ROUND ROCK, Texas – Kyle Dake '13 was victorious in his best-of-three wrestle-off against Alex Dieringer at Round Rock High School on Saturday, August 17. With two wins on Saturday, Dake advances to the 2019 UWW Freestyle World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan where he'll represent the United States at 79-kilograms.
 
Dake, the 2018 World Champion, is headed to his second consecutive UWW World Championships after the 79 kg weight class was announced in 2017. In 2018, Dake rolled en route to Cornell's first World Championship in the sport by outscoring his opponents by a combined 37-0 mark.
 
In his opening bout on Saturday, Dake defeated Dieringer by 3-2 decision. Dieringer and Dake scored simultaneously to bring the tally to 1-1 overall in the first period. Dake, who was on the shot clock, forced a step out just after the 30 seconds expired. The bout was 2-1 at the break following another step out in favor of Dake. Dake took a 3-1 lead over Dieringer in the second period after Dieringer was unable to score while on the shot clock. A late caution point was given to Dieringer, but it wasn't enough to overcome Dake.
 
In match two, Dake led 2-0 at the break following a pair of step outs. Dake added a third step out in the second period that was countered by Dieringer, but Dieringer's foot was ruled out before the counter was initiated. After Dieringer's challenge failed, Dake took a 4-0 lead into the final moments of the bout. Dieringer added two step outs in the final 30 seconds, but it was Dake who earned his spot on the world team with a 4-2 decision.
 
Dake is 6-0 all-time against Dieringer with wins over the former Oklahoma State Cowboy at the Grand Prix of Spain, the US Open, the World Team Trials and now at Final X. Bouts between the two have been tightly contested following Dake's 10-0 tech fall victory at Grand Prix in 2017 with the next five wins coming by decisions of 3-0, 2-1, 5-5, 3-2 and 4-2.
 
The 2019 UWW World Championships in Nur-Sultan will begin on Saturday, September 21 with qualifying rounds beginning at 1 a.m. ET (11 a.m. ALMT).

2019 Final X Round Rock Results (Best-of-Three Series) 
79 kg
Match 1: Kyle Dake dec. Alex Dieringer, 3-2
Match 2: Kyle Dake dec. Alex Dieringer, 4-2