Jax Forrest proved his prowess by dominating the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. He recently opened up about the first thing he said to his coach, David Taylor, after nabbing the NCAA title.
Forrest joined the Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling team in early January 2025 and quickly established himself by winning both the Big 12 and NCAA Championship titles. In the latter event, he competed in the 133-pound event and locked horns with Ohio State’s Ben Davino in the finals.
Producing a stellar performance, the Oklahoma freshman claimed a 5-2 win over Davino to claim the national title. Days after this feat, he sat for a conversation with Oklahoma State Athletics, where he was asked about the first thing he said to his coach, David Taylor, after becoming the national champion.
“I just go over to David, you know, he says, “You’re a national champ.” And I just said, “Thank you for believing me. Thank you for, you know, this idea of graduating early and just coming here and just doing it, cuz no other program has ever done that. No other program, I feel like, would do that. And just like knowing that they had that belief in me was just, you know, that moment was really special for me. And then running down and seeing my family, my brothers and my sisters, my parents, just, you know, them all being there and just being able to see them after was so cool. It was the best feeling ever,” said Jax Forrest.
Before the nationals, the redshirt freshman also competed at the Big 12 championships, where he won the 133-pound title after besting Kyler Larkin in the finals.
Jax Forrest opened up about how it felt after becoming the national champion
After winning his first-ever national champion title, Jax Forrest addressed the media in the post-match press conference, where he made his feelings known about becoming the national champion. When asked about what was going through his head when he realized he had become the national champion, he said:
“Yeah, it was surreal. You know, I’ve dreamed of this day for a long time, and it like slowly just happening over the weekend, over the year, faster than I thought. It was just awesome. It was just a feeling, you know, unlike any other that I’ve had,” said Jax Forrest.
He was further asked about his journey from being in high school in December to winning the national championship in March. Replying to this, Jax Forrest said:
“Yeah, it was definitely weird. Leaving earlier than what I thought I was going to be, but you know, I had it planned out for a while that I was going to be going down there, and then it was just figuring out, you know, am I wrestling? Am I red shirting, gray shirting, you know, all the details there. But then, once I got on campus, you know, I was already with my boys that I was already friends with. And then it was just right into I got there, and then the next week wrestled OU. So, didn’t have too much time to process it, you know, kind of went straight head-on. And, you know, that’s what I like. I like going right into the problem and finding a way to get on top.”
Before signing up with the Oklahoma wrestling team, Jax Forrest was at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
