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No. 1 Pound-for-Pound 2026 Wrestler, Jax Forrest Packs up for Stillwater

The Cowboys' future is about to get even brighter.
Taylor Skieens|
Bishop McCort junior Jax Forrest receives the Robert W. Craig Outstanding Wrestler Award during the PIAA state AA wrestling championships, Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Bishop McCort junior Jax Forrest receives the Robert W. Craig Outstanding Wrestler Award during the PIAA state AA wrestling championships, Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Giant Center in Hershey. | Harrison Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gallagher-Iba Arena might not host another dual until January, but the buzz around Oklahoma State wrestling is louder than a Wyatt Hendrickson National Finals takedown right now. Top 2026 commit Jax Forrest, the No. 1 pound-for-pound phenom in the country, dropped a New Year's Eve bombshell. He's heading to Stillwater next week, forgoing the rest of his senior season at Bishop McCort High School in Pennsylvania to dive headfirst into the Cowboy program.

In a sit-down with FloWrestling after dominating the Powerade Christmas Tournament – his fourth straight title – Forrest confirmed the move that's had Cowboy Nation on the edge of their seats since rumors swirled last month. "I'm going down next week," he said plainly, the kind of matter-of-fact tone that reminds you this kid just turned heads on the senior international circuit. At 18, Forrest is already a U23 World Champion, a U.S. Open winner, and the guy who swept two-time NCAA champ Vito Arujau in a best-of-three to make the Senior World Team. And now? He's trading high school mats for daily battles with David Taylor's loaded room.

Forrest isn't locking in on competition plans just yet. He's weighing a grayshirt (practicing with the Cowboy RTC without enrolling full-time) or a traditional redshirt, preserving eligibility while soaking up college-level grinding. "I'll test the waters and decide," he told reporters. But make no mistake, Pokes fans – this is huge. Lower weights have been a question mark for Oklahoma State this season, and injecting a technician like Forrest – projected at 133 or 141 – into practice could elevate everyone and inject a world champion into an already loaded wrestling room at Oklahoma State.

Head coach David Taylor, the Olympic gold medalist who flipped the script on Cowboy recruiting, landed Forrest back in February over blue-bloods like Penn State, Iowa, and Ohio State. The connection was instant: similar styles, shared hunger for four NCAA titles. Taylor's already built the nation's top 2026 class around him, with studs like Dreshaun Ross, Jordyn Raney, and Jayden Raney. Adding Forrest early? That's hitting the accelerator on an engine already humming.

This was a move everyone in the wrestling community knew had the potential of taking place. Forrest had been spotted in Cowboy orange at many of Oklahoma State's duals this season and writing was on the wall. Now the only question that remains is do we see Forrest on the mat in 2026?

Jax Forrest is all-in on Stillwater, ready to help restore the glory. As he packs his bags, one thing's clear: the mat in Gallagher-Iba is about to get a whole lot tougher.

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Taylor Skieens
TAYLOR SKIEENS

Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.

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