Arguably New Jersey’s most versatile and dominant athlete is going to be a Hokie.
Jimmy Mullen, a championship wrestler and a three-star rated football player, announced Saturday night that he’d verbally committed to wrestle and play football at Virginia Tech.
A star two-sport athlete at St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, New Jersey, Mullen has put together a resume as a feared grappler on the mat and a physical presence on the defensive line.
Watch Jimmy Mullen’s Wrestling + Football JSZ Highlights
Mullen is a world-renowned grappler who has wrestled at the highest levels available to him. With Team USA, he placed second in freestyle and fourth in greco-roman at the 2021 Cadet World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The St. Joe’s star is also a two-time New Jersey heavyweight state champion who won titles in 2020 as a freshman and 2022 as a junior. He opted out of the 2021 NJSIAA state tournament to compete with the Cadet National team.
Right now, Mullen is in the midst of his final football season with the Green Knights. He is a team captain and a four-year varsity starter on the defensive line. He’s rated by numerous scouting services as a three-star player. Mullen is a two-time JSZ All-Zone selection on the defensive line.
Mullen was heavily recruited by some of the nation’s top wrestling programs (Penn State, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, North Carolina, among others) but made it known during that process that he also wanted to play college football. It’s clear that both coaching staffs at Virginia Tech gave Mullen that opportunity.
The St. Joe’s wrestling program will be competing in some of the East Coast’s elite tournaments once the season starts in December. Mullen is shaping up to be the nation’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight and will aim to win championships at Beast of the East, Powerade Wrestling Tournament and Escape the Rock.
