The top Penn State wrestling signee of the 2026 cycle earned one more high school honor.
The recipient of the 2026 Dave Schultz High School excellence award for New Jersey was Penn State signee Jayden James, who is the No. 2 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country in his class per FloWrestling.
Per USA Wrestling, this award “recognizes the nation’s most outstanding high school senior male wrestlers.”
James was New Jersey’s recipient, a little more than a month after winning his second state championship and finishing his high school career with 74 straight wins. James had been committed to Virginia Tech but de-committed in early 2025 and, ultimately, committed to and signed with Penn State.
James described current Penn State star PJ Duke, who just capped off a fantastic true freshman season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland last weekend, as “one of my best friends.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Duke has helped James become one of the top high school wrestlers in the country (No. 2 pound for pound) and James helped Duke train for his two upset wins over four-time NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X last summer.
“Before he left for college, he was my training partner every day,” James said. “So, getting beat up by him for four years straight is going to make you way tougher and a way better wrestler. So he’s helped me in that aspect, and also in the mindset of watching him throughout these tournaments, helping him train for Yanni in the warmup before Yani at Final X. Just good visualization to see where I need to be and where I need to get to.”
James will competed in the U.S. Open at U20, which is scheduled for April 22-26 in Las Vegas.
