Kennedy Blades accepts 68 kg women’s freestyle berth at 2026 Final X, presented by Kerberos Capital Management

2025 World bronze medalist Kennedy Blades (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) has accepted her automatic bid to 2026 Final X, presented by Kerberos Capital Management, and will battle for the women’s freestyle 68 kg spot on the 2026 U.S. World Team. Final X is set for Friday, June 19 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The 22-year-old Blades is one of USA Wrestling’s rising stars, with a silver medal from the 2024 Olympic Games accompanying her World bronze medal from last September, which automatically qualified her for Final X. She is a three-time age-group World medalist, including a gold medal from the 2021 U20 World Championships.

Blades just completed her senior season at the University of Iowa, where she won the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships at 160 pounds. She is a two-time women’s college wrestling national champion and the 2025 USA Wrestling Anthony-Maroulis Trophy winner as the nation’s best women’s college wrestler.

Final X will determine the 2026 U.S. Senior World Team in two-of-three international disciplines—men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle. In total, 20 weight classes will be contested, 10 in each discipline. The top two U.S. athletes in each weight class will wrestle a best-of-three series at Final X to determine the U.S. representative for the 2026 Senior World Championships in Manama, Bahrain.

The Final X opponent for Blades will be determined on April 24 at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. The women’s freestyle 68 kg champion from the U.S. Open will advance to face Blades in a best-of-three series at Final X.

Final X will serve as the 2026 Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit, its 16th to date. These unique electrifying events help BTSNY raise critical funds each year to support local youth wrestling programs, which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party takes place at the conclusion of Final X.

This year will mark Blades’ third appearance in a BTSNY Annual Benefit event. She is 1-1 in Final X series, dropping the 2023 series 2-0 to six-time World champion and Olympic medalist Adeline Gray, and completing a series sweep of Brooklyn Hays last year.

BTSNY Annual Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages, which include access to premier seating at Final X, plus the exclusive after-party, are currently available at btsny.org. For more information on ticket packages, email BTSNY Executive Director Bob Seidel at bseidel@btsny.org. Donations and BTSNY Annual Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages directly help BTSNY make a lifelong impact on New York City youth in need.

Event-only tickets for Final X without access to the BTSNY after-party celebration are available on Ticketmaster.

12:30 p.m. (ET) – U.S. National Team true-third matches

2 p.m. (ET) – Session one (Round one)

5 p.m. (ET) – Session two (Rounds two and three, if necessary)

Match order for each session will be provided at a later date

FloWrestling will serve as the host broadcast partner for Final X. Fans can watch the event live or on-demand at FloWrestling.com. Online results for Final X will be available on USA Bracketing.

For more information about Final X, please visit TheMat.com.