Standout LB AJ Wentland has signed to play in the Japanese X-League with IBM Big Blue
IBM Big Blue have announced that American linebacker AJ Wentland has been signed for the Japanese 2026 X-League season.
The 6’3, 225-pound Rockford, Illinois native was the backbone of the Wroclaw Panthers defense for three European League of Football seasons (2023, 2024, 2025) averaging 13 tackles a game. In 2025, he led the league with an astonishing 144 tackles including 7 tackles for loss.
In his four seasons in the ELF he recorded 582 tackles in 45 games including 10 sacks and 37 tackles for loss.
The 31-year old joined the Panthers partway through the 2023 season after the collapse of the Leipzig Kings. Although he only played in nine games that season, he finished third in tackles with 112, earning him first team 2023 ELF All-Star honors.
Beginning his professional career in Dresden with the Dresden Monarchs of the German Football League in 2018, Wentland has been one of the most well-decorated and respected players in the European football scene, winning a German Bowl with the Monarchs in 2021, months after winning an Austrian Bowl with the Swarco Raiders Tirol.
AJ Wentland hauling down Allgäu Comets ball carrier while with the Dresden Monarchs Photo: Dresden Monarchs
He spent his 2022 season with the now-folded Leipzig Kings, where he led the league in tackling earning him a first team spot on the ELF All-Star team.
Following the German Football League’s 2020 season cancellation, Wentland joined the Kuopio Steelers in Finland. As a member of the Steelers defense, Wentland made 36.5 tackles, four and half tackles for a loss, and one sack. The former GFL All-Star’s play helped Kuopio win its first Maple Bowl championship. His play in Finland earned him All–Pandemic team honors.
Before coming to Europe, Wentland was a standout two-time All-American linebacker with the McKendree University Bearcats (NCAA, Division II) where he was also a three-time All GLVC (Great Lakes Valley Conference) selection. Over three years, he amassed a total of 412 tackles including 145 in 11 games in his senior year, 2017. He also had two touchdowns, three interceptions, and six forced fumbles.
IBM Big Blue struggled in the 2025 season finishing with a 2-4 record and with one of the worst defenses in the X-League. The addition of Wentland will definitely make a difference for the 2026 season.
