Karl Fredericks is your 2019 Young Lion Cup winner.
After a week that saw as many as three wrestlers potentially put themselves in a position to win the tournament, it was Fredericks who emerged as the outright winner, clearing any potential controversy or need of a tiebreaker. Fredericks won the tournament with a 6-1 record (12 pts.) against the rest of the field, winning his final match at NJPW Destruction in Kobe and becoming the first American to win the tournament.
Heading into Destruction in Kobe, Fredericks, Ren Narita and Shota Umino, were all tied with 10 points with all three wrestling on the show. Fredericks ended up beating Umino and Clark Connors pulled off a minor upset win over Narita.
Fredericks started the tournament losing his first match against Narita on the second day of the Road to Destruction tour. After that loss, Fredericks ended up winning six straight matches en route to the title. Fredericks joins the likes of Satoshi Kojima, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hirooki Goto and others as tournament winners.
Below are the final standings for the 2019 Young Lion Cup:
- Karl Fredericks (6-1), 12 pts.
- Ren Narita (5-2), 10 pts.
- Shota Umino (5-2), 10 pts.
- Alex Coughlin (4-3), 8 pts.
- Clark Connors (4-3), 8 pts.
- Yota Tsuji (2-5), 4 pts.
- Michael Richards (1-6), 2 pts.
- Yuya Uemura (1-6), 2 pts.
For full results of NJPW Destruction in Kobe, click here.