COLUMBIA, Mo. – After his second career individual championship at the Southern Scuffle, Mizzou senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.) was named Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week, announced Wednesday by the conference office. The award is Cox's fourth career MAC weekly honor after winning the honor twice as a sophomore (Dec. 4, 2014; Jan. 7, 2015) and once last season as a junior (Feb. 24, 2016).
Cox, ranked No. 1 in the nation at 197 pounds, defeated No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 6-4, in the championship bout of the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 2, to claim his second individual Scuffle title. Cox previously won a Scuffle championship in 2015 as a sophomore after finishing third at the Scuffle in 2014 (Mizzou did not compete in the Southern Scuffle in 2016). The win helped Mizzou surpass No. 9 Lehigh for second place at the Southern Scuffle, the fifth time the Tigers have finished first or second at the Scuffle. Cox and Pfarr were tied at 4-4 late in the third period when the two-time National Champion executed a double-leg takedown with nine seconds on the clock to seal the victory, his fourth over a top-10 opponent this season.
The win capped a perfect 5-0 tournament for Cox, who recorded four bonus-points wins, including an 11-2 major decision over No. 12 Frank Mattiace (Penn) in the semifinals. In the opening three rounds, the Tiger senior defeated Sawyer Root (The Citadel) via technical fall, 18-3 (7:00), Danny Chaid (North Carolina) via 11-3 major decision and Owen Scott (Cornell) by 22-7 technical fall (6:06).
With the five Scuffle wins, Cox improves to 14-0 on the year, recording bonus points in 10 of his victories (three falls, five technical falls and two major decisions). Cox's only non-bonus point victories on the season have come in decision wins against top-10 ranked opponents as the Olympic Bronze medalist defeated No. 9 Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) on Nov. 13, No. 3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) on Nov. 20, No. 6 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) on Dec. 8 and Pfarr on Jan. 2.
Mizzou will next be in action Sunday, Jan. 8, when the Tigers travel to Norman, Okla., to face No. 23 Oklahoma at 2 p.m.
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