Don't Forget Who's Waiting at Final X

57 kg Helen Maroulis had a year in 2021. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek

Sometimes it’s out-of-sight out-of-mind, but let’s not forget that the world medalists coming to Final X this year constructed one of the best USA women’s team we’ve ever sent to the World Championships. Tying the 2003 team with a whopping seven medals, the 2021 team came home with two world champions, two silver medals, and three bronze.

The 2003 team secured medals at all seven weights, bringing home one world champion (67 kg Kristi Marano), four silver medalists (48 kg Patricia Miranda, 55 kg Tina George, 63 kg Sara McMann, and 72 kg Toccara Montgomery), and two bronze medalists (51 kg Jenny Wong and 59 kg Sally Roberts). That was a special year for U.S. women.

Let’s take a quick look at who’s coming to the mats at Final X this year after medaling at Worlds in Oslo last fall. (I’ll write a full preview for FloWrestling on all matches for both Stillwater and New York. Stay tuned for that.)

50kg: Sarah Hildebrandt - 2020 Olympic Silver and 2x World Silver Medalist
2x world silver medalist and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Sara Hildebrandt was on fire last year. The 2021 world silver medalist separated herself not only domestically, dominating the U.S. field, but separated herself on the world level, as there were very few that could stay on the mat with her, especially when she got a leg lace in. She’ll be facing veteran Alyssa Lampe.

55kg: Jenna Burkert - 2021 World Bronze Medalist
After three appearances on the world team with no medal, Burkert finally broke out, much to the delight of U.S. fans, with a bronze medal at Worlds in 2021. After her heartbreaking loss to Helen Maroulis at Olympic Team Trials, she came back in a big way to make the world team with a 2-1 series win over Jacarra Winchester at World Team Trials in the fall—and that after losing her mother earlier that year. Her joy in winning world bronze was undeniable, and I think we all felt it. She’ll have a rematch against Winchester at Final X.

57kg: Helen Maroulis – 3x World Champion, 2x Olympic Medalist, 2016 Olympic Champion
After an already-impressive career, 3x world champion, 2x Olympic medalist Helen Maroulis came back from a series of devastating concussions to put together one of the best years ever for an American women’s athlete in 2021. She won Olympic bronze in Tokyo and followed it up with her third world title in Oslo. Not bad for someone we all thought might be exiting stage left. She’ll face Alex Hedrick—again—at Final X.

62kg: Kayla Miracle – 2020 Olympian, 2021 World Silver Medalist
After an impressive resume in age-level competitions at world events, Kayla Miracle finally broke through to win a medal at the Senior World Championships, a silver medal in Oslo last fall. She did it after a disappointing exit from the Olympics in Tokyo, where she lost her first match. But it was very different in Oslo. And she doesn’t seem to be slowing down, getting better and better with time. She’ll face 2x U.S. Open winner Jennifer Page (Rogers), a rematch of the U.S. Open finals won by Miracle in April.

65kg: Forrest Molinari – 2021 World Bronze Medalist
After two oh-so-close world appearances for Molinari, where she took 5th place in both 2018 & 2019, Molinari finally made the podium in Oslo, earning a bronze medal at the World Championships. She’s a proven world class wrestler and will be very tough to take out of the world team lineup. Mallory Velte, her opponent at Final X, will try.

68kg: Tamyra Mensah-Stock – 2019 World Champion, 2020 Olympic Champion, 3x World Medalist
Mensah-Stock has become one of the most recognizable and beloved faces of women’s wrestling in the whole world in 2021. Some consider her the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the world, in spite of her loss at the World Championships last year. She’ll face Sienna Ramirez at Final X.

6x world champion Adeline Gray (76 kg) will not compete this year as she’s awaiting the birth of her first child.

Final X Stillwater and Final X New York will stream live on FloWrestling on Friday June 3rd and Wednesday June 8th, respectively.