Penn State wrestling commit Jayden James wins two golds at 2025 U17 Pan-American Championships
Penn State wrestling Class of 2026 verbal commitment Jayden James won a pair of gold medals over the weekend at the U17 Pan-American Championships. The senior-to-be and reigning 150-pound New Jersey state champ dominated his competition in both the Greco and freestyle disciplines en route to a pair of first place finishes, one of which came Thursday before accomplishing the other on Saturday.
In the Greco tournament, James beat his first two opponents by fall before winning by decision, 11-8, over Heder Saldana Bernardino of Mexico to seal the deal. In the freestyle tournament, he stopped all of his matches early by building quick 10-0 leads. He needed just three minutes, 30 seconds total to win the four matches required to win his bracket. He also beat the top seed along the way to winning freestyle gold.
James is now qualified for the U17 World Championships. He will compete at those for Team USA July 28-August 3 in Athens, Greece. He may also do some folkstyle tournaments over the summer, as well, before gearing up for his final high school season.
James is one of two Penn State commits in the Class of 2026. The other is Pa., native Sam Herring. The Lions flipped James from Virginia Tech, where he was previously committed, earlier this year.
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Watch this week’s Penn State wrestling show
The Penn State wrestling show from Blue-White Illustrated is back with a recap of Final X plus the latest on the Nittany Lions’ 2025-2026 schedule.
Host Thomas Frank Carr and reporter Greg Pickel start this week’s show with a look at how past, present, and future members of head coach Cael Sanderson’s program, plus Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members, performed at the event that sets the U.S. National team. Incoming freshman PJ Duke stole the show in Newark and thus dominates the conversation on this episode. Despite not yet receiving his high school diploma, the New York native is going to World’s as his country’s representative at 70 kilograms after stunning Cornell great Yianni Diakomihalis with a pin to win their best-of-three series 2-1. Duke, who is a four-time state champ, capped it off with a back flip seconds after the referee slapped the mat to end the match.
After discussing Duke, the hosts cover Penn State’s other World team members: Levi Haines and Kyle Snyder. They then discuss the Lions who lost at Final X and what it means moving forward. They close the show with Big Ten wrestling schedule thoughts
Watch the latest Penn State wrestling show from Blue-White Illustrated below! Or, find it on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify.
