Penn State Wrestling: PJ Duke Scores Stunning Pin to Qualify for Senior Worlds

Freestyle wrestling's biggest story of the year is a recent high school graduate who will be a freshman at Penn State this fall. But PJ Duke will miss some time during his first semester of college to compete at the 2025 Senior World Wrestling Championships.

Duke, part of a special Penn State wrestling recruiting class, scored the biggest upset of the Final X event Saturday in Newark. Barely three months after winning his fourth New York state high school title, Duke pinned four-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis to complete a breathtaking comeback and win the men's 70 kg freestyle division at Final X.

After scoring two remarkable victories in the best-of-three series, the 18-year-old Duke will represent the U.S. at the Senior World Championships in September in Croatia. Duke already has qualified for the U20 worlds as well. And how Duke punched his ticket to Senior worlds was the highlight of Saturday's Final X event at the Prudential Center.

Duke, who won the Junior Hodge Trophy as the nation's top high school wrestler, lost his opening bout to Diakomihalis in the best-of-three series by a 10-0 technical fall. Diakomihalis, who won four NCAA titles at Cornell, controlled the opener from start to finish.

But Duke took over from there. He won the second match 17-10 in a exceptional test of scoring. Duke was strong, more agile and quicker in taking it to the 2022 world silver medalist. Duke punctuated his victory with a pin and a backflip.

Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Duke hit a takedown and quickly put Diakomihalis onto his back. Even Duke appeared surprised at what happened.