Daton Fix

Daton Duain Fix (born March 11, 1998) is an American freestyle and former folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms. In freestyle, Fix is most notably a World Championship runner-up and U20 World champion, a Pan American Games gold medalist and a US National champion.

In folkstyle, Fix was a four-time NCAA Division I National runner-up, five-time NCAA All-American and a five-time Big 12 Conference champion for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Folkstyle career

High school

Fix attended Charles Page High School in Oklahoma, where he was coached by his father Derek ('83 Cadet World Champion) and Kelly Smith. There, he went undefeated in his high school career, compiling 168 wins and no losses, and racking up four state titles. Nationally, he was a multiple-time folkstyle US national champion. He was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner in 2017.

College

In November 2016, Fix, the number-one recruit in the country pound-for-pound, committed to John Smith from the Oklahoma State University, staying in his home state of Oklahoma.

2017–2018

As a redshirt athlete, Fix became the Reno Tournament champion, compiling notable victories over ninth-ranked Ronnie Bresser (who would go on to become an All-American later in the season) and eight-ranked Sean Fausz.

2018–2019

During the 2018 part of the season, Fix won titles from the Oklahoma City Open and the Reno Tournament, and also went 5–0 in dual meets, compiling notable victories over returning two-time All-American and '17 NCAA runner-up Ethan Lizak and returning All-American Montorie Bridges. To kick off 2019, Fix claimed the Southern Scuffle title and went on to win three more dual meets, where he defeated returning NCAA runner-up Nick Suriano in one of them, although very controversially. Fix's first collegiate loss came shortly after, by the hands of Micky Phillippi, in a close 1–3 decision loss. He bounced back with a win over the nationally ranked Austin Gomez and five more dual wins, including victories over third-ranked Austin DeSanto and John Erneste (both would become All-Americans in the post-season), to end regular season as the top-ranked 133-pounder in the United States.

In the post-season, Fix went 4–0 at the Big 12 Conference Championships to claim the title and enter the NCAA's as the top-seed. At the NCAA tournament, Fix downed four opponents to make the finals, including the fifth and eight seeds Luke Pletcher and John Erneste. In the final, he faced Nick Suriano in an anticipated rematch, where after a very close match, Fix claimed runner-up honors when he was defeated after Suriano claimed two points during the second sudden victory period. He closed out the season with 34 wins and two losses.

2020–2021

Fix did not compete in the NCAA in 2019–2020, as he took an Olympic redshirt to prepare for the US Olympic Team Trials. He was expected to compete for the Cowboys from the start of the season, however, his USADA suspension led him unable to, and became eligible on February 10, 2021, to return. Fix came back on February 14, winning one extra match by technical fall before pinning his way to the Cowboy Challenge title in three matches. In the final dual of the season, Fix claimed his fourth straight pin to roll into the post-season with an undefeated 5–0 record. At the Big 12 Conference Championships, Fix compiled four more wins to claim his second title, helping the Cowboys reach the team crown. At the NCAA's, Fix compiled three bonus points victories to make the semifinals, where he edged B1G runner-up and former All-American from Iowa Austin DeSanto to make his second final. In the finale he faced B1G champion and Penn State star Roman Bravo-Young, where after going into overtime, Fix was defeated the same way and by the same score as in his other finals match against Nick Suriano, once again claiming runner-up honors.

Freestyle career

Age-group

As a cadet, Fix won two Cadet Pan American titles, in 2013 and 2014. That same year, he went on to place tenth at the Cadet World Championships and second at the Youth Summer Olympics. The following year (2015), he earned a bronze medal from the Cadet World Championships after making his second US World Team, and in 2016, Fix earned another bronze, now at the Junior World Championships. In 2017, Fix became a Junior World Champion, while sweeping all five opponents with a combined score of 53–1, with the lone point being surrendered at the finals, where he tech'd Russia's Ismail Gadzhiev 12–1. After making his fifth age-group US World Team, the returning World Champion was defeated in the semifinals, before coming back and earning his third World Championship bronze.

