Penn State wrestling will be just fine at the 174 pound weight class this season.
Even with two-time national champion Levi Haines’ return looking less likely, coach Cael Sanderson has options.
One of them, Jayden James, is one win away from becoming an U20 World Champion.
If Sanderson’s words are any indication, the true freshman is ready to compete at the highest level right away.
WHAT CAEL SAID
“He’s extremely unique,” Sanderson said from Slovakia, where he is with James as he competes for a world title. “The way he wrestles and his feel. He’s unique in that he’s just come and relaxed, changing speeds. Can change directions, obviously strong… he’s very unique, and even if you feel like you are getting the best of him and a scramble or maybe you score an exposure point, it always comes out as worse for you. You end up in a worse position than you were before, and he just has an uncanny position to kind of make whatever situation he’s in even worse for his opponents. He’s still young and just going to keep getting better. These tournaments are obviously, you want to come here and win, but I always just thinking about more of the big picture and just trending in the right direction, make your opponents never want to wrestle you again and kind of build your reputation, all those kinds of things. But, yeah, he’s ready right now to compete with anybody in the world.”
NUMBERS DON’T LIE
It’s hard to dispute that James is “ready right now to compete with anybody in the world.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.He was the recipient of the 2026 Dave Schultz High School excellence award for New Jersey and left high school as 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.
A big question is where James will compete weight wise. His freestyle weight translates to almost 165 pounds, but since Penn State has Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 and one of PJ Duke or Tyler Kasak at 157, 174 appears to be the best bet for James if he’s to start right away.
