John Danaher raves over Jason Nolf in former Penn State star's jiu jitsu development

World renowned jiu jitsu coach John Danaher evaluated the development of Jason Nolf in the sport following the transition from his wrestling career. Danaher, who heads Kingsway Jiu Jitsu, formerly New Wave and the Danaher Death Squad, recently had Nolf join the squad ahead of Craig Jones Invitational 2.

Team leader Gordon Ryan, considered the greatest no-gi grappler ever, won’t compete in the quintet style event this summer, but other Kingsway athletes will, and Nolf could be on the final team. He would compete in the 77 KG weight class where teams of five are pitted against others from around the globe to figure out the best jiu jitsu team in the world.

Nolf recently competed on UFC BJJ: Road to the Title and has professional grappling experience. While still raw in the sport, Danaher has been amazed by his progress.

“Another great possibility is the American wrestler, Jason Nolf,” Danaher said, via On Borrowed Time. “He’s a really interesting guy. I know Craig (Jones) said he didn’t want wrestlers in the tournament, but Jason Nolf is not your standard wrestler in jiu jitsu. He takes risks, he really tries to go for submission holds. He’s one of the most exciting and innovative and creative travelers I’ve ever seen in my life, and he just needs more time in the sport. He basically just trained jujitsu for a couple of years in his backyard with some buddies, and got surprisingly good. 

“Then when he came to train with us, he’s really talented, he’s a tremendous learner. He learns very, very rapidly. (Jason) just needs more development time, because he’ll do a chain of things really well and then make a tactical error that can cost him a match. Often because he loves to take risks that I love that about him, but sometimes he’ll take a risk beyond his current jiu jitsu skill set and get punished for it. But he’s a definite possibility.”

If Nolf takes the 77 KG spot, he’ll join wrestler and grappling prodigy Dorian Olivarez (66), two-time ADCC Gold Medalist Giancarlo Bodini (88), ADCC Silver Medalist Luke Griffith (-99) and ADCC Bronze Medalist Dan Manasoiu (+99).

Nolf is coming off a decorated collegiate and senior level wrestling career while now going to jiu jitsu. At the senior level, Nolf won gold medals at the World Cup, Grand Prix (twice) and US National Championships (twice). 

While wrestling at 74 KG, Nolf regularly ran into former four-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist Kyle Dake. Dake defeated Nolf in their best-of-three series at last year’s Olympic Trials and the 2023 and ‘22 World Team Trials. They also faced off in the 2020 Olympic Trials, won by Dake, who trained with Nolf at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

In college, Nolf was virtually unstoppable at Penn State. He went 133-4 in his career, winning three NCAA titles in a row (2017-19) while finishing second as a freshman in 2016.