Senior level

2016–2017

Fix won his first two senior matches at the 2016 and 2017 Beat the Streets events, against '13 Cadet World Championship bronze medalist from Iran Heirollah Ghahremani (TF 14–3) and Joey Melendez (TF 14–1). In October, Fix, who at this point had never wrestled an official collegiate match, became the US U23 World Team Member, with three wins on the Challenge Tournament, and two straight over NCAA DI champion and two-time All-American Nathan Tomasello in the best-of-three. At the U23 World Championships, Fix was eliminated in the opening match to place nineteenth.

2018

To start off the year, the incoming Cowboy placed second at the US Open National Championships, losing to '14 NCAA champion Tony Ramos by criteria in the finals. He then went on to become a Final X contestant after dominantly winning the US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. At Final X: Lincoln ('18), Fix dropped two straight matches to returning World Championship runner-up Thomas Gilman, losing his chance to make his first US World Team.

2019

After his college freshman season was over, the '19 NCAA DI National runner-up won his first US Open National title, with wins over '18 US U23 National Champion Vito Arujau (TF 18–8) in the quarterfinals, '17 NCAA champion Darian Cruz (2–0) and Thomas Gilman in a rematch (8–4). As the US National champion, Fix sat out during the US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, and waited for the winner to battle at Final X: Lincoln ('19). Fix ended up facing his rival Thomas Gilman at Final X, and after a dominant 9–1 victory in the first match, Fix was forced to go through a third match when he was defeated 2–3 by Gilman. Fix was able to drop Gilman with a 6–3 decision to make his first US World Team.

Fix then won the Pan American Games gold medal, with a notable victory over the heavily accomplished Cuban Reineri Andreu. At the World Championships, Fix started off dominant by tech'ing '19 European Championship bronze medalist Vladimir Egorov, but was subsequently defeated by '17 World Champion Yuki Takahashi, in a closely contested 2–4 loss. In October, it was announced that Fix would be taking an Olympic Redshirt instead of participating in NCAA wrestling for 2019–20.

2020

After his run at the World Championships, Fix came back on January, at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series. After two wins, he was dropped twice, by his rival Thomas Gilman and Minghu Liu respectively, to place fifth.

Fix was then scheduled to compete at the '20 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.

On September, it was announced that Fix had been given a one-year long suspension by USADA, after failing a test for ostarine, which was retroactive to February 10, 2021, because his provisional suspension started on February 10, 2020. Fix claims that he ingested the substance when he drank from a contaminated water bottle, which his father Derek had prepared for himself and left in the refrigerator, before Daton drank it.

2021

After his suspension was lifted and the NCAA season ended, Fix competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in April 2 as the second seed, in an attempt to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. After beating Sean Russell, he was defeated by Vito Arujau in the semifinals and subsequently forfeited out of the tournament.

Fix then registered to come back at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships at 61 kilograms. He made the best-of-three after a successful first day, tech'ing youngster Carter Young and NCAA champion Seth Gross, and neutralizing 2020 Pan American Champion Tyler Graff to advance. Fix repeated his 2019 feat and became a two-time US World Team Member, now at 61 kilos, by putting a clinic on NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello twice in a row. As a result, he represented the United States at the 2021 World Championships from October 2 to 3 in Oslo, Norway.

Fix had an outstanding first day, racking up 41 points to none against four opponents, including Individual World Cup medalist Georgi Vangelov and European Champion Arsen Harutyunyan, driving them to flawless technical falls. In the finale, he wrestled reigning Individual World Cup and European champion Abasgadzhi Magomedov for the gold medal, where he was closely defeated on points, claiming the silver medal.

2022

Back from his stellar performance at the 2021 World Championships, Fix quickly dismantled World Championship competitor Giusseppe Rea from Colombia on February 12, at Bout at the Ballpark. A couple hours later, he downed fellow two-time All-American Austin DeSanto from Iowa in folkstyle, competing for the Cowboys. On May 8, he racked up the Pan American Championship.

Freestyle record

NCAA record

Stats

External links

• at the International Wrestling Database
• at TeamUSA.org (archived)
• at Olympedia
• at InterSportStats