62 kg Final X qualifier Adaugo Nwachukwu (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)In just under a week, two-time NAIA champion and current William Penn wrestler, Adaugo Nwachukwu will compete at Final X for a spot on the Senior World Team. Nwachukwu will face off against a familiar opponent in Kayla Miracle in a best-of-three match-up for the 62kg spot.
When asked how she was feeling about the event, Nwachukwu expressed her optimistic mindset.
"After the U.S. Open, in my mind, I thought, 'there's two more matches left to wrestle to make the world team,' so I am ready to go. I'm excited."
She continued discussing her mindset about the best-of-three format for Final X, which would mean she could secure a spot with just two wins in a row.
"I know that if I do win the first match, that doesn't mean I'm already on the World Team. I still have to stay ready, stay in the game, wrestle the second match and win.," Nwachukwu said.
"And if I lose [the first match], I can't beat myself up because I have another opportunity to wrestle and win it back. I think that's helping my mentality preparing for it."
Nwachukwu secured her spot at Final X by winning this year's U.S. Open with a dominant run of two falls and a tech before meeting Jennifer Page in the finals and coming out on top in a back-and-forth 10-8 match. Interestingly, Page was Miracle's opponent last year at Final X in a highly competitive set of matches. Nwachukwu's win over Page at the Open only increases the uncertainty of the outcome of this year's Final X matchup. Miracle is a formidable opponent, but Nwachukwu says she has been developing and training a lot since their last meeting.
"I think I've grown a lot, especially after I moved to college. I had the opportunity to train more with my coaches and other wrestlers that have more experience with freestyle and other skills," Nwachukwu said.
She has also been doing some specific training since the Open to get prepared for FinalX.
"After school closed, most of my teammates went back home, so I've been training mostly with my two coaches, Cash [Wilcke] and Jake [Kadel]," Nwachukwu said. "But last week we went up to Oregon to train with Mallory Velte, so that was a good push. I worked on a lot of my stuff but also some things Kayla does. Defense, offense, upper body stuff, I worked on a lot, so that went good too."
Nwachukwu dropped her last match to Kayla Miracle at the 2022 U.S. Open, where Miracle got a go-behind and was able to utilize a trapped-arm gutwrench to turn Nwachukwu repeatedly on her way to the tech fall. Nwachukwu is excited for the rematch and has been honing her skills to be successful.
"I'm focusing more on my offense and my upper body stuff, but I also know she likes the single leg and the throw she does, so I've been working on defense for that," she said.
Nwachukwu appears to be up a level based on her record since her last meeting with Miracle. In her sophomore season at Iowa Wesleyan, she had a 31-0 record with 29 wins by pin or tech fall and was the NAIA champion for the second year in a row. She was even one of the 6 finalists for USA Wrestling's Women's Collegiate Wrestler of the Year. She attributes a lot of success to her hard work and dedication, but also to her coaches, Jake Kadel and Cash Wilcke.
"I think I have that relationship with my coaches where I trust them and I know that if they're telling me something, it's probably right and it's probably gonna work," Nwachukwu said. "The trust in them has helped me a lot."
Nwachukwu announced after her U.S. Open win that she would be following her coaches to William Penn to continue her college career after Iowa Wesleyan announced the school would be closing due to financial issues. She reiterated that because of that solid relationship with her coaches, it was not a difficult choice.
"I already knew that wherever my coaches were going after the school shut down was where I was gonna go too," she said. "I wasn't even looking at other schools."
It seems that the trust she has in her coaches and in her own abilities and strengths is keeping her cool and collected heading into Final X. When asked what she still needed to do to prepare for her matches, she kept it simple.
"I am just working on getting down to weight and staying in good health," she said. "I am ready to go."
Final X will be held on June 10 with events in Men's and Women's freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Check out the full list of matchups here.
