Pahrump teen climbs to top 25 in IBJJF No-Gi rankings

Zackery Wilson’s latest gold medal in San Diego pushed the Pahrump teenager into the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s top 25 lightweight No-Gi rankings, a rare climb for an 18-year-old still building his career from Nye County.

Wilson, a blue belt whose full name is Zackery James Wilson, has medaled in every tournament he entered this season. He competed in nine events in 2026 across NABJJ, NAGA, Grappling Industries and the IBJJF, and his win at the IBJJF Spring Open in San Diego on May 10 helped lift him to 21st among adult male blue-belt lightweight No-Gi competitors and 233rd overall among adult male blue belts in No-Gi.

The ranking reflects more than tournament results. Wilson trains 11 times a week, splitting his time between Mix It Up Academy in Pahrump and Zenith Jiu Jitsu in Las Vegas under Robert Drysdale. That schedule gives him access to the kind of coaching and competition structure most rural athletes do not have close to home, but it also underscores the miles, time and family coordination required to keep up with a national-level pace from Pahrump.

Wilson began adult jiu-jitsu classes at Mix It Up Academy in July 2021, when he was 13. The academy had reopened that month at Calvary Chapel in Pahrump, on East Mickey Street, and its kids’ program was already nearing capacity by January, a sign that Wilson’s progress is part of a bigger local growth story. The gym is also closely tied to his family. Robert Wilson and Kimberly Wilson are both central figures in the academy, and Robert Wilson is the owner-head instructor.

Zenith Jiu Jitsu adds another layer to that development. The Las Vegas academy has operated for about 14 years, and Drysdale oversees the program as a Jiu-Jitsu World Champion. For Wilson, that means his path to the top of the rankings runs through a local training room in Pahrump and a higher-level room in Las Vegas, with competition travel to places like San Diego folded in along the way.

His rise offers Nye County a concrete measure of what it takes to build an elite competitor outside a major metro area: steady coaching, repeated travel, a packed weekly training load and a family willing to make the structure work. If Wilson keeps climbing, he could become one of the most visible homegrown athletes Pahrump has produced in years.