Jayden Raney Reflects on His Years at Fargo and Other Future Goals

Photo courtesy of USA Wrestling

“I felt a lot of joy and happiness because after getting my hand raised for the fourth time I knew that all the training that I have done had paid off,” said Jayden Raney, the outstanding wrestler from Kentucky who has put his state on the map alongside his twin brother, Jordan. Jayden started his run of success at Fargo last year, where he was able to double champ in Freestyle and Greco. He won Freestyle at 106 and bumped up to 113 to win Greco.

Raney was unstoppable this year at Fargo. He was able to win in the Freestyle semifinals and the finals at 120 pounds by technical superiority. He was even more dominant in Greco as he was able to tech all but one opponent.

I’ve been able to have the opportunity to train with Jayden and he lives up to the high octane and explosive wrestler that we've seen at Fargo. He's never afraid to put up points and is always willing to hit a big move. His gas tank is unbelievable and that is why I think he was able to win some of his closer matches at Fargo the last two years.

Raney spoke about his biggest challenge coming into Fargo this year “My biggest challenge leading up to Fargo was my knees. I'm not sure how I injured them, but I had to miss some training time to recover,” said Raney. Recovery was a big part of Raney’s preparation as Fargo is a grueling tournament and peak performance is needed to win at the highest level.

Jayden has aspirations after High school and his goals are very level. He has plans on wrestling at the collegiate level and strives to achieve multiple NCAA titles. Outside of college Raney has plans to compete for a world spot in a similar fashion to his brother who made the Greco World team this year at U17’s. Winning a world medal is a high-level goal, but for Jayden, winning the Olympics is at the top. “My future goal in the sport of wrestling is to be an Olympic Champ” Raney stated.

In regards to his brother's world team spot, Jayden says that it has made an impact on his wrestling career as well. He said that Jordan’s success is pushing him to become better every day and he’s under the mindset that “if Jordan was able to make the team so can I”. Jordan is a part of Jayden’s success so far and vice versa, and the two helped each other to make it to the spotlight.

Kentucky Is in good hands with the Raney twins and Jayden is sure to add more recognition to Kentucky. He’s excited to compete at Super 32 again this year and is hoping to outdo his performance last year of 7th place. With the experience he's gained within the past year he has high hopes of coming back with a belt.