UWW Wrestling: Daton Fix takes Bronze at Junior Freestyle World Championship
/Charles Page High School Class of 2017 graduate Daton Fix recently brought home bronze from the Junior Freestyle World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.
Fix was the defending World Champion at 57 kilograms after a dominant 5-0 performance in 2017 when he outscored his opponents 53-1. He also won bronze in 2016 and 2015.
Fix was equally dominant in his early matches this time around, defeating Turkey’s Ahmet Tas and Ukraine’s Andrii Dzhelep 10-0 each. He was defeated 5-4 in the semifinals by eventual silver medalist Naveen Naveen from India, but won his bronze medal match 10-0 against Kazakhstan’s Bekbolot Myrzanazar Uulu. Russia’s Akhmed Idrisov won the gold 12-1 over Naveen.
Russia won the tournament handily with six finalists and five champions. No other country crowned more than one champion, though the United States had the second-most finalists with three. Virginia Tech freshman Mekhi Kevin Lewis was the lone American champion, taking the 74KG weight class 5-1 over Azerbaijan’s Abubakr Abakarov.
Japan won the Women’s Freestyle tournament with six champions, while the United States placed eighth with a silver medalist. Iran placed first in Greco Roman with four champions and the United States was eighth with a silver medalist. Russia was second in both Greco and Women’s Freestyle.
Fix will soon begin his freshman year at Oklahoma State University after redshirting last season. Fix was a four-time undefeated State Champion at Sand Springs. Last year he defeated the defending Pac 12 Champion and an ACC finalist at the Reno Tournament of Champions while wrestling unattached.
The OSU Cowboys went 13-2 last season, winning their sixth-consecutive Big 12 title, and placed thirteen at the NCAA tournament.