Provo to wrestle for spot on U.S. National Team at Final X

written by Gerry deSimas, Jr. , Connecticut Wrestling Online | May 29, 2025

Stratford’s Nico Provo at the 2024 NCAA championships in Kansas City.

Stratford’s Nico Provo will be wrestling for a spot on the U.S. national team at Final X on Saturday June 14 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Provo will be facing Liam Cronin, a former University of Nebraska wrestler who is from Lincoln, Nebraska, in the true third place bout at 57 kilograms or 125.6 pounds.

True-third matches determine the No. 3 athlete on the U.S. national team for the 2025-26 season. These matches are specifically held in weight classes where the second- and third-place finishers from the last Final X qualifying event—either the U.S. Open or Senior World Team Trials challenge tournament—did not meet in said qualifying event.

The winner of each true-third match is eligible for U.S. national team support that includes funding, plus training and competition opportunities.

The most recent wrestler from Connecticut on the U.S. national team was Middletown High graduate Richard Perry, who earned a spot on the national team in 2018 at 86 kilograms or 189 pounds.

There will be 12 true third place matches – five in men’s freestyle and seven in women’s freestyle.

Provo didn’t wrestle at Stanford this past season at 125 pounds and was redshirted. In his first two seasons with the Cardinal, he went 40-19 and was a two-time NCAA qualifier in 2023 and 2024. At Greens Farms Academy in Westport, he was a three-time New England prep school champion (2018, 2019, 2020) and a national prep school champion in 2021.

The true third place bouts will be held before the best-of-3 Final X series in men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle.

Final X will determine the 2025 U.S. World Team in two 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 classes will wrestle a best-of-three series at Final X to determine the U.S. representative at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York annual benefit, the 15th BTSNY annual benefit to date. These unique electrifying events help BTSNY raise more than $1 million each year to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party will follow the conclusion of Final X.

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

2025 Final X
At Newark, N.J.
June 14, Prudential Center
Event Schedule 
12 p.m. (ET) – Doors open
12:30 p.m. (ET) – U.S. National Team true-third matches
2 p.m. (ET) – Best-of-three series round one
5 p.m. (ET) – Best-of-three series round two and round three (if necessary)

Men’s Freestyle Best-of-Three Series
57 kg – Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Luke Lilledahl (Saint Charles, Mo./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
61 kg – Vito Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
65 kg – Joseph McKenna (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Real Woods (Ann Arbor, Mich./Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
70 kg – Yianni Diakomihalis (Rochester, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. PJ Duke (Slate Hill, N.Y./KD Training Center/Titan Mercury WC)
74 kg – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Carr (Ames, Iowa/Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
79 kg – Evan Wick (San Gabriel, Calif./Askren Wrestling Academy/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Levi Haines (Arendtsville, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg – Zahid Valencia (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Kyle Dake (Port Matilda, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
92 kg – Trent Hidlay (Raleigh, N.C./Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Joshua Barr (Davison, Mich./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Hayden Zillmer (Deerwood, Minn./Gopher WC)
125 kg – Wyatt Hendrickson (Stillwater, Okla./Cowboy RTC/U.S. Air Force WCAP) vs. Trent Hillger (Minneapolis, Minn./Gopher WC)

Women’s Freestyle Best-of-Three Series 
50 kg – Audrey Jimenez (Bethlehem, Pa./Lehigh Valley Wrestling RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Erin Golston (Denton, Texas/New York AC)
53 kg – Brianna Gonzalez (Baldwin, Calif./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Felicity Taylor (Coralville, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC)
55 kg – Cristelle Rodriguez (Fresno, Calif./Tiger WC) vs. Everest Leydecker (Phoenix, Ariz./Thorobred WC)
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Amanda Martinez (Riverside, Ill./Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC)
59 kg – Abigail Nette (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)
62 kg – Kayla Miracle (Phoenix, Ariz./Valiant WC) vs. Adaugo Nwachukwu (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP)
65 kg – Macey Kilty (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Aine Drury (Westminster, Calif./New York AC)
68 kg – Kennedy Blades (Tiffin, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Brooklyn Hays (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)
72 kg – Alexandria Glaude (Atherton, Calif./Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./Titan Mercury WC)
76 kg – Kylie Welker (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Dymond Guilford (Lancaster, Calif./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)

Men’s Freestyle True-Third Matches
57 kg – Liam Cronin (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Nico Provo (Stratford, Conn./California RTC)
65 kg – Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Brock Hardy (Brigham City, Utah/Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC)
70 kg – Ian Parker (Charlottesville, Va./Cavalier WC) vs. Bryce Andonian (Kirtland, Ohio/Southeast RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
74 kg – Jarrett Jacques (Columbia, Mo./Tiger Style WC) vs. Joseph Blaze (Perrysburg, Ohio/Boilermaker RTC)
86 kg – Parker Keckeisen (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Panther WC-RTC) vs. Carter Starocci (Erie, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

Women’s Freestyle True-Third Matches 
50 kg – Anaya Falcon (Yorba Linda, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Kendra Ryan (Naperville, Ill./Cardinal WC)
53 kg – Sage Mortimer (Allendale, Mich./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Sydney Petzinger (Parsippany, N.J./Cardinal WC)
59 kg – Alexis Janiak (Plainfield, Ill./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Humble, Texas/Rise RTC)
62 kg – Alara Boyd (Muncie, Ind./Cardinal WC) vs. SaVannah Cosme (Denver, Colo./Atreus WC)
65 kg – Jennifer Page (Bellefonte, Pa./Titan Mercury WC) vs. Bella Mir (Las Vegas, Nev./Cardinal WC)
68 kg – Latifah McBryde (Buffalo, N.Y./Life) vs. Solin Piearcy (San Jose, Calif./Titan Mercury WC)
72 kg – Kaylynn Albrecht (Fort Worth, Texas/USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Skylar Grote (Newton, N.J./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)