J'den Cox

J'den Cox (/ˈdʒeɪdən/ JAY-dən, born March 3, 1995) is an American wrestler who specializes in freestyle wrestling and folkstyle wrestling.[1][2] Cox is a two-time World Champion and an Olympic bronze medalist. In college at the University of Missouri, Cox was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion, and four-time All-American.

J'den Cox

Cox at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	J'den Cox
National team	USA
Born	(1995-03-03) March 3, 1995 Columbia, Missouri
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb) 92 kg (203 lb) 97 kg (214 lb)
Sport
Country	United States of America
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle (International) Folkstyle (College)
College team	University of Missouri
Club	Titan Mercury Wrestling Club
Medal record Representing the  United States Men's Freestyle wrestling Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 86 kg World Championships 2018 Budapest 92 kg 2019 Nur-Sultan 92 kg 2017 Paris 86 kg Pan American Wrestling Championships 2019 Buenos Aires 92 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Missouri Tigers NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 2014 Oklahoma City 197 lb 2016 New York City 197 lb 2017 St. Louis 197 lb

Early life

Cox grew up in Columbia, Missouri and began wrestling at the age of 4. The first youth state tournament Cox entered, is the last state tournament at any level he did not win.[3] Cox began training with Mike Eierman in 2006[3] and continued training with Eierman until his move to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2018.

Cox attended Hickman High School, where he was an all-state linebacker in addition to standout wrestler.[4] He was a four-time Missouri state champion, and one of the first wrestlers in Missouri to win titles at four different weight classes.[4] Cox compiled a 205–3 record in his high school career, suffering all three losses his freshman season.[4]

Cox also had success on the national level. In 2011 he won a Cadet National Championship in Greco-Roman, and took 3rd in freestyle.[5] A burgeoning rivalry developed between Cox and fellow future World Champion Kyle Snyder. Cox defeated Snyder in the Greco-Roman final while losing to Snyder in pool competition in freestyle. In 2012, Cox won a Junior National Championship in freestyle and took 3rd in Greco-Roman.[5] Again Cox and Snyder traded victories between styles, with Cox defeating Snyder in pool competition in freestyle and Snyder defeating Cox in Greco-Roman pool competition.

Cox was ranked the 3rd overall recruit in the 2013 class by FloWrestling[5] and 6th overall by InterMat.[6]

College career

Cox stayed at home in Columbia and wrestled collegiately for the Missouri Tigers. Cox bypassed a redshirt year and wrestled right away for the Tigers at 197 lbs. in the 2013–14 season. He was a MAC champion and entered the 2014 NCAA Championships as the #2 seed. Cox defeated Nick Heflin of Ohio State in final to become a national champion. At the time Cox became just the 14th true freshman national champion in NCAA Division 1 history.[7] Cox finished the season with a 38–2 record and was recognized as both the 2014 MAC Wrestler of the Year and Freshman of the Year.[4]

In his sophomore season, Cox again took home All-American honors by virtue of his 5th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Cox entered the tournament undefeated on the season and earned the #1 seed in the 197 lb. bracket. Cox suffered his first loss of the year in the semifinal to Kyle Snyder and suffered another loss to Morgan McIntosh in consolations before finishing 5th. He was a MAC champion again and finished the year with a 37–2 record.[4]

Cox returned to the top of the podium in 2016. After becoming a MAC champion for the third time, he entered the NCAA Championships as the #2 seed. Cox defeated Morgan McIntosh in the final 4–2, avenging his loss from the previous year. He joined Ben Askren as the only other two-time national champion in school history. Cox finished the season with a 33–1 record and was recognized as the MAC Wrestler of the Year for the second time.[4]

In 2017, Cox finished off his collegiate career with another national championship. He was a perfect 28–0 on the season and finished second in Hodge Trophy voting.[8] Cox was a MAC champion for the fourth time and was honored as the MAC Wrestler of the Year for the third time.[4]

Cox was the first three-time national champion in program history. Among program records, he finished his career ranked first in winning percentage (.965, 136–5) and tied for second in wins (136).[4]

International career

As a 2016 NCAA Champion, Cox was qualified to compete in the 2016 Olympic Trials at the weight of his choosing. Cox chose to go down from his collegiate weight of 197 lbs. to the international weight of 86 kg (189.6 lbs.). Cox was the #9 seed in the 86 kg bracket and advanced to best of three final against Kyle Dake. Cox defeated Dake 2 matches to 1 to earn the right to represent the United States at the Olympics.

