Blades clinches 68kg World spot as Mir withdraws
Isabella Mir is off the Final X best-of-three and headed to the U23 World Championships instead.
Kennedy Blades has clinched the Senior World Team spot at 68 kg, per @rossbchek, who reported that USA Wrestling announced it after Isabella Mir withdrew from Final X. Mir will represent the United States at the U23 World Championships instead. That closes out a series that had been set as a best-of-three and had already been reported as coming off earlier in the week.
So the biggest name in the women's 68 kg picture gets to Senior Worlds without wrestling the match, while Mir shifts to the U23 bracket instead.
The rest of the Final X card went on
The evening still had two of the most anticipated matchups of the cycle. @cpyles8 flagged Real Woods vs Bo Bassett at 65 kg and Kylie Welker vs Dymond Guilford, with the broadcast set for 6 ET on Flo. @justinjbasch put it plainly the same day, noting Bassett and Woods were wrestling for the 65 kg World Team spot that night.
Virginia Tech Wrestling posted its own send off for Bassett ahead of the match, writing that the work was done and calling for a grand performance at the MGM. Bassett is the Hokie in the middle of the sport's most watched Final X series, and the program leaned into it.
Our take: a walkover is not the way anybody wanted 68 kg settled, but Blades gets a clean run into Senior Worlds and Mir gets an age group title shot rather than a bracket she would have to survive twice.
What to watch: the 65 kg result between Woods and Bassett, and whether USA Wrestling confirms any further changes to the Final X slate.
Mir withdrew from Final X and will represent the U.S. at the U23 World Championships.
The work is done. Full sprint. Full surrender.