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J’den Cox Will Challenge Kyle Snyder at Olympic Trials

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Andy Vance's picture
by Andy Vance
February 11, 2020 at 12:50pm
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Two-time world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist J'den Cox announced Tuesday that he will wrestle 97 kg at the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, ending months of speculation as to which weight he would wrestle.

Cox won bronze in Rio at 86 kg, and then took gold at the World Freestyle Championships at 92 kg in 2018 and 2019. Since only six weight classes will be contested at the Olympics in Tokyo, Cox had to decide if he would move down to challenge 2018 world champion David Taylor at 86 kg, or move up and challenge Captain America at 97 kg.

Snyder made waves within the Ohio State wrestling community when he announced plans to leave the Ohio Regional Training Center to pursue his Olympic dreams at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club in State College, rather than continuing to train in the environment where he became the youngest American wrestler in history to win Olympic gold, winning three-consecutive world or Olympic titles in the process.

Cox confirmed in December that he would train part-time at the Ohio RTC, spending much of January in Columbus training alongside other world-class athletes and under the watchful eye of fellow Olympic medalist Tervel Dlagnev.

The Olympic Trials are set for April 4-5 at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa. Six current or former Ohio State wrestlers will compete in hopes of winning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team:

  • Nicholas Boykin (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) – A current Ohio State freshman majoring in pre-business who was a Junior World Team member for USA Wrestling (Greco-Roman).
  • Myles Martin (Penn Grove, N.J.) – A four-time All-American for Ohio State (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), including a national championship as a true freshman in 2016; graduated in spring 2019 with a sport industry degree; currently trains with the Ohio Regional Training Center.
  • Joey McKenna (Towaco, N.J.) – 2019 NCAA finalist for Ohio State and graduated in spring 2019 with an operations management degree; currently trains at the Penn Regional Training Center.
  • Kollin Moore (Burbank, Ohio) – Current Ohio State redshirt senior pursuing master’s degree in kinesiology after graduating with a logistics management/operations management bachelor’s degree in spring 2019; he is a three-time All-American and currently ranked No. 1 in the country at 197 pounds.
  • Kyle Snyder (Woodbine, Md.) – 2016 Olympic gold medalist in Rio who won three consecutive individual national championships as a Buckeye (2016, 2017, 2018) and led Ohio State to the 2015 NCAA team title; graduated in summer 2018 with a sport industry degree; trains with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
  • Nathan Tomasello (Parma, Ohio) – A four-time All-American for Ohio State (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), including a national championship as a freshman in 2015 when the Buckeyes brought home the NCAA team title; graduated in spring 2017 with a degree in sport industry and in autumn 2018 with a master’s in kinesiology; currently trains at the Ohio Regional Training Center.

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