Jax Forrest storms NCAA opening round as Oklahoma State sends full lineup to Cleveland
jax forrest stepped onto the national stage Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio, and delivered an immediate statement in the first round of the NCAA wrestling national championship. The Bishop McCort graduate and freshman Oklahoma State wrestler won his opener by fall at 133 pounds, setting up a quick turnaround later the same night. The moment landed back home, too, where current students and faculty gathered for a watch party to back their former classmate.
Opening-round win in Cleveland puts jax forrest back on the mat Thursday night
In the first round Thursday, jax forrest defeated Oklahoma’s Carter Schmidt 14-0 in the 133-pound weight class, then finished the match by fall. Forrest is scheduled to wrestle again Thursday night around 7 ET in the second round, keeping his championship run moving on a tight timeline.
At Bishop McCort, the support was organized and visible: current students and faculty held a watch party at the Bradley Center, turning the opening-round bout into a shared, live moment for the school community.
Oklahoma State arrives with all 10 qualifiers as the lineup targets peak performance
Oklahoma State entered this week’s NCAA Championships as one of six programs bringing a full lineup to Cleveland, with all 10 Cowboys qualified. The team’s seeding strength is also notable: nine Cowboys are seeded in the top eight, led by top-seeded 133-pounder jax forrest.
Forrest’s #1 seed was built on a dominant Big 12 Championships run in Tulsa, where he outscored opponents by a combined 70-12 margin, bonused his way through the tournament without allowing a takedown, and won his first Big 12 title. After his Big 12 finals win, Forrest framed the bigger goal plainly: “It’s just wrestling, ” Forrest said. “It’s what I train every day, multiple times a day, early mornings, late nights, is for times like this. I wasn’t thinking about Big 12s until a few weeks ago. In my mind, this is just a stepping stone to nationals. ”
Oklahoma State coach David Taylor also stressed that the focus has been forward-facing, even after the Cowboys claimed their second straight Big 12 title. “This is great, but we’ve never one time talked about winning this tournament, ” Taylor said. “We’re focused on being our best version at the end of the year. I think we had a good tournament; we just got to keep making improvements. We’ve got 10 guys going to the national tournament, believing they can win nationals. Just gotta keep helping them get a little bit better. ”
Immediate reactions: coach calls the moment “surreal, ” while Forrest points to sharper focus
Bishop McCort wrestling coach Jack Bassett described what it means to see Forrest competing for a national championship in striking terms. “It’s truly surreal when you think about it, ” Bassett said. “I was explaining to some students today that it’s equivalent to a high school senior playing half his basketball season and leaving school and going and playing for Duke in the in the final four; that’s the equivalence of Jack’s doing what he’s doing today. It’s unbelievable. ”
Forrest, meanwhile, offered a candid read on what needed tightening before Cleveland. “We came in here kind of overlooking it, ” he said. “I feel like a couple of us, we’re so focused on the nationals and, ‘What’s my seed gonna be when I win?’ Instead of, ‘I need to go take care of business, and then my seed will take care of itself. ’ I think just regrouping, some of us are a little banged up, just getting healthy, and just get on top of it, making sure we’re in the best shape of our lives for Thursday. ”
What’s next in Cleveland
The next immediate checkpoint is Thursday night around 7 ET, when jax forrest returns for his second-round match in the NCAA bracket. With Oklahoma State bringing a full 10-man lineup to Cleveland and nine seeded in the top eight, the next sessions will test how quickly strong seeding turns into points and momentum on the national stage.
