Cox Makes Third Straight World Team at Final X
6/23/2018 7:13:00 PM | Wrestling
Cox will wrestle at October’s World Championships in Budapest
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former Mizzou wrestler J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.) clinched a spot on his third straight World Team Saturday at Final X in Bethlehem, Pa. Cox defeated Minnesota Storm's Hayden Zillmer, 2-0, in a best-of-three finals series to earn his spot at 92 kg on the USA Wrestling Men's Freestyle World Team. He will now wrestle in the 2018 World Championships, which will take place October 20-28, in Budapest, Hungary.
Cox, who earned bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2017 World Championships in Paris, bumped up a weight class to the newly added 92 kg for this summer's international competitions. Because of the change in weight class, Cox was required to wrestle his way onto the World Team instead of sitting in the finals because of his previous performance at the World Championships. Cox placed first at the US Open in April to secure his spot in Saturday's Final X best-of-three series.
In the first match, Zillmer was able to score a push-out point to take a 1-0 lead, but Cox responded with two takedowns and a push-out point to build a 5-1 lead and take the match, 5-2. Cox left no doubt in match two, as he scored a takedown quickly in the first period, then followed with four turns to secure the match, 10-0.
In addition, current Mizzou wrestler Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.) defeated Andy Simmons (New York AC) to place third and earn a spot of the USA National Team. Eierman fell behind, 4-0, in the match, but was able to score a two-point exposure and a takedown to take the match by criteria, 4-4.
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