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Kyle DakeKyle Dake (right) pictured with USA Wrestling Freestyle Head Coach Bill Zadick after Dake won a spot on the US World Team near Austin, Texas Saturday. Photo courtesy of Jodi Dake

Defending 2018 World Champion Kyle Dake, 28, again became the United States world wrestling team representative for the 79 kg weight class Saturday.  Dake won the spot in Round Rock, Texas in a match against Alex Dieringer.   Dake defeated Dieringer in the first two rounds in the best-of-three Final X Special Wrestle-Off, 3-2 and 4-2, making a third round unnecessary.  The match was the fourth time the two wrestlers have faced off.

The Final X match was originally scheduled in June, but Dake postponed the match due what he described as "a freak accident  that required surgery."

Dake will compete for the World Championship at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan  September 14-22, part of the 2019 Men's Freestyle Team.  Other team members include  Daton Fix, Tyler Graff, Zain Retherford, James Green, Jordan Burroughs, Pat Downey, J’den Cox, Kyle Snyder, and Nick Gwiazdowski.

As a Lansing High School wrestler Dake was a two-time state champion, under Coach Doug Dake.  Dake won four NCAA titles at Cornell.  In 2016 he won the US Open Championship and was a runner-up in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.  He was the 2017 Paris International champion.  He won the World medal in 2018 when he defeated Azerbaijan wrestler Jabrayil Hasanov at the world championship in Budapest.  Prior to that he was the world team runner up three times.

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