Penn State wrestling commit Jayden James wins U17 World Championship; here's how he helped Team USA win a title

Jayden James is a World champion. The Class of 2026 Penn State wrestling commit and Team USA member won the 71-kilogram (156.5 pounds) men’s freestyle bracket at the U17 World Championships on Sunday in Athens, Greece. He did so by beating Iran’s Arsham Mostafa 9-2 in the finals. The future Nittany Lion took an early 2-0 lead with a passivity point, followed by earning a step out point. He then racked up two takedowns back-to-back to swell his lead to 6-0. James would go on to give up a takedown, making it 6-2, but a reversal and takedown led him to the margin of victory. Team USA also won the team race. It needed to win all of its Sunday matches while Iran lost all of theirs. And that’s exactly what happened.

James is now a three-time International medalist, although this is obviously his biggest accomplishment yet. Earlier this year, he won gold in Greco-Roman and freestyle at the U17 Pan-American Championships.

A Penn State commit since flipping away from Virginia Tech to the Nittany Lions in March, James hails from Delbarton, N.J. He is the reigning 150-pound state champ in the Garden State. He will wrestle up in weight for his senior season, although it’s not yet clear which spot he’ll slot into for Delbarton.

Recapping James’ trip to U17 Worlds

James punched his ticket to the finals with a thrilling win by fall over Yeghishe Mosesyan of Armenia in the semifinals.

“With the score tied, 3-3, Mosesyan exposed James on a turn, but James came out on top and buried a deep half for the fall,” Derik Schwanz writes for USA Wrestling.

To get to the semifinals, the future Penn State wrestler beat his first two opponents by a combined score of 18-2.

“In the opening round, he dominated Georgia’s Koba Goguadze, the 2025 U17 European bronze medalist, with a 12-2 technical fall,” Schwanz writes. “James set the tone early with a takedown and displayed excellent scrambling ability, capitalizing with low leg and ankle attacks. He followed that up in the second round by overwhelming Rashad Veysalov of Azerbaijan, earning another technical fall victory. In the quarterfinals, James shut out Uzbekistan’s Farrukhbek Jumanazarov 6-0, looking crafty from the mat and creating scoring opportunities.”

More World Championship action is on the way for the Nittany Lions

James kicks off a multi-month run of age-group World Championships with a gold medal. He will almost certainly not be the only Penn State wrestling connection to do so between now and October. A five-man Nittany Lion contingent is part of the 10-man Team USA that competes at the U20 World Championships later this month. The senior-level World Wrestling Championships are then in September. And, last but not least, numerous Lions will compete at the U23 Championships in October.

Here’s the full rundown:

World Wrestling Championships (Sept. 13 – 21 in Zagreb, Croatia)

PSU ties on Team USA include incoming freshman PJ Duke (70 kilograms), senior Levi Haines (79 kilograms), and NLWC member Kyle Snyder (97 kilograms)

U23 World Wrestling Championships (Oct. 20-26 in Serbia)

Penn State ties include:

57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (St. Charles, Mo./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg WC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg – PJ Duke (Slate Hill, N.Y./KD Training Center)

74 kg – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – Levi Haines (Arendtsville, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Rocco Welsh (Fredericktown, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Josh Barr (Davison, Mich./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

U20 World Wrestling Championships (Aug. 14-18 in Bulgaria)

PSU ties include incoming freshmen Marcus Blaze (61 kilograms), PJ Duke (70 kilograms), and William Henckel (79 kilograms), plus redshirt freshmen Connor Mirasola (92 kilograms), and Cole Mirasola (125 kilograms)