Final X Preview: Thomas Gilman vs. Daton Fix, 57 kg men’s freestyle

Photo of Thomas Gilman (left) by Tony Rotundo. Photo of Daton Fix by Richard Immel.

Who: Thomas Gilman vs. Daton Fix
What: Final X
Where: Lincoln, Neb.
When: June 9
Why: Men’s freestyle World Team spot at 57 kg
Tickets: FinalX.tv

Thomas Gilman
How he got to Final X:
Since he is a returning World medalist at the weight, Gilman, who won silver at the 2017 Worlds, earned an automatic bid to Final X.

Background:
Thomas Gilman shocked the nation last year when he ran through the 57 kg bracket of the U.S. World Team Trials in Lincoln. En route to winning his first spot on a Senior World Team, Gilman went through former teammate and two-time World Team member Tony Ramos in the best-of-three finals, with Gilman ending the series in two matches.

The surprises didn’t stop there. At the Senior World Championships in Paris, France, Gilman decisively made his way to the World finals at 57 kg, where he faced Yuki Takahashi. Despite suffering a 6-0 defeat, Gilman’s future in freestyle has looked promising.

It’s not the only World medal Gilman owns. He also won a Junior World bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in 2014 in Zagreb, Croatia. Additionally, Gilman made the 2011 Cadet and 2013 Junior World Teams.

So far this year, Gilman has competed at the World Cup, which was held on his turf in Iowa City, and the Senior Pan American Championships in Peru last month.

At the World Cup, Gilman went 2-2. His losses came at the hands of Takahashi, once again in a World finals rematch, and Giorgi Edisherashvili of Azerbaijan.

Gilman put up a bronze-medal finish at the Pan Am Championships, falling to U23 World Champion Reineri Andreu Ortega of Cuba in a hard-fought 7-4 bout. His other three matches were all wins as he tallied two 10-0 tech falls and an 11-4 decision.

In March of 2017, Gilman wrapped up his college career, wrestling for Iowa. While a Hawkeye, Gilman earned All-American honors in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He was the heavy favorite to win the 125-pound title in 2017 but was upset in the semifinals by the eventual champion, Darian Cruz.

Gilman’s World Championship experience:
2011 Cadet World Championships in Szombathely, Hungary – TENTH
2013 Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria – EIGHTH
2014 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia – BRONZE
2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France – SILVER

Daton Fix
How he got to Final X:
Fix defeated two-time World Team member Tony Ramos in the World Team Trials Qualifier in Rochester, Minn., in May to advance to Final X.

Background:
Having only just finished his true-freshman season in college, Daton Fix is showing that he is a force to be reckoned with on the Senior level for years to come.

Fix has proved himself on the World stage at the Cadet and Junior levels, earning a 2017 Junior World gold medal, a 2016 Junior World bronze medal and a 2015 Cadet World bronze medal. Additionally, Fix represented the U.S. at the 2014 Cadet World Championships and the 2017 U23 World Championships.

In his 2017 Junior World title run, Fix dominated one of the toughest tournaments on earth, winning all five matches by tech fall to outscore his opponents, 53-1, collectively.

In his first freestyle event since U23 Worlds last November, Fix had an impressive run to the 2018 U.S. Senior Open finals, where he met up with NCAA champion from Iowa and two-time World Team member Tony Ramos. An even-matched bout, Ramos walked with a 2-2 win on criteria, thanks to a late takedown, and earned an automatic bid to the best-of-three finals World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Rochester.

As expected, Ramos and Fix met up in the Challenge Tournament finals. Fix flipped the result, separating himself from Ramos to end the series in two matches with a 4-1 decision and a 10-3 victory to earn his spot in Final X.

This is Fix’s first attempt at making a Senior World Team.

Fix’s World Championship experience:
2014 Cadet World Championships in Snina, Slovakia – TENTH
2015 Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzogovina – BRONZE
2016 Junior World Championships in Macon, France – BRONZE
2017 Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland – GOLD
2017 U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland – DNP

Notes:

• Gilman and Fix will add to the historic rivalry between Iowa and Oklahoma State as Gilman was a three-time All-American for Iowa and Fix just wrapped up his true-freshman season at Oklahoma State
• Gilman looks to continue Iowa’s run of owning the nation’s lightest Senior level weight. Since its first year as a UWW weight in 2014, 57 kg has been owned by Hawkeyes with Tony Ramos in 2014 and 2015, Daniel Dennis in 2016 and Thomas Gilman in 2017.
• Oklahoma State has not had a representative on the Senior World or Olympic Team since 2012, when Coleman Scott won bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
• A returning Junior World medalist and top-three finisher at U.S. Open, Fix is still able to request a special wrestle-off for the 57 kg spot on the Junior World Team.
• Gilman is going for his sixth overall age-group World Team, while Fix looks to make his seventh.
• Both Gilman (Senior) and Fix (Junior) made World Teams in the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., last year.
• Follow Daton Fix on Twitter @_Greatest_Ever1 and on Instagram @_greatest_ever_
• Thomas Gilman does not have any social media accounts

57 kg/125.5 lbs. MEN

Thomas Gilman, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC)

College: Iowa              High School: Omaha, Neb. (Skutt Catholic)    Born: May 28, 1994               

• 2017 World silver medalist
• 2014 Junior World bronze medalist
• Two-time Junior World Team member (2013-14)
• 2011 Cadet World Team member
• 2017 Grand Prix of Spain champion
• Three-time NCAA All-American for Iowa (2015-17)
• 2017 Big Ten champion
• Four-time Nebraska state champion for Omaha Skutt Catholic High School

Daton Fix, Sand Springs, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC)

College: Oklahoma State        High School: Sand Springs, Okla.        Born: March 11, 1998

• 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion
• Second in 2018 U.S. Open
• 2017 Junior World champion
• 2016 Junior World bronze medalist
• 2015 Cadet World bronze medalist
• 2014 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist
• Two-time Junior World Team member
• Two-time Cadet World Team member
• Two-time UWW Junior Freestyle national champion
• Four-time Oklahoma high school champion