When he was five years old, a fledgling newbie with the Columbia Wrestling Club, J’Den Cox, at the direction of his coach, wrote down his goal:
Go undefeated
Win a state championship
Make the United States Olympic team
It’s time to set new goals. Because at the ripe old age of 21, Cox has completed his first list. The Columbia native lost three matches as a freshman at Hickman High School. He didn’t lose again, finishing his high school career with a 205-3 record and four state titles. After his second national championship in three years at Mizzou, Cox ran through the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Olympic qualifying match in Mongolia to earn a spot on the United States team at 86 kilograms.
"I told everybody it would be an honor to represent my country and it is,” Cox said. “I don't take that as just representing them on the mat. I represent them when I walk down the street. I represent America now when I go to class. I represent them in every part of my life."
Asked why he listed the Olympics as one of his goals 16 years ago (other than being five and probably having little idea how rare and difficult it is to get there), Cox said, “There’s nothing else to go to.” The Olympics are the pinnacle in the sport Cox has chosen.
And now that he’s there, the new goal isn’t hard to identify.
“To win,” he said. “I don’t know how to do things halfway.”
After what he’s done the last few years, few will bet against him. Least of all his college coach, who has known Cox since he was a “this little fat kid” reading books in the coach’s office waiting for his older brothers to finish practice.
“People have been asking me, ‘Do you believe he can win the Olympics?’” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “Of course I do”
The last couple of months had been an adjustment for Cox. He had to re-enter the world of freestyle wrestling on his journey to the Olympics. Some of the technique is different, but Cox changed little about his approach. Cox doesn’t watch film of his opponents. He doesn’t like to know who he is wrestling before he steps on the mat. He said the U.S. coaches would simply come to practice, tell him what they were working on that day and he would do it. When it came time to put his practice into action on the mat, he did it.
Cox actually clinched the spot on the U.S. team with his win in the semifinals in Mongolia. The top three finishers in the tournament would qualify for the Olympics for their country. After winning his semifinal match, Cox was subdued on the mat. He had never traveled outside the United States. He said he didn’t know the customs in Mongolia and didn’t want to offend any of the local fans with what they might interpret as showboating.
That match happened some time in the middle of the night on Saturday back in Columbia. Smith and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades were up, watching a live stream of the tournament on their computers. The two traded texts after Cox qualified and Smith talked to him shortly thereafter. After that, Cox called his mom Cathy.
“She said, ‘My baby boy is an Olympian!’” Cox recalled. “I just said thanks.”
"He is everything you want a student-athlete to be," Rhoades said.
That Cox is in the Olympics surprises almost no one, including his coaches. When he was a sophomore at Hickman, U.S. Wrestling began recruiting him to move to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs with that goal in mind. Cox said initially, he was leaning toward doing just that. In the end, he chose to stay in his home town and wrestle in college.
“I thought about doing both,” he said. “"Mizzou just felt right. I just knew I was supposed to be here. It panned out for me.”
That it did. He is Smith’s second Olympian, following Ben Askren in 2008. Those are also the only two Missouri wrestlers to win multiple national titles. Cox will try to become the first-three time Tiger champion next year. But first, he will wrestle in Rio this summer.
“If he wins the gold—when he wins the gold—USA wrestling is going to love him,” Smith said. "It's gonna be a fun ride. This is just the start of his Olympic career. I think he has a bright future, not just this year but in the future.”
Before that, Cox will wrestle at meets in New York City and Los Angeles. But for now, the pride of Columbia and of Mizzou can take a deep breath, all of his childhood dreams realized.
“These are going to be moments that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” he said. “It’s good to be home. I can tell you that much.”
