The road to the 70 kg US World Team spot runs through Zain Retherford. The 2022 World silver medalist is looking to secure his fourth senior World Team spot overall and his second consecutive spot at the weight. To do so, he'll need to win a best-of-three series against 2019 NCAA finalist Tyler Berger.

Retherford and Berger met in the third-place bout at the 2021 World Team Trials at 70kg. Retherford won that match by tech. Since that time, Berger has moved from the California RTC at Stanford to the Pennsylvania RTC at Penn & Drexel and has reunited with former Husker Jordan Burroughs.

Reterford vs Berger at the 2021 World Team Trials

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Berger earned his spot in Final X by winning the US Open in April. He started the tournament with consecutive techs over Christian Monserrat, Julian Flores, and Jarod Verkleeren then pulled out clutch victories over Hayden Hidlay and Sammy Sasso. Berger and Hidlay exchanged leads five times in their US Open semifinal before Berger ultimately won 11-10. 

The final was even crazier. Sasso held a 9-7 lead late in the match. A restart with eight seconds left on the clock gave Berger a narrow window to secure a takedown for the come-from-behind win. Berger dropped in on a single leg off the whistle then switched to a body lock with four seconds left. When Sasso reached for Berger's leg to counter, Berger returned him to the mat and earned two points on the exposure to take the 9-9 lead on criteria. A failed challenge from the Sasso corner made it a 10-9 win for Berger.

Berger's dramatic US Open victory over Sammy Sasso

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Berger's strongest domestic freestyle season to date will culminate with a Final X series against Zain Retherford whose last year has also been his best. The 2022 World Championships were Retherford's third attempt to bring home a medal, and he didn't waste his opportunity. Zain secured his medal with a semifinal victory over four-time World medalist and 2017 World champion Zurabi Iakobishvili.

Retherford's semifinal victory over World champion Zurabi Iakobishvili

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Retherford took several months off from competition after his silver medal performance. Last week, he returned to competition to win gold at the Pan Am Championships in Argentina. Berger will be the toughest opponent he's faced since Worlds in September.

Men’s Freestyle Matchups At 2023 Final X

57 kg: *Thomas Gilman vs Zane Richards

61 kg: Vito Arujau vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

65 kg: *Yianni Diakomihalis vs Nick Lee

70 kg: *Zain Retherford vs Tyler Berger

74 kg: *Kyle Dake vs Jason Nolf

79 kg: *Jordan Burroughs vs Chance Marsteller

86 kg: *David Taylor vs Aaron Brooks

92 kg: Michael Macchiavello vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

97kg: *Kyle Snyder vs J’den Cox

125 kg: Gable Steveson vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

*Denotes 2022 World Medalist

Women’s Freestyle Matchups At 2023 Final X

50 kg: *Sarah Hildebrandt vs Audrey Jimenez

53 kg: *Dominique Parrish vs Katie Gomez

55 kg: Alisha Howk vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

57 kg: *Helen Maroulis vs Xochitl Mota-Pettis 

59 kg: Michaela Beck vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

62 kg: *Kayla Miracle vs Adaugo Nwachukwu

65 kg: Mallory Velte vs Macey Kilty

68 kg: Forrest Molinari vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

72 kg: *Amit Elor vs Joye Levendusky

76 kg: Kennedy Blades vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

*Denotes 2022 World Medalist

Men’s Greco-Roman Matchups At 2023 Final X

55 kg: Brady Koontz vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

60 kg: Dalton Roberts vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament 

63 kg: Hayden Tuma vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

67 kg: Robert Perez III vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

72 kg: Justus Scott vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

77 kg: Kamal Bey vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament 

82 kg: Spencer Woods vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament 

87 kg: Alan Vera vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

97 kg: Josef Rau vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament 

130 kg: Cohlton Schultz vs winner of WTT Challenge Tournament

Final X is the Beat the Streets New York Benefit

It is the second straight year Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit. This year’s event will be the 13th BTSNY Annual Benefit. These unique and electrifying annual 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. Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages (Final X plus exclusive after-party celebration access), that also provide the best wrestling-event seats, are available at give.btsny.org/beatthestreetsbenefit2023. For more information on ticket packages, email Katrin Pokalyukhin at katrin@btsny.org. Event-only tickets for Final X without access to the BTSNY after-party celebration are available on Ticketmaster.