Oklahoma State University freshman and Charles Page High School Class of 2017 graduate Daton Fix (15-3) is back in the spotlight as the Final X Senior World Team Trial approaches. On Saturday, June 9 Fix will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on Thomas Gilman in the last rung of the ladder to the World Championships.
In April Fix placed second at the U.S. Open, outscoring his first three opponents 24-0 with two first-period technical falls before falling 2-2 to University North Carolina assistant coach Tony Ramos. The former NCAA National Champion was awarded the win on criteria, but Fix got a rematch in May and made up for the loss.
At the Senior World Team Trials three weeks ago, Fix again made quick work of his pre-finals opponents. He teched former Oklahoma State All-American Eddie Klimara 14-2 in 2:07, topped former Illinois All-American Zane Richards 9-2, then teched former Minnesota All-American Zane 10-0 in 2:00. Fix won a best-of-three finals series against Ramos with 4-3 and 10-3 decisions.
On Saturday Fix will attempt to upset Gilman, who won Silver at the 2017 World Championship in Paris, France. While Gilman was coming in Runner-Up in France, Fix was going the distance for Gold at the Junior Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Fix has an extensive international resume at the Junior level, including Worlds Bronze in 2016, but is still relatively new to the Senior scene. He swept the Under 23 World Team Trials in October but was eliminated in the first round at Poland.
Fix made his debut at No. 15 in the FloWrestling International Freestyle rankings after topping Ramos. Gilman dropped from seventh to thirteenth in those same rankings after falling to Cuba’s Reineri Ortega in the Pan-American Championships.
The first round of the trials will kick off at 6:00 p.m. Central Time in Bob Devaney Sports Center at the University of Nebraska. Fix and Gilman will be the fifth of seven matches on the card. Round two will begin approximately at 7:15 and the final round will be at 8:30.
Also defending their spots on the Mens’ World Team are 70 KG Silver Medalist James Green, 74 KG Champion Jordan Burroughs, and 97 KG Champion Kyle Snyder.
This year’s World Championship will be held in Budapest, Hungary October 20-28.
In Other Wrestling News:
The Sand Springs Team Big wrestling club brought home ten gold medals from the OKUSA State Tournament last month in Cushing, finishing fourth out of seventy-seven teams in total standings.
The Sandites placed third in Schoolboy Freestyle and Cadet Freestyle, and secured a team State title in Schoolboy Greco-Roman.
Threestyle Wrestling, based out of Catoosa and Owasso, won the tournament overall with 667 points. Edmond’s Oklahoma Wrestling Academy came in runner-up with 332, Prodigy Wrestling scored 250, and Sand Springs scored 246.
Grady Mittasch (25-6 FS, 17-7 GR) took first place in both styles, competing in Novice at 78 pounds, with three technical falls.
Christian Forbes (11-0 FS, 8-0 GR) swept both styles for a pair of 94 pound Cadet titles with four tech falls and a pin.
Carter Young (38-6 FS) won both styles for a pair of 113 pound Cadet titles with five techs and a pin.
Ethan White (21-8 FS, 8-2 GR) won the Schoolboy Greco title at 136 pounds with a pin and a tech, and placed second in Freestyle with a pin and a tech.
Abraham Flores (14-3 FS, 10-3 GR) won the Schoolboy Greco title at 114 pounds with a pin and a tech fall, and placed third in Freestyle with a tech.
Clayton Giddens-Buttram (8-0) took first place at the Schoolboy Freestyle tournament at 77 pounds with a 10-0 technical fall and a 4-3 finals decision.
Bryce Fisher (25-2) won the Schoolboy Freestyle title at 149 pounds with a pin and two decisions.
Josey Jernegan (2-1 FS, 2-1 GR) placed second in Schoolboy in both styles at ninety pounds with three technical falls and a fall.
TJ Long (5-2 FS, 6-3 GR) placed second in Junior Freestyle and fourth in Greco with two tech falls.
Cameron White (9-9 FS) placed third in Schoolboy in both styles at 110 pounds with one pin and two tech falls.
Several Team Big wrestlers represented Team Oklahoma at the Southern Plains Regional in Dodge City Kansas this past weekend.
Mittasch won both styles at Novice 78 with three pins and a tech. Balance Johnson (3-1 FS, 4-0 GR) won both styles at Novice 160 with three pins. Long placed second in freestyle and third in Greco at Novice 126.