Cox Named Dan Hodge Trophy Finalist
3/20/2017 8:47:00 PM | Wrestling
Cox won his third NCAA National Championship in St. Louis on Saturday
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Following his program record third NCAA title, Mizzou Wrestling senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.) was named a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy, collegiate wrestling's top award, announced by WIN Magazine Monday. With the National Championship, Cox became the first Mizzou athlete in any sport to win three national titles.
Joining Cox as finalist is Ohio State's Kyle Snyder and Penn State's Zain Retherford and Jason Nolf. Snyder won the title at heavyweight, while Retherford won at 149 pounds and Nolf at 157 pounds.
Criteria to determine a winner for the Hodge is based off seven standards: a wrestler's record, number of pins, dominance on the mat, quality of competition, past credentials, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart. A fan vote will be open until Friday, March 24, with the winner of the fan vote receiving two first-place ballots from a group of formal voters which includes each former Hodge Trophy winner, national media, representatives of national wrestling organizations and retired former college coaches from different regions.
Cox defeated Minnesota's Brett Pfarr, the No. 2 seed, by a score of 8-2 in the NCAA Wrestling Championships Finals to capture his third crown. He finished the season with a record of 28-0, becoming just the second Tiger wrestler to finish a season with a perfect record (Askren 2006, 2007). Of Cox's 28 victories, he scored 19 bonus point victories with six falls, six technical falls, and seven major-decisions.
Cox, who won an Olympic Bronze medal in men's freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, previously won the national title at 197 pounds in 2014 and 2016. He surpasses Mizzou legend Ben Askren, who won national titles at 174 pounds in 2006 and 2007, as the only Tiger to win three national titles.
For his career, Cox finishes with the best winning percentage among any wrestler with over 100 wins (96.4 percent, 136-5), tied for second-most wins with Alan Waters (136), second in technical falls (20), third in major decisions (31) and tied for eighth in falls (27). He is one of two wrestlers in program history to record four All-America honors (Askren, 2004-07).
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