Jaxen Patrick Forrest (born October 13, 2006) is an American

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms. In freestyle, he is the 2025 US World Team member and National champion, as well as the Pan American champion.

Career

High school

Born and raised in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

, Forrest moved to

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

to attend Bishop McCort High School, where he is currently a junior. A PIAA state champion, Forrest holds a 21–2 record in collegiate competition, and has won multiple collegiate open tournaments. Competing in the

age-groups, he claimed a U17 World silver medal in 2022.

2024

In April, Forrest made his senior level debut and qualified to the US Olympic Team Trials by claiming the US Last Chance Qualifier crown, racking up dominant wins over NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, veteran Josh Rodriguez and All-American Devan Turner. Later in the month, Forrest competed at the US Olympic Team Trials, where, after defeating All-American Liam Cronin, he suffered a loss to

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Thomas Gilman. Competing for third after a pair of forfeit wins, he was defeated by U17 World champion

Marcus Blaze Marcus Glenn Blaze (born November 23, 2006) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms. In freestyle, he is a US National Team member, and was a U20 World medalist in 2024 and the U17 World champion in 2023. ...

2025

In February, Forrest, a high school junior, committed to wrestle for David Taylor at the

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. In April, Forrest claimed the US Open National championship at 61 kilograms, notably defeating NCAA champions Nahshon Garrett in the quarterfinals and Seth Gross in the finals, both by

technical fall In amateur wrestling, a technical fall, or technical superiority, is a victory condition satisfied by outscoring one's opponent by a specified number of points. It is a mercy rule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as both a noun and verb. Hi ...

. As the winner of the tournament, Forrest qualified for

Final X Final X is an annual series of wrestling events that determine the US Senior World/Olympic Team Members at each weight class. History Final X was founded on January 16, 2018, after FloSports and USA Wrestling partnered and launched the series ...

, where he would face

Vito Arujau for the US World Team spot. Originally scheduled to take place at the Final X event, the series was postponed after Arujau's request following an injury. In the meantime, Forrest claimed a Pan American title after three victories over foreign opposition, in May. In July, Forrest faced Arujau at the Fargo National tournament, clinching up two upset victories in a row to dethrone the

and become the United States' rep at 61 kilograms for the 2025 World Championships, which will take place later in the year.

Freestyle record

! colspan="7", Senior Freestyle Matches , - ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Score ! Date ! Event ! Location , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 15–2 , align=left, Vito Arujau , style="font-size:88%", 7–2 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2, July 14, 2025 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=2, 2025 US Fargo National Championships , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=2,

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

, - , Win , 14–2 , align=left, Vito Arujau , style="font-size:88%", 4–3 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 13–2 , align=left, Joseph Silva , style="font-size:88%", TF 11–0 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3, May 10, 2025 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=3, 2025 Pan American Championships , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=3,

Monterrey, Mexico Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, - , Win , 12–2 , align=left, Josh Kramer , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - , Win , 11–2 , align=left, Esteban Perez , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 10–2 , align=left, Seth Gross , style="font-size:88%", TF 19–8 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, April 25–26, 2025 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2025 US Open National Championships , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, - , Win , 9–2 , align=left, Ben Davino , style="font-size:88%", 4–0 , - , Win , 8–2 , align=left, Nahshon Garrett , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - , Win , 7–2 , align=left, Kyle Gollhofer , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - , Win , 6–2 , align=left, Nathanie Johnson , style="font-size:88%", TF 13–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Loss , 5–2 , align=left,

, style="font-size:88%", 1–8 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, April 19–20, 2024 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=5, 2024 US Olympic Team Trials , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=5,

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...

, - , Win , , align=left, Zane Richards , style="font-size:88%", FF , - , Win , , align=left, Nick Suriano , style="font-size:88%", FF , - , Loss , 5–1 , align=left, Thomas Gilman , style="font-size:88%", 4–5 , - , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Liam Cronin , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=7 , , - , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Nathan Tomasello , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4, April 6–7, 2024 , style="font-size:88%" rowspan=4, 2024 US Last Chance Qualifier , style="text-align:left;font-size:88%;" rowspan=4,

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

, - , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Josh Rodriguez , style="font-size:88%", 13–4 , - , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Devan Turner , style="font-size:88%", TF 10–0 , - , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Gary Steen , style="font-size:88%", TF 12–2 , -

References

{{Reflist Living people 2006 births American male sport wrestlers People from Durham County, North Carolina People from Orange County, North Carolina Sportspeople from Orange County, North Carolina Sportspeople from Durham County, North Carolina 21st-century American sportsmen Pan American Wrestling Championships medalists