Felicity Taylor, Ben Provisor advance to Final X, on cusp of USA Wrestling world teams

CORALVILLE — Felicity Taylor has never been to New York before, and she has never made USA Wrestling’s Senior world team, either.

She could end up doing both next month.

Taylor, a South Winneshiek graduate and star wrestler, opened those opportunities this weekend here at Xtream Arena. She advanced to Final X, the third and final step of USA Wrestling’s Senior world team trials process.

Final X is where USA Wrestling’s Senior world team is finalized, and it will take place on two dates in two locations: June 3, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and June 8, at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Winners there will represent the U.S. at the 2022 world championships, on Sept. 10-18 in Serbia.

Taylor will compete in New York against Dominque Parrish in a best-of-three series for the 53-kilogram spot on the U.S. women’s freestyle world team. Both Taylor and Parrish won their semifinal matches Sunday morning — Taylor via a 51-second pin over Haley Franich, Parrish with a 7-0 win over Ronna Heaton.

"It feels awesome," Taylor said afterward. "This was a goal of mine ever since I started. Getting to the top is always the goal, and this is just one step closer to that."

Taylor was one of two wrestlers with Iowa ties to reach Final X. Ben Provisor, a second-year wrestler at Grand View, qualified in Greco-Roman at 82 kilos (180). He beat Ryan Epps, 3-1, in Sunday’s semifinals and will face Spencer Woods at Final X in Stillwater.

Provisor, a five-time U.S. national champion, previously made the Senior greco world team in 2017 and 2021, and also made the U.S. Olympic team in both 2012 and 2016. He beat Woods last year, two matches to none, to make the 2021 world team.

Taylor and Parrish were teammates on USA Wrestling’s U23 world team in 2019 (Taylor at 53-kg, Parrish at 55-kg). Parrish also took third at the U.S. Olympic Trials last spring, in the same bracket where Taylor went 2-2 and did not place.

This spring, Taylor has been on a tear. The 21-year-old won the U.S. Open last month, then won a U23 national title just two weeks ago in Texas. She went a combined 8-0 over those two events, then won again here on Sunday.

"I feel like I’ve been making better choices outside of wrestling," Taylor said. "There’s so much to it — lifestyle, on the mat, your mental game. I feel like I’ve improved in all of those areas this past semester."

Now she’s just two wins away from competing at the world championships.

Iowa wrestlers at USA Wrestling's world team trials challenge tournament

Taylor and Provisor were the only two wrestlers with Iowa ties to advance to Final X. All others did not advance out of this weekend’s world team trials challenge tournament.

Here’s a rundown of how the others fared at Xtream Arena:

Ian Parker: The recent Iowa State alum notched two come-from-behind victories on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s semifinals at 65 kilos (143) in men’s freestyle. He rallied from down 5-0 to beat Penn State’s Beau Bartlett, then trailed Ohio State grad Joey McKenna 5-0 before winning 8-5. On Sunday, Parker lost to Yianni Diakomihalis, the returning 2021 world team member, and ultimately finished fourth.

David Carr: The current Cyclone went 3-1 and took third at 74 kilos (163). He lost in the semifinals to former Penn State star Jason Nolf, but battled back with wins over Josh Shields and Tommy Gantt on Sunday.

Drew Foster: Northern Iowa’s 2019 NCAA champion finished 2-2 and took fourth at 86 kilos (189), a run that began with a 12-2 win over Iowa State’s Marcus Coleman. He lost to another former Penn State star Mark Hall in the semifinals.

Tony Cassioppi: Iowa’s heavyweight recorded a strong 11-0 quarterfinal win over Derek White, a past NCAA finalist from Oklahoma State, but lost in the semifinals to Nick Gwiazdowski, a two-time world bronze medalist.

Nyla Valencia: The incoming Iowa women’s wrestler entered this weekend on a heater, taking third at the Junior world team trials, winning the U23 national title, then winning the last-chance qualifier last weekend. But Valencia went 3-2 and did not place at 59 kilos (110), losing in the quarterfinals and again in Sunday’s consolation rounds.

Nanea Estrella: Another future Hawkeye women’s wrestler won the U.S. Open last month, but stumbled in the semifinals at Xtream Arena, and ultimately finished fourth at 59 kilos (130).

Rachel Watters: The Ballard graduate made the semifinals at 68 kilos (150), but finished 2-2 and took fourth. She was the only Hawkeye Wrestling Club women’s wrestler to earn a top-four finish this weekend.

Drew West: The past Iowa state champ from Riverside and Solon took fourth at 55 kilos (121) in greco, reaching the semifinals but finishing 2-2.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Felicity Taylor, Ben Provisor advance to USA Wrestling's Final X