Highland Park eighth-grader takes the hard road to earn a state championship

Plenty of challenges were ahead of Highland Park wrestler Jayme Cohen if he wanted a state championship.

Wrestlers who already beat him and the bracket’s No. 1 seed among them. But, according to his father, RJ Cohen, Jayme — an eighth-grader at Edgewood Middle School in Highland Park — had something the others didn’t.

“He wasn’t like a superstar that was going to destroy everyone,” RJ Cohen said. “But he walked in with a confidence no else had. I tried to talk to him and he said, ‘I got this.’ It was pretty cool.”

That confidence, combined with years of hard work, propelled Jayme Cohen to a 4-0 record at the Illinois Elementary School Association’s state championships March 7-8. When it was over, he was atop the podium for the Class AA 100-pound division.

Another local, Jake Pechter of Deerfield’s Caruso Middle School, won the 100-pound in Class A, and Drew Becker, of Deerfield’s Shepard Middle School, placed second at Class A 65 pounds.

Jayme Cohen, who placed third in the sectional round, won his championship match with a major decision, 13-4. Before then, he recorded a pin in the semifinals, a technical fall (17-2) in the quarters and an 11-8 overtime victory in his opener.

His coach, Andrew Duback, said Jayme wrestled all three years for Northwood (a combined North Shore District 112 program), qualifying for but not placing at state in 2024.

“We are very proud of him and all his hard work,” Duback wrote to The Record.

RJ Cohen said Jayme has put in the work, spending “pretty much every day on the mats,” and sometimes twice a day as he trains in both judo and wrestling.

“He enjoys it and works really hard,” RJ Cohen said of his son.

RJ Cohen co-owns Cohen Brothers Judo and Wrestling in Vernon Hills, and Jayme began with martial arts. He started wrestling competitively in sixth grade.

Jayme’s growth ever since, leading to his state-championship run, is an example of hard work paying off, his dad said.

“He’s one of those kids that what he did, anyone could do if they put the work in. It’s inspiring,” RJ Cohen said.

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