Final X Preview: Nick Gwiazdowski vs. Adam Coon, 125 kg men’s freestyle

Who: Nick Gwiazdowski vs. Adam Coon
What: Final X
Where: Bethlehem, Pa.
When: June 23
Why: Men’s freestyle World Team spot at 125 kg
Tickets: FinalX.tv

Nick Gwiazdowski
How he got to Final X:
Since he is a returning World medalist, winning bronze at the 2017 World Championships, Gwiazdowski earned an automatic bid to Final X.

Background:
Nick Gwiazdowski enters the weekend as the favorite to be the World Team member at 125 kg, but he’s got a tall task (literally) in front of him named Adam Coon.

After wrapping up his highly successful college career at NC State, Gwiazdowski turned his effort toward freestyle. He captured a Grand Prix of Spain the summer before his Senior season. Not long after, he claimed another international gold medal, winning the Bill Farrell International.

2017 was a breakout season for Gwiazdowski as he started it off with a U.S. Open championship, defeating Zach Rey in the finals. He followed it up with a win at the World Team Trials to punch his ticket to Senior Worlds in Paris. In a warm-up tournament, Gwiazdowski picked up his second Grand Prix of Spain title before going to the World Championships, where he made himself known with a bronze-medal performance.

Since last year, Gwiazdowski earned bronze at the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Memorial, helped the U.S. to a Freestyle World Cup team title and won the Pan American Championships.

Wrestling for North Carolina State, Gwiazdowski made his way to three NCAA finals and was a two-time national champion (2014, 2015). In the 2015 NCAA finals, Gwiz defeated Coon, 7-6. His freshman year, he was an All-American for Binghamton.

Gwiazdowski’s World Championships experience:
2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France – BRONZE

Adam Coon
How he got to Final X:
Coon defeated Tony Nelson in the best-of-three finals of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Rochester, Minn., in May to advance to Final X.

Background:
Adam Coon is back on the Senior scene after having not competed in the international styles since the 2016 Olympic Trials, where he took second in Greco-Roman. Prior to this season, Coon hadn’t competed in freestyle since May of 2015.

Now after graduating from Michigan, Coon, a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA runner-up, is back in full force, wrestling both freestyle and Greco.

As a matter of fact, Coon is aiming to make two World Teams this weekend, competing in the Senior Greco World Team Trials on Thursday and Friday in Tulsa, Okla., before traveling to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Gwiazdowski in Final X on Saturday.

This isn’t the first time this year that Coon has done double duty. Earlier this spring, Coon competed in both styles at the U.S. Open, taking gold in freestyle, beating 2012 Olympic champion Jake Varner in the finals, and producing a runner-up finish in Greco. He also wrestled both styles at the 2011 Cadet Worlds and 2014 Junior Worlds.

In 2011, he was a Cadet World champion in freestyle. Just a few years later, he claimed Junior World bronze in both styles.

Since there was a returning medalist at the weight, Coon had to win the World Team Trials in Rochester, Minn., to secure his spot in Final X. He did so, taking out Tony Nelson in two matches, 6-1 and 10-4.

Coon’s World Championships experience:
2014 Junior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia – BRONZE (freestyle and Greco-Roman)
2011 Cadet World Championships in Szombathely, Hungary – GOLD in freestyle, 11th in Greco

125 kg/275 lbs. MEN

Nick Gwiazdowski, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC)

College: North Carolina State, Binghamton            High School: Duanesburg, N.Y.       Born: Dec. 30, 1992              

• Third in 2017 World Championships
• 2017 U.S. World Team Trials champion
• 2017 U.S. Open champion
• 2016 Bill Farrell International Champion
• Two-time Grand Prix of Spain champion (2015, 2017)
• Two-time NCAA champion and three-time finalist for NC State
• Four-time NCAA All-American, also All-American for Binghamton as a freshman

Adam Coon, Fowlerville, Mich.  (New York AC/MWC)

College: Michigan      High School: Fowlerville, Mich.                    Born: Nov. 14, 1994

• 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion
• 2018 U.S. Open champion in freestyle
• Second in 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Greco-Roman
• 2018 U.S. Open runner-up in Greco-Roman
• Third in 2015 U.S. Open in Greco-Roman
• 2014 and 2015 University Nationals champion
• Third in 2014 Junior World Championships in freestyle and Greco-Roman
• 2011 FILA Cadet Freestyle World champion
• Second in 2015 and 2018 NCAA Championships for Michigan
• Third in 2016 NCAA Championships
• Two-time USA Wrestling Junior Triple Crown winner