Jayden James walked off the Boardwalk Hall mats defeated and demoralized last year.

His face was downcast. Tears flowed. James was second in the state, but that wasn’t good enough.

Late Saturday afternoon, you couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face.

First place was plenty good enough.

The 150-pound James finished off a brilliant junior year with a pin in 1:50 over Delsea’s Jamar Dixon to win the state championship.

And it was mighty sweet.

“I’ve worked hard my whole high school career,” he said. “This is the thing I didn’t have.”

He has it now – and there was no doubt it.

All season long, he has been the main man in his weight throughout New Jersey. He capped his 43-0 season off magnificently, mowing through his bracket with wrecking ball-like efficiency.

He had two first-minute pins, a second-period pin, and a technical fall before disposing of Dixon.

The state championship comes on the heels of a third-place showing as a freshman and second last year, when he lost in the 138-pound final to St. Peter’s Prep’s Caedyn Ricciardi, 5-2.

He left nothing to chance this time. With the states looming late last month, he would often have talks with his dad, Nolan.

“We talked about scoring points and doing what you love and having fun,” he said. “Do that, and the wrestling will take care of itself.” 

He took that advice to heart.

There was simply no stopping him this year.

“I wouldn’t say the last two years were disappointments, it’s just part of the process,” said James. “I wasn’t going to be stopped this year. My mentality was different.”

His technique wasn’t so bad, either.

“He is as solid wrestler as there ever has been in New Jersey history,” Delbarton assistant coach Guy Russo said. “You can take a great kid or a terrible kid … he’ll teck both kids, and you’ll have no idea who the great kid was, or the terrible kid. He just works the same way with everyone. 

“Nobody can touch him.”

Nobody did in AC, that’s for sure.

“He’s 16 and won’t be 17 until June,” coach Bryan Stoll said. “He has a lot of goals like making the World team. How many 16-year-olds think like that?”

He was otherworldly at Boardwalk Hall. No tears this time.

In the Thursday morning first round, he disposed of Colts Neck’s Matthew Anderson in 39 seconds and then did one better in the pre-quarterfinals, needing just 29 seconds to deck Shawnee’s Chris Ahrens.

In the quarters, it was St. Peter’s Prep’s Joseph Ruiz’s turn to be flattened by James, this time in 2:53.

James then tecked Delran’s Jackson Weller in the state semis, 19-3 (2:52).

“It’s something I wanted, this is the thing that I didn’t have,” he said. “Coming out here dominating, having fun, it’s a great feeling.”

It’s the way James has rolled over everyone all season.

James went through the entire Delbarton season – frankly, as demanding a schedule as you’ll find on the high school level – unscathed.

He won Powerade with a 16-4 major over Lake Highland Prep’s Zeno Moore, who is ranked seventh in the country. James finds himself ranked second nationally behind only Daniel Zepeda of Gilroy, CA. 

“I don’t coach everyone, only some of the kids,” Russo said. “I’ll be with someone else with my back turned and, every time I walk in and Jayden is wrestling, he’s up 9-10 points. Every time.”

The brutal season-long work in the Delbarton room has paid off. His physical wars with fellow state champion Alessio Perentin are now the stuff of legend.

It has all paid off.

“(The last two years) just sharpened my mindset,” said James. “I just had to go back to practice and get better. Let’s keep working, and it shows. This is awesome, but I have to win a world championship and keep going.”