Michael Macchiavello, 28, defeated Kollin Moore, 12-2, at the 2023 U.S. Open in Las Vegas in April to secure his spot at Final X 2023 presented. by Tezos.

A week later, Macchiavello was with Team USA in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he won the gold medal at 92kg at the 2023 Pan-American Championships. It was one of nine gold medals for the Team USA men and helped the United States to the team title, too.

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Gable Steveson Could Join The Most Exclusive Club In Wrestling

2023 Final X Wrestling Matchups

Macchiavello’s Final X opponent will be Zahid Valencia, who was the 92kg winner at the 2023 Wrestling World Team Trials Challenge, the last opportunity for wrestlers to qualify for Final X. 

Valencia is the top-ranked wrestler at 92kg on the latest FloWrestling Domestic Men’s Freestyle Rankings.

This year’s edition of Final X will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on June 10. The event will feature the top two wrestlers at every weight class in a best-of-three series, with the winners making the 2023 United States World Team. 

The world team will travel to Belgrade, Serbia, to compete at the 2023 Senior World Championships from Sept. 16-24. 

Check below for the current matchups for Final X and a brief explanation of how each wrestler qualified for the 2023 event.

Here’s what to know about Michael Macchiavello:

Michael Macchiavello Is A Helpful Guy

In 2017, Macchiavello went to the World Championships as a training partner for Kyle Snyder. In 2019, he did the same for J’den Cox. 

They’re two of the best wrestlers in the world and became direct competition for Macchiavello when he jumped from 92kg to 97kg to see if he could make the 2020 Olympic team. 

Michael Macchiavello Struck Gold At 2018 U23 World Team Trials

Shortly after graduating from North Carolina State, Macchiavello won the 92kg title at the 2018 U23 World Team Trials, which earned him a spot at the 2018 U23 World Championships in Romania.

Unfortunately, due to his age/birth date, it was determined he actually was ineligible to compete at the world event.

Michael Macchiavello Enjoyed Much Collegiate Success

Macchiavello was the 2018 NCAA champion at 197 pounds, becoming the first ACC wrestler since 2015 to win a national title.

Following the performance, he was named the 2018 ACC Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He also earned a spot on the All-ACC Academic team. 

Prior to going to NC State, Macchiavello wrestled for Sun Valley High School in North Carolina. He won a state championship in 2013 at 182 pounds and finished his high school career with a 185-28 record.

Michael Macchiavello Wrestling Ranking 

In the most recent Domestic Men’s Freestyle rankings on FloWrestling, Macchiavello ranked second in the 92kg weight class. 

Here are the top 5: 

1. Zahid Valencia 
2. Michael Macchiavello 
3. Kollin Moore
4. Nate Jackson
5. Eric Schultz

Here are the complete rankings.

How Wrestlers Qualify For Final X Wrestling 2023

A wrestler can qualify for Final X in one of three ways.

First, all 2022 senior world medalists automatically qualified for Final X. There were seven wrestlers in men’s freestyle, six in women’s freestyle and zero in Greco-Roman who met this criterion.

Next, all champions from the 2023 US Open (held April 26-30) automatically qualified for Final X.

Finally, for the weights that didn’t have a returning world medalist, the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament (May 20-21) champion will earn a spot in Final X. 

Men’s Freestyle Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023

• 57 kg: *Thomas Gilman vs Zane Richards
• 61 kg: Vito Arujau vs Nahshon Garrett
• 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 Zahid Valencia
• 97kg: *Kyle Snyder vs J’den Cox
• 125 kg: Gable Steveson vs Mason Parris

*Denotes 2022 World Medalist

Women’s Freestyle Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023

• 50 kg: *Sarah Hildebrandt vs Audrey Jimenez
• 53 kg: *Dominique Parrish vs Katie Gomez
• 55 kg: Alisha Howk vs Jacarra Winchester
• 57 kg: *Helen Maroulis vs Xochitl Mota-Pettis 
• 59 kg: Michaela Beck vs Jennifer Page
• 62 kg: *Kayla Miracle vs Adaugo Nwachukwu
• 65 kg: Mallory Velte vs Macey Kilty
• 68 kg: Forrest Molinari vs Emma Bruntil
• 72 kg: *Amit Elor vs Joye Levendusky
• 76 kg: Kennedy Blades vs. Adeline Gray

*Denotes 2022 World Medalist

Men’s Greco-Roman Matchups At Final X Wrestling 2023

• 55 kg: Brady Koontz vs Dalton Duffield
• 60 kg: Dalton Roberts vs Ildar Hafizov
• 63 kg: Hayden Tuma vs Xavier Johnson
• 67 kg: Robert Perez III vs Alejandro Sancho
• 72 kg: Justus Scott vs Patrick Smith
• 77 kg: Kamal Bey vs Aliaksandr Kikiniou
• 82 kg: Spencer Woods vs Ryan Epps
• 87 kg: Alan Vera vs Zachary Braunagel
• 97 kg: Josef Rau vs Christian Dulaney
• 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz vs Adam Coon

How To Watch Final X Wrestling 2023 

Final X will stream live on FloWrestling and the FloSports app. 

FloWresting also will serve as home of match archives and provide the latest news from Final X.