Jax Forrest

Jaxen Patrick Forrest (born October 13, 2006) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms and 133 pounds. In freestyle, he was the 2025 US World Team member and National champion, as well as the U23 World champion.

In folkstyle, Forrest was an undefeated NCAA Division I National champion as well as a Big 12 Conference champion as a true-freshman in 2025–2026, out of the Oklahoma State University.

Career

High school Born and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Forrest moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania to attend Bishop McCort High School. Forrest was a two-time PIAA Class AA state champion. While in high school, he competed at and won multiple collegiate open tournaments. At the freestyle age-group level, Forrest claimed a U17 World silver medal at 55 kg in 2022.

2024 In April 2024, Forrest made his senior level debut and qualified for the US Olympic Team Trials by claiming the US Last Chance Qualifier crown, racking up dominant wins over NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, veteran Josh Rodriguez and All-American Devan Turner.

Later in the month, Forrest competed at the US Olympic Team Trials, where, after defeating All-American Liam Cronin, he suffered a loss to World champion Thomas Gilman. Competing for third-place after a pair of forfeit wins, he was defeated by U17 World champion Marcus Blaze.

In September, Forrest moved up to 61 kilograms and competed at the US World Team Trials, where he went 3–1 with a lone loss to four-time All-American Austin DeSanto and technical fall wins over All-Americans Nico Provo and Liam Cronin.

2025 In February 2025, Forrest, a high school junior, committed to wrestle for David Taylor at the Oklahoma State University.

In April, Forrest claimed the US Open National championship at 61 kilograms, notably defeating NCAA champions Nahshon Garrett in the quarterfinals and Seth Gross in the finals, both by technical fall. As the winner of the tournament, Forrest qualified for Final X, where he would face World champion Vito Arujau for the US World Team spot. Originally scheduled to take place at the Final X event, the series was postponed after Arujau's request following an injury. In the meantime, Forrest claimed a Pan American title after three victories over foreign opposition, in May.

In July, Forrest faced Arujau at the Fargo National tournament, clinching up two upset victories in a row to dethrone the World champion and become the United States' senior level rep at 61 kilograms for the 2025 World Championships

In September, Forrest competed at the World Championships, where he racked up notable wins over Asian champions Takara Suda from Japan and Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu from Kyrgyzstan, before falling to World and Olympic champion Zaur Uguev from Russia in the semifinals and U23 World finalist Assylzhan Yessengeldi from Kazakhstan in the bronze-medal match, finishing in fifth place.

A month after the senior-level 2025 World Championships were held in September, he won gold at the U23 World Championships at 61 kg in October 2025, at the age of nineteen.

On December 30, 2025, Forrest, a high school senior, announced he would be graduating early in order to enroll at Oklahoma State University and compete in the NCAA during the second semester of the 2025–2026 season.

Oklahoma State University

2025–2026 On January 11, 2026, Forrest made his Oklahoma State wrestling debut, pinning his opponent in 47 seconds, as Oklahoma State shut out the Oklahoma Sooners in their dual meet. After his dual meet match against Iowa on February 22, 2026, Forrest officially burned his redshirt, with the intention to compete in the 2026 post-season. Forrest won the 133-pound title at the 2026 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

At the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Forrest delivered a dominant performance en route to an NCAA title. He scored a fall in the first round followed by two technical falls in the second round and quarterfinals, all three finishes coming in during the first period. In the semifinals, Forrest defeated Aaron Seidel from Virginia Tech by a 14–3 major decision, in a rematch of their 10–9 match during regular season, where Forrest had also been victorious. In the finals, Forrest posted a 5–2 score over Ben Davino from Ohio State, who had previously not been taken down during his college career.

Onto freestyle season, Forrest competed at the US Open National Championships held in April, where he was knocked off in the semifinals by Ben Davino in a rematch from the NCAA finals held a month earlier. He defeated All-American Michael McGee and avenged a loss to Austin DeSanto to come back for third-place.

In May, Forrest competed at the US World Team Trials Challenge, in a second attempt to qualify for Final X. He took out All-American Aaron Seidel on points to set up a rematch with Davino, where he was victorious by technical fall. Forrest was defeated two matches to one.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 32–8

Newark, New Jersey Win 32–7

Loss 31–7

Win 31–6

Louisville, Kentucky Win 30–6

Win 29–6

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 28–6

Loss 27–6

Win 27–5

Win 26–5

Win 25–5

Novi Sad, Serbia Win 24–5

Win 23–5

Win 22–5

Loss 21–5

Zagreb, Croatia Loss 21–4

Win 21–3

Win 20–3

Win 19–3

Win 18–3

Fargo, North Dakota Win 17–3

Win 16–3

Monterrey, Mexico Win 15–3

Win 14–3

Win 13–3

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 12–3

Win 11–3

Win 10–3

Win 9–3

Win 8–3

Omaha, Nebraska Win

Win

Win 7–3

Loss 6–3

Win 6–2

Loss 5–2

State College, Pennsylvania Win

Win

Loss 5–1

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Fairfax, Virginia Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Win 19–0 Ben Davino

Win 18–0 Aaron Seidel

Win 17–0 Markel Baker

Win 16–0 T.K. Davis

Win 15–0 Carter Schmidt

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2026 Freshman Oklahoma State University 1 (1st) 133 19–0 100.00% 84.21%