Jax Forrest couldn’t have asked for a better start to his college career. 

So far, the former pound-for-pound #1 high school prospect pinned his Bedlam rival 47 seconds into his first college match, sending Gallagher-Iba Arena into a frenzy.

Then last weekend, Forrest claimed a title in the Cyclone Open.

Forrest took home the championship at 133 pounds after beating Cuban two-time U23 World champion Reineri Andreu Ortega 4-0 in the finals. Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor said he’s trying to give Forrest more opportunities.

“He looked good, I think he was able to just get a couple more matches,” Taylor said. “Obviously, you have this electric one here, and not every time you wrestle is going to be like that. Just trying to give him a well-rounded opportunity to see what it’s like. The Ortega kid in the finals was pretty good… The kid was kind of a good match for Jax. He demonstrated some really good patience, and then the scrambling ability was a difference maker.”

Forrest wrestled attached in the Cyclone Open. Meanwhile, Ronnie Ramirez wrestled unattached in the Roger Denker Open, where he also claimed a title. Forrest, #9 at 133 pounds, has three more opportunities to wrestle and preserve his redshirt. Taylor still isn’t giving any clues as to what the future at 133 looks like.

“You’ve got five dates, and we just want to give (the freshmen) a well-rounded experience,” Taylor said. “You got home matches, you got away matches, you got a tournament to go wrestle. We just gotta keep kind of figuring that stuff out, but it’s still something we’re working through.”

In addition to Forrest and Ramirez, Oklahoma State has Richie Figueroa, a 2024 NCAA champion at 125 pounds for Arizona State, as a viable option at the weight.  

Getting Back Into Action

After suffering an injury over the summer, the Cowboys have been without Tagen Jamison, who was a blood round finisher last year at 141 pounds. From 2024 to 2025, Jamison saw steady improvement as a Cowboy. Jamison increased his win percentage from 62.96 percent to 77.78 percent. The same goes for his bonus percentage, which increased 19.7 percent from 2024 to 2025.

In the Cyclone Open, wrestling unattached, Jamison was on the mat for the first time since last year’s NCAA Championships. Now at 149 pounds, Jamison went 4-1 with three bonus-point victories before losing in the finals to Missouri’s Seth Mendoza 5-1. Taylor said he liked what he saw out of Jamison.

“It was his first tournament back, and he looked good,” Taylor said. “He had five matches, and he’s just working himself back into wrestling shape. (Oklahoma State 149-pounder) Casey (Swiderski is) doing a great job right now. We have a lot of guys on our team, so we’re just focused on everyone getting matches. I think that the biggest thing about the Cyclone Open was just a lot of guys getting matches who maybe haven’t gotten matches.”

Friend To Foe

With the emergence of true freshman #6 Landon Robideau, it became apparent early on this year that the weight was his to lose. With the logjam at the middleweights, Teague Travis, a former Oklahoma State starter at 149 and 157, elected to transfer back home to Columbia, Missouri, and wrestle for coach Brian Smith and the Tigers. Taylor discussed potentially seeing his former wrestler Friday night when the Cowboys wrestle the Tigers. 

“Obviously, everyone here had good relationships with Teague, but the minute he decided to wrestle somewhere else, he’s not on our team anymore,” Taylor said. “He knows that. He’s tough, a really tough kid. Landon and him had to wrestle off earlier this year, and they’ll likely be wrestling probably this weekend.”

Travis is ranked #16 in the country at 157 pounds.