One of the top commits in the 2025 Penn State wrestling recruiting class is now a four-time state champion.
Over the weekend, PJ Duke won his fourth New York state title, going 6-0 between Friday and.
Duke dominated all weekend at 170.
On the last day, he went 4-0 with four bonus point wins. The final match was no contest. Duke won via tech fall, 24-8 in 3:17.
In most recruiting classes, Duke would be the crown jewel. But nothing about Penn State wrestling is normal. Duke is the No. 2 recruit in the nation. The No. 1 recruit? Marcus Blaze. Where’s he committed? Penn State.
THROWING IT BACK
Let’s throw it back to when Duke committed to Penn State wrestling in the fall of 2023, a massive recruiting win.
NSN talked to both Duke and his trainer, Khaled Dassan.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.For Dassan, Duke can be a four-time NCAA champ, a world champ and an Olympic champ.
“He has the capability to do so,” Dassan said. “It’s not an easy feat, but it’s something that I believe he can accomplish. Especially in a room like that (Penn State’s) with those types of coaches, it definitely makes things I think a bit easier. He’ll still have to do the work, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to have those types of partners and those types of coaches in the room with you every day.”
Duke grew up watching guys like Jason Nolf, a former Pan American Champion, and fellow Penn State great Zain Retherford, who won two Hodge Trophies in college and has been a World Champion and Olympic qualifier. He’s also admired guys such as Kyle Dake (another four-time national champ and four-time world champion) and Vito Arujau, who won a national title for Cornell in March 2023 and is the reigning World Champion at 61 KG.
Whenever he’s done with wrestling, Duke wants to be known as somebody cut from the same cloth.
“That’s the plan,” he told NSN. “Just be like them and win world titles.”
