Jax Forrest put NCAA title belt in closet. Here's why Oklahoma State wrestling star did it
· Yahoo Sports
STILLWATER — For a glimpse into just how driven to be a multiple-time NCAA wrestling champion Oklahoma State’s Jax Forrest is, the current location of the title belt he was given after he won the 133-pound bracket last weekend tells the story.
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“I put mine in my closet,” the Cowboy freshman said. “I put it up on the shelf up there next to all my clothes. Once there’s multiple of them, then they can come out. When there’s one, I don’t want it to be a distraction.”
OSU’s three freshman NCAA champions and coach David Taylor met with the media Thursday after returning from their runner-up finish at the national tournament.
All three champs had unique approaches to their title belt placements.
Landon Robideau, the 157-pound winner, took a similar motivational approach to Forrest, but just in an opposite fashion.
“I have this little shelf and I put it up on the wall,” Robideau said. “But there’s enough room for a couple more, so I think waking up, I can see that. I want three more on that wall.”
And what about 141-pound champ Sergio Vega?
“Mine is in Austin Johnson’s car actually,” he said. “I didn’t know where it was and I was freaking out a little bit. I didn’t know if I left it in the airport or something. (Johnson) was like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s in my car.’”
He added that he eventually hopes to put it up in his family’s home or his father’s wrestling and fitness club in Tucson, Arizona.
Taylor spoke frequently about the desire to move forward, rather than relax because of the showing at nationals — even when asked about the magnitude of being the first team in NCAA history with three freshman champions.
“I just don’t think these guys are content with that, which I think is a sign of why we were able to accomplish what we did,” he said. “I’m so proud of these guys and what they accomplished. It’s incredible. But I’m not so excited that I shut it off and I’m naive to the point where I don’t think it’s gonna be equally hard or harder to do it next year.
“You can’t have a beautiful house without a really strong foundation. These kids, they’re excited and they’re hungry and they’re not just thinking this is the end goal, which is really cool to see. And the excitement of just continuing to build.”
David Taylor: ‘We’re preparing to be national champs next year’
Penn State has won five national championships in a row and 13 of the last 15, not including 2020, when the NCAA Championships were canceled by COVID.
That run spans all the way back to the middle of Taylor’s college career with the Nittany Lions, where he won two individual titles and helped the team start the ongoing dynasty.
But now, Penn State is the force Taylor wants to stop. After finishing third in his first year coaching the Cowboys, and second this season, Taylor envisions a shift in the Nittany Lions’ dominance of the sport.
“We had a great tournament, but that tournament is over, and now it’s on to the next thing,” Taylor said. “We’re preparing to be national champs next year, and that’s what our focus is gonna be.
“Every year’s a new year. Every year, there’s a new team champion. I would say the biggest difference is, over the last 15 years, hope has been probably squashed across the country that you just can’t win anywhere else. Well, now you can. You can win here, and as a team, we’re focused on getting better. Our goal is to be national champions, and that’s what we’re working towards.”
Sergio Vega tips cap to teammate Casey Swiderski
In his post-championship interview in Cleveland, Vega was asked how he got through his first college season without being taken down a single time.
“I’ll tell you what, I gave up a lot of takedowns this year, because in the room, I was getting beat up,” Vega said Saturday after his title match. “That’s the reason I go out there and I can do good, because of all my partners. Me and Casey (Swiderski), we shared a good moment, too. I’m so grateful for him. He got me ready for that match.
“I promise you I wouldn’t be where I am without him, just months of getting beat up and fighting through those days where I’m just so frustrated because I can’t do anything to that guy. Midway through I started getting better, but man, he just helped me so much.”
Swiderski, who finished as an All-American at 149 pounds, was Vega’s primary training partner throughout the season, going back to when Vega first arrived last summer.
“Honestly, I thought he was really crazy,” Vega said with a laugh. “But it was a good crazy, like, yeah, I know that dude will back me up. And all season, he just kept showing me he will be there for me.”
Vega was named this week as the Hammer Award winner, the award given by Amateur Wrestling News to the winner of what the magazine’s writers determine to be the most competitive weight class in the NCAA Championships.
Penn State, OSU among automatic qualifiers for National Duals
The top 10 teams at the NCAA Championships were all granted automatic bids to next season’s National Duals Invitational, though four of them had already received bids.
By way of their top-four finish at last year’s National Duals, Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma State and Nebraska earned automatic invitations to the 2026 event. Now with the NCAAs wrapped up, Penn State, Stanford, Michigan, Iowa State, Minnesota and North Carolina State earned invitations as well.
Penn State declined to participate in the inaugural event, which included a $1 million purse provided by title sponsor Paycom.
The teams currently holding invitations have until mid-April to secure their spot in the second-annual event, which will be held Dec. 12-13 at the BOK Center in Tulsa.
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State wrestling sees NCAA runner-up as 'strong foundation'