I don’t know who performed James Green’s partial hip replacement surgery in 2023, but they did one hell of a job as Green secured his EIGHTH World Team spot for Team USA on Friday at Final X.
Out of college, James Green spent much of a decade holding down the 70 kg weight class for Team USA — winning World silver and bronze medals along the way. He then retired from competition in 2022 due to his hip issues and had surgery.
After just over a year away, Green returned to competition due to a very successful
surgery and recovery. He’s since moved up to 74 kg where he now finds himself on top of the pecking order in America after defeating 2025 World Team member David Carr twice at Final X.
In the first match of the best-of-three series, Green scored the first point of the match when he got in on a single leg, elevated it and got the push-out point against Carr. Green then used his impressive defense to take the narrow 1-0 lead to the second period.
In the second period, Green scored another push-out off a beautiful ankle pick — Carr tried fleeing out of bounds, but Green tried yanking him back in for the takedown. Carr was called for a caution for fleeing the mat, giving Green another point and a 3-0 lead.
Carr then cut the deficit with a takedown with just over a minute left, but Green scored a savvy exposure for two points before giving up a reversal for one. Carr’s corner challenged the call but lost, giving Green one more point for the failed challenge and the 6-3 decision win.
In the second match of the series, Green again scored first with a takedown on the edge — Green hit a club to a single leg before securing the two points on the edge of the mat. Green added another point with a step-out when he again got in on a single leg.
In a match that was stopped multiple times due to blood pouring out of Green’s nose, neither wrestler was able to find much of a rhythm with all of the stoppages.
In the second period, Green extended his lead to 5-0 with a go-behind takedown when he disappeared on a Carr single-leg attempt, but Carr was able to catch him late in the match with a single leg before transitioning to a pair of leg lace turns, ultimately giving Carr the 6-5 decision win, forcing a third and final match.
In the final match of the series, Green struck first again with a first-period takedown on a shuck-by.
In the second period, Green scored a shot-clock point to go up 3-0 before giving up a shot-clock point of his own. Green then added another step-out when he shot a double to go up 4-1 with 42 seconds left.
Green held off Carr’s final sprint for the series win and will be going to Kazakhstan in late October to represent Team USA — 11 years after making his first World Team in 2015.
For all he’s accomplished on the mat, Green has never won a Senior-level World title. Wrestling as good as he ever has, Green will be one of the title contenders later this year to do just that.
Lovett Falls to Retherford
In his first Final X after winning the US Open title at 70 kg in April, Ridge Lovett fell in straight matches to former World Champion Zain Retherford.
Lovett was unable to crack the code that is Retherford’s defense, dropping the first match 2-1 before losing the second 8-2. Lovett had some solid moments in both matches but wasn’t able to reliably get in on Retherford’s legs.
Just 25 years old, Lovett has plenty of time to come back better from this loss. He will be a contender for years to come at 70 kg for Team USA.