The United States had not yet qualified to compete at the Olympics at 86 kg weight class, so Cox had to try to qualify the weight at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Mongolia by placing in the top 3. Two days after his victory at the Olympic Trials, Cox flew to USA Wrestling's Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, to get his passport expedited. He didn't have one as he had never been out of the country before.[9] Cox won the tournament earning the right to wrestle at the Olympics.

At the Rio Olympics, Cox won the bronze medal at 86 kg. He opened the tournament with a 7–1 win over Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus, and followed that up with 5–1 win over Alireza Karimi of Iran in the quarterfinals. Cox faced Selim Yaşar of Turkey in the semifinals. Cox trailed 1–0 at the end of the first period as he was unable to score when placed on the activity clock. Less than a minute into the second period he tied the score at 1 by forcing a step out, although he was still losing the match based on criteria. Cox was unaware the he was losing until the final seconds[10] and a failed challenge of takedown after time expired gave Yaşar another point, resulting in a 2–1 defeat for Cox. He faced Reineris Salas of Cuba in the bronze medal match. With six seconds remaining in the match Cox was awarded a takedown after a successful challenge to make the score 3–1. Salas refused to finish the match in protest and Cox was declared the winner.[11]

Cox turned in another third-place performance while representing Team USA at the 2017 World Championships in Paris.[12] In 2018 Cox finished first at the world championships in Budapest, wrestling for the US at 92 kg. He earned a second world championship title at 92kg in 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, defeating Alireza Karimi once again.

Personal

Cox is the son of Michael and Cathy Cox. He has two older brothers Zach and Drae, and a younger sister Chai.[4] Cox's uncle Phil Arnold was a two-time Missouri state champion for Hickman High School.[3] The headgear Arnold used in winning his two titles is the same Cox and his older brothers wore during their high school careers.[3]

Cox has lost most of the hearing in his left ear and some of the hearing in his right. Even before he started losing his hearing in college, he was interested in sign language. He took classes on sign language in both high school and college and one day would like to teach those who are hearing impaired.[13] Cox posts videos teaching basic elements of sign language on social media, and Nike apparel supporting him includes the spelling of “Cox” in sign language.[14]

