Christian Dulaney
- 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz vs Adam Coon
How To Watch Final X Wrestling 2023
Final X will stream live on FloWrestling and the FloSports app.
FloWresting will also serve as home of match archives and provide the latest news from Final X.