Vito Arujau accepts 2025 Final X berth at 61 kg in men’s freestyle

2024 World bronze medalist Vito Arujau (Ithaca, New York/Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) has accepted his automatic bid to Final X and will battle for the men’s freestyle 61kg spot on the 2025 U.S. World Team. Final X will be on Saturday, June 14 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

61 kg has been Arujau’s weight domestically the past two years. He brought home a Senior World title in 2023 and backed it up with a bronze-medal outing in Tirana, Albania, last year. Arujau is a two-time age-group World silver medalist and two-time Senior Pan American champion. He automatically qualified for Final X by earning a medal at the 2024 Senior World Championships.

Arujau was a two-time NCAA champion, four-time NCAA All-American and two-time EIWA champion for Cornell University from 2019 to 2024.

Final X will determine the 2025 U.S. Senior World Team in two-of-three international disciplines—men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle. In total, 20 weight classes will be contested, 10 in each discipline. The top two U.S. athletes in each weight classes will wrestle a best-of-three series at Final X to determine the U.S. representative at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Final X opponent for Arujau will be determined April 26 at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. The men’s freestyle 61 kg champion at the U.S. Open will advance to face Arujau in a best-of-three series at Final X.

Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit, the 15^th BTSNY Annual Benefit to date. These unique electrifying events help BTSNY raise more than $1 million each year to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party will follow the conclusion of Final X.

Arujau holds a 2-0 record from previous BTSNY Annual Benefit events. He defeated Nahshon Garrett in two-straight matches at 2023 Final X, round one by 6-5 decision and round two by 13-10 decision.

Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages (Final X plus exclusive after party celebration access), that also provide the best wrestling-event seats, are available at give.btsny.org/2025FinalX. Proceeds from Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages will directly help BTSNY serve NYC youth. For more information on ticket packages, email BTSNY Executive Director Brendan Buckley at bbuckley@btsny.org. 

Event-only tickets for Final X without access to the BTSNY after-party celebration are available on Ticketmaster.

FloWrestling will serve as the host broadcast partner for Final X. Fans can watch the event live or on-demand at FloWrestling.com.

Online results for Final X will be available on USA Bracketing, USA Wrestling’s new best-in-class event management software.

Final X will be held in two sessions on Saturday, June 14. Session I, which starts at 2 p.m. (ET), will feature round one in each best-of-three series. Session II, which starts at 5 p.m. (ET), will continue with round two and if-necessary round three matches. Match order for each session will be provided at a later date.

If Prudential Center’s tenant, New Jersey Devils, host an NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs game on June 14 the contingency date for Final X would be Sunday, June 15.

For more information about Final X, please visit themat.com.

57 kg – Spencer Lee (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)

61 kg – Vito Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Macey Kilty (Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)