"Mission Failed" - Jax Forrest expresses disappointment after heartbreaking defeat at World Wrestling Championships

Jax Forrest made his feelings known about being disappointed with his performance at the World Wrestling Championships a few days after the defeat. The championships commenced on September 13 and will wrap up on September 21 in Zagreb, Croatia.

Forrest competed in the 61kg category bronze medal showdown against Kazakhstan's Assylzhan Yessengeldi, which witnessed several challenges, a series of points, and more. Eventually, after a head-to-head clash, Yessengeldi dominated the round, registering a 10-8 win against the 18-year-old.

The latter delivered impressive performances throughout the preliminaries, giving a tough challenge to three-time world champion Zavur Uguev in the semi-final round. However, he fell short of earning a podium finish during his bout against Yessengeldi and returned home with a fifth-place finish. Shortly after this loss, he expressed his disappointment over his performance by sharing a picture of him on X and penning a note that read,

"Mission Failed. U23s next," wrote Jax Forrest.

Following this, one of the wrestling insiders, Justin Bach, who is the host of a wrestling podcast, Baschania, praised the 18-year-old for competing with the best in the world. He wrote:

"Jax Forrest. Only 18 years old and is right there with the best in the world."

But, not satisfied with his performance, Forrest replied to the abovementioned tweet, showing discontentment, that read:

"Not good enough."

The World Wrestling Championships journey wasn't easy for Forrest, as ahead of the Final X, which is the final stage of the World Team Trials process, he lost one of his close friends.

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Jax Forrest shared an emotional detail about overcoming the loss of his close friend

After competing at the Final X, where he bested Vito Arujau to earn a spot in the world team, Jax Forrest sat for a post-match conference, where he opened up about losing one of his close friends just a few days ahead of Final X. Speaking about the emotional adversities he navigated during this time, he revealed that coincidentally, the date of the tournament was the day of the funeral.

"Yeah, I mean it's everything. It's um, you know, one of my really good friends, Liz, uh, Spotty, she passed away, um, I think on the 10th (June). So it would've been four days before the final X, and you know I was crushed. You know, she was one who was a big Oklahoma State fan," Jax Forrest said [3:10 onwards].

Showing the picture of his friend, he added:

"I'm sure all you guys have seen her face, seen her face, let me show you [shows her photo]. It's crazy, on Final X [June 14], that was the day of her funeral, so you know Dad brought this down for some good luck, and you know it was a really hard time for me."

In April 2025, Jax Forrest issued a grateful message after earning a spot at Final X, following his triumph at the US Open Wrestling Championships against Seth Gross.

Edited by Tushhita Barua