In recruiting news, Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor and Oklahoma State have landed their second top-three Class of 2026 prospect in the past week.
This past Sunday, Oklahoma State landed a commitment from Dreshaun Ross,the No. 3 Class of 2026 prospect per FloWrestling.
Now, Oklahoma State has the No. 2 overall prospect.
Jax Forrest is coming to Stillwater, he announced on FloWrestling Radio late Thursday morning. This means that Penn State will be without commitments from the top two ‘26 prospects. The top prospect is Bo Bassett, Forrest’s teammate at Johnstown’s Bishop McCort High School. Bassett announced his commitment to Iowa Tuesday night.
No Bassett: Penn State Wrestling Recruiting Target Commits Elsewhere
So, after landing the top-ranked recruits for 2024 (Luke Lilledahl) and 2025 (PJ Duke), it looks like Penn State will miss out on the top two for 2026.
FORREST IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD
As one could probably guess, Forrest is really, really good at wrestling.
Forrest is from North Carolina originally but moved to Pennsylvania. In three seasons at McCort, he’s 118-3 and only six of those 118 wins have been traditional decisions. Of the other 112, four have been majors, 61 have been tech falls, 39 have been falls and eight have been forfeits. Forrest went 53-2 as a sophomore last season and won the PA state championship at 127 pounds. This season, Forrest is on track to win another state title, with this one being at 132. He’s 35-0, and all but four of his wins have been via tech fall (17) fall (10) or forfeit (four).
Away from McCort, Forrest finished second at the 2022 U17 World Championships at 55 kg. He also wrestled at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in State College, finishing fourth at 57 KG
WHO ELSE WAS IN THE RUNNING?
So who else had a chance to land Forrest? Well, wherever he committed, it would have been to a wrestling blue blood. Iowa, Penn State and Ohio State were the three finalists along with Oklahoma State.
Although Iowa now has Bassett and Oklahoma State Forrest, there’s still a lot of work to do for either team to catch up to Penn State, which has won 11 of the past 13 national titles.
