OSU Wrestling Commit Jax Forrest Wins U.S. Open as High School Junior

Only a junior in high school, Jax Forrest beat a bunch of grown men this weekend to win the U.S. Open.

Forrest, who committed to Oklahoma State in February, beat 2018 national champion Seth Gross in the 61 kg finals via a 19-8 technical fall. The win secures Forrest a spot in Final X against Vito Arujau for a spot on the senior national team.

Jax Forrest and Seth Gross lit up the scoreboard in their U.S. Open finals match 🤯 but Jax Forrest gets the tech-fall and a spot in FINAL X where he will take on Vito Arujau for a World team spot pic.twitter.com/vFfs4QpnRa

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) April 27, 2025

Forrest’s road to his title this weekend also included wins against Northern Iowa’s Kyler Gollhofer (10-0), 2016 national champ from Cornell Nahshon Garrett (10-0) and Ohio State freshman Ben Davino (4-0).

Forrest wasn’t the only Cowboy-related winner from the weekend.

Wyatt Hendrickson went from winning a national championship to winning the 125 kg Open bracket. He beat Demetrius Thomas 14-3 in the finals to secure his spot in Final X. He outscored his four opponents this weekend a combined 35-7.

Wyatt Hendrickson secured the tech AND a spot in Final X! pic.twitter.com/3Vs50wLb7u

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) April 27, 2025

It was also a big weekend for the Cowboy RTC. Along with getting Forrest and Hendrickson to Final X, Zahid Valencia and Joey McKenna won the 86 kg and 65 kg brackets, respectively.

Valencia won probably the most hyped bout of the weekend, beating four-time national champ and four-time world champ Kyle Dake 8-4 in the finals.

McKenna beat Jesse Mendez, a two-time national champ at Ohio State, 3-2 in the finals.

Dean Hamiti Jr. also made the finals after winning a national title in the college season. He dropped his finals match to Evan Wick 9-1.

The U20 and U17 brackets continue into Sunday where some current and future Pokes will wrestle.

Here is the Cowboy RTC’s full list of placers:

Jax Forrest (61 kg) — 1st
Joey McKenna (65 kg) — 1st
Carter Young (65 kg) — 6th
Dean Hamiti Jr. (79 kg) — 2nd
Brayden Thompson (86 kg) — 8th
Zahid Valencia (86 kg) — 1st
Dustin Plott (92 kg) — 5th
Wyatt Hendrickson (125 kg) — 1st