Final X Preview: Jax Forrest, Wyatt Hendrickson in Search of World Team Spot

This Friday will feature a Jax Forrest match that everyone wanted during the college season .. and we’ll get to see it at least twice.

Final X, the finale of the United States’ World Team qualification process, happens Friday in New Jersey. The Cowboy RTC will be well-represented with Forrest, Wyatt Hendrickson and Zahid Valencia all seeking a spot on the World Team. Landon Robideau and Dustin Plott will also take part in the event, wrestling true-third matches to be a part of the national team. The finals will best-of-three series.

The festivities get going at 11:30 a.m. Friday on Flo.

Here’s a preview on what each Cowboy is up against.

Jax Forrest vs. Marcus Blaze

It’ll be Oklahoma State vs. Penn State at 61 kg.

Forrest won the U.S. spot at this weight last season but didn’t have to beat Blaze, a U17 and U20 World Champion, to get there.

Both guys were collegiate freshmen this past season. Forrest went 18-0 and won the 133-pound national title, while Blaze went 25-3 and finished fourth at the weight. But they didn’t hit at NCAAs either.

To get to this point, Blaze won the U.S. Open but again didn’t wrestle Forrest there, as Forrest lost to Ben Davino (Ohio State) in the semifinals before Forrest went and avenged that loss and won the World Team Trials to secure his spot at Final X.

I believe their last meeting on the mat came at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials, a bout Blaze won 6-1.

Flo released a video last week of all the Forrest-Blaze matches they have filmed. It starts all the way back in 2020 when they were wrestling at 105 pounds at Super 32, a match Forrest won 13-4. Then Forrest beat Blaze 10-1 at 2022 Super 32 at 120 pounds. Then Blaze beat Forrest at the 2023 Clarion Open (a college tournament) 9-4 at 125 pounds. So, they’re familiar with each other, but it has been a while.

Wyatt Hendrickson vs. Mason Parris

Two NCAA champs and former World Team members will duke it out for the Americans’ heavyweight spot.

Parris won his NCAA title with Michigan in 2023 in Tulsa. He went on to earn the World Team spot that year and took third at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Hendrickson won his NCAA title two years later in that epic final against Gable Steveson before Hendrickson went on to earn the World Team spot but came home without a medal.

Hendrickson won the U.S. Open, while Parris bowed out in the quarterfinals. But Parris rebounded with a win at the World Team Trials, taking out 2026 NCAA champ Isaac Trumble 14-12 in a wild final.

Hendrickson and Parris have some recent results against each other. Hendrickson beat Parris 13-2 at RAF 04, just for Parris to turn around and tech Hendrickson at a ranking series event earlier this year. Both guys like scoring points, so despite some heavyweights having a reputation for being slow, expect fireworks here.

Zahid Valencia vs. Kyle Dake

Valencia didn’t wrestle at Oklahoma State, but the two-time NCAA champ at Arizona State trains out of the Cowboy RTC.

Kyle Dake was a four-time NCAA champ, winning all of those titles at different weights. Needless to say, both guys are credentialed, and that doesn’t even include the fact that Valencia won a world title last year, not giving up a point at the World Championships, while Dake is a four-time world champ.

This was the 86 kg Final X pairing last year, as well, where Valencia won both matches by a combined score of 9-4. Valencia also beat Dake 8-4 at last year’s U.S. Open.

Because Valencia went on to win Worlds last year, he received a bye into Final X, meaning the two haven’t had to wrestle each other since last year’s Final X. Dake won the U.S. Open, beating his four opponents a combined 28-3.

Landon Robideau vs. Caleb Henson

It’s been the year of Landon Robideau, but he faces a tough test in the 70 kg true-third match.

Robideau is coming off an NCAA title win and a win at the U20 U.S. Open and the U20 World Team trials to secure his spot at the U20 World Championships in August.

He’ll take on Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson, who won an NCAA title at 149 pounds in 2024 before taking second at that weight in 2025. Henson redshirted this past season as the Hokies build a stacked lineup heading into this upcoming season.

Henson and Robideau both lost to Zain Retherford at the World Team Trials, with Robideau losing 3-2 in the semis and Henson losing 2-1 in the final. At the U.S. Open, Robideau focused on U20s, while Henson fell in the final of the Senior bracket to Ridge Lovett.

Dustin Plott vs. Seth Shumate

Dustin Plott was oh, so close to wrestling for a spot on the World Team, but he can still cap a solid domestic summer with a win here.

Plott made it to the final of the U.S. Open at 92 kg but fell 4-3 to Michael Macchiavello. With Trent Hidlay winning the World Championships last year and automatically advancing to Final X, this weight wasn’t contested at the World Team Trials, meaning the Open was Plott’s only shot at the World Team.

A four-time NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State, Plott draws Ohio State’s Seth Shumate in the true-third match. Shumate will be a senior at Ohio State this upcoming season. He has made the NCAA Championships once, falling in the blood round in 2025.

Shumate took third at the Open, battling back after a loss in the quarters to do so. His backside run featured an 8-4 win against Cody Merrill.