Match Results

Match Results
Res.	Weight	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
Win	97 kg	Yonger Bastida	11–1 (5:57)	February 16, 2020	2020 Granma y Cerro Pelado Champion	Havana, Cuba
Win	97 kg	Jacob Kasper	4–0	February 15, 2020
Win	97 kg	Reineris Salas	5–3
Win	92 kg	Alireza Karimi	4–0	September 21, 2019	2019 World Championships Champion	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Win	92 kg	Irakli Mtsituri	3–0	September 20, 2019
Win	92 kg	Nurgali Nurgaipuly	8–0
Win	92 kg	Mohammed Fardj	11–0 (1:46)
Win	92 kg	Bendeguz Toth	10–0 (5:23)	July 14, 2019	2019 Yaşar Doğu Champion	Istanbul, Turkey
Win	92 kg	Shamil Zubairov	11–0 (4:50)	July 13, 2019
Win	92 kg	Mohammed Fardj	11–0 (5:34)
Win	92 kg	Abubakar Turgayev	11–0 (5:27)
Win	92 kg	Bo Nickal	5–0	June 8, 2019	2019 US World Team Trials Final X: Rutgers	Piscataway, NJ
Win	92 kg	Bo Nickal	4–2
Win	92 kg	Patrick Brucki	13–0 (0:58)	May 6, 2019	Beat The Streets	New York, NY
Win	92 kg	Diego Ramirez Florentin	Fall (0:12)	April 21, 2019	2019 Pan American Championships Champion	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Win	92 kg	Jaime Espinal	8–0
Win	92 kg	Ivan Yankouski	4–1	October 22, 2018	2018 World Championships Champion	Budapest, Hungary
Win	92 kg	Alireza Karimi	5–2	October 21, 2018
Win	92 kg	Nicolae Ceban	6–0
Win	92 kg	Dato Marsagishvili	6–2
Loss	92 kg	Serdar Boke	2–2	July 29, 2018	2018 Yaşar Doğu	Istanbul, Turkey
Win	92 kg	Hayden Zillmer	10–0 (1:19)	June 23, 2018	2018 US World Team Trials Final X Lehigh	Bethlehem, PA
Win	92 kg	Hayden Zillmer	5–2
Win	92 kg	Yurieski Torreblanca	2–1	May 17, 2018	Beat The Streets	New York, NY
Win	92 kg	Hayden Zillmer	2–0	April 28, 2018	2018 US Open Champion	Las Vegas, NV
Win	92 kg	Deron Winn	3–0
Win	92 kg	Tanner Orndorff	10–0 (1:40)
Win	92 kg	Jeremiah Imonode	10–0 (1:26)
Loss	92 kg	Aslanbek Alborov	4–4	April 8, 2018	2018 World Cup	Iowa City, IA
Loss	92 kg	Dato Marsagishvili	0–5
Win	92 kg	Takashi Ishiguro	11–0	April 7, 2018
Loss	92 kg	Sharif Sharifov	7–8	February 23, 2018	2018 International Ukrainian Tournament Second	Kiev, Ukraine
Win	92 kg	Riley Lefever	2–0
Win	92 kg	Edgarus Voitechovskij	7–1
Win	92 kg	Shamir Atyan	11–0 (4:36)
Win	86 kg	Mihail Ganev	8–2	August 25, 2017	2017 World Championships Third	Paris, France
Loss	86 kg	Boris Makoev	3–6
Win	86 kg	Zbigniew Baranowski	3–2
Win	86 kg	Ville Heino	9–6
Win	86 kg	Ahmed Dudarov	6–1
Win	86 kg	David Taylor	5–3	June 10, 2017	2017 US World Team Trials	Lincoln, NE
Win	86 kg	David Taylor	4–3
Loss	86 kg	David Taylor	3–9
Win	86 kg	Reineris Salas	Forfeit (3–1)	August 19, 2016	2016 Summer Olympics Third	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss	86 kg	Selim Yasar	1–2
Win	86 kg	Alireza Karimi	5–1
Win	86 kg	Amarhajy Mahamedau	7–1
Win	86 kg	Adilet Davlumbaev	10–5	July 2, 2016	2016 Grand Prix of Germany Third	Dortmund,Germany
Win	86 kg	Konstantin Voelk	Fall
Loss	86 kg	Sharif Sharifov	2–6
Win	86 kg	Kanat Berdiyev	10–0
Loss	86 kg	Dato Marsagishvili	4–7	June 12, 2016	2016 World Cup	Los Angeles, CA
Win	86 kg	Aleksander Gostiev	3–2
Win	86 kg	Alireza Karimi	6–2	June 11, 2016
Win	86 kg	Pawan Kumar	13–2
Win	86 kg	Meisam Mostafa-Jokar	10–5	May 19, 2016	Beat The Streets	New York, NY
Win	86 kg	Pedro Ceballos Fuentes	6–0	April 24, 2016	2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament 1 Champion	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Win	86 kg	Umidjon Ismanov	5–2
Win	86 kg	Zbigniew Baranowski	4–1
Win	86 kg	Timofei Xenidis	10–0 (1:27)
Win	86 kg	Shamir Atyan	11–0 (3:00)
Win	86 kg	Kyle Dake	4–3	April 10, 2016	2016 US Olympic Team Trials Champion	Iowa City, IA
Loss	86 kg	Kyle Dake	3–5
Win	86 kg	Kyle Dake	8–1
Win	86 kg	Keith Gavin	3–1
Win	86 kg	Jake Herbert	8–1
Win	86 kg	Clayton Foster	7–7

References

1. USA Wrestling. "FLASH: J'Den Cox reaches finals and qualifies for Rio Olympic Games at World Olympic Qualifier in Mongolia". Teamusa.org. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
2. "Jden Cox". Team USA. Archived from the original on 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
3. "Hickman's Cox could be Columbia's first four-time state wrestling champion". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
4. "J'den Cox Bio". MUTigers.com. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
5. "Mizzou Wrestling Announces Five New Student-Athletes for 2013–14". KOMU. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
6. "Where were 2015 All-Americans ranked in high school?". Intermat. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
7. "True freshman 15: History of true freshman NCAA champs". InterMat. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
8. "Penn State's Zain Retherford wins 2017 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS". WIN Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
9. "Mizzou's J'den Cox continues Olympic bid at world qualifier in Mongolia". Kansas City Star. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
10. "Jden Cox Explains Olympic Semifinal".
11. "Cox claims Olympic bronze, Dlagnev places fifth".
12. "Mizzou wrestler J'den Cox finishes third at World Championships".
13. "Missouri wrestler J'den Cox battling with new challenge". KOMU. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
14. "J'den Cox Teaches The Wrestling Community Sign Language". Fanatic Wrestling. Retrieved October 6, 2019.