Wrestling prodigy PJ Duke makes his feelings known about joining Penn State’s legendary squad

American wrestler PJ Duke recently opened up about his stunning victory at the World Team Trials. The former high school champion aims to represent USA at the Senior World Championships.

In his conversation with the FloWrestling channel after the World Team Trials, Duke talked about his equation with the Penn State Nittany Lions, as well as his thoughts about his childhood hero Yianni Diakomihalis [whom he will face in the Final X tournament].

When asked about his thoughts of joining the Penn State team, and how they treated him, Duke mentioned,

"I mean, it's just incredible, I'm so excited for us to come, get in that Penn State room. I'm so honored to be in that room and, it's just amazing. I can't even put into words how excited I am to be here."

For the unversed, PJ Duke is a decorated wrestler who hails from the Minisink Valley High School, which is situated in Slate Hill, New York. The teenage wrestler also credited teammate and Olympic medalist Kyle Dake [who also represented the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club for a while] in the interview for his success, and is excited to compete against his childhood idol Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X. In his words,

"Yianni's one of those people that I look up to in my whole youth and middle school career. He's the poster boy for New York, him and Dake [Kyle Dake]. So now, I'm almost a part of it, you know, Dake being a teammate/ coach, and Yanni you know, they're incredible People."

Final X will be conducted on June 14, i.e. a couple of months before the World Wrestling Championships.

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PJ Duke opens up about his accomplishment at the World Team Trials

PJ Duke talks about his achievement at the World Team Trials [Image Source : PJ Duke's Instagram]

PJ Duke won big at the World Team trials, improving his performance from the third position he had attained last year. Duke had defeated former NCAA champion, Antrell Taylor, in the quarterfinals, and then another NCAA champion, Ridge Lovett, in the semifinals of the World Team Trials enroute to his qualification to Final X.

After making it to the Final X tournament, the teenage wrestler shared glimpses of his journey at the World Team Trials. He wrote in the caption of his Instagram post,

"Had a great weekend in Louisville. See you at FinalX!"

After Duke won the World Team Trials tournament, his trainer Khaled Dassan shared an emotional post on his Instagram profile, where the three-word caption read,

"Built On Trust."

PJ Duke has already qualified for the U23 World Championships, which shall be held in Novi Sad in Serbia in late October. The teenage wrestler now aims to make it to the Senior World Championships, which shall be held at Zagreb in Croatia.