Men’s Freestyle Finals
TULSA, Okla. — Cliff Keen Wrestling Club athlete Adam Coon used a late throw and pin to put an exclamation point on his championship series sweep against Robby Smith and qualify for the U.S. Greco-Roman World Team at 130kg/286 pounds at the World Team Trials on Friday afternoon (June 22) at the Cox Business Center.
Down 2-2 on criteria in the final 10 seconds of the second bout, Coon wrapped up a body lock and tossed Smith feet to back for four points before collecting the fall on the edge of the mat at the 5:55 mark. Smith, an Olympian and four-time world team member, held criteria on a caution-and-two penalty while Coon posted two stepouts.
Coon earned a 3-1 decision in the first bout — his first win against Smith after previously falling in the 2016 Olympic Trials final series and at the U.S. Open in April. Coon scored on an early passivity point and countered a Smith throw attempt with two points of his own on the edge in the first period.
It is the first senior-level world team for Coon, already a Cadet world freestyle champion and double junior bronze medalist in both freestyle and Greco. Coon will compete in the Final X on Saturday night (June 23) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, squaring off against Nick Gwiazdowski for a spot on the freestyle world team.
Coon cruised through the challenge tournament, recording a quick pin and two technical falls, to get to the best-of-three championship series.
Kevin Beazley took fourth place at 97kg/213 pounds with a 3-2 record. He defeated Roy Nash, 9-1, in the third-place contest — highlighted by a four-point headlock — but fell to Lucas Sheridan, 9-4, for true third, unable to recover from an early four-point throw.
