J'den Cox

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]

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]

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.

J'den is the son of Michael and Cathy Cox, both musicians. Cathy has long been associated with Mizzou athletics herself: she regularly performs the national anthem at Tiger basketball games. 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]