Missouri’s J’den Cox wins USA Wrestling national award

Missouri junior J’den Cox — who is fresh off a freestyle championship Sunday at 86 kilograms in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa — added another honor Tuesday.

He was chosen as the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week after upsetting his way through the tournament and earning the right to qualify his weight for the 2016 Olympics.

It is the second such honor for Cox, who received the same honor in February 2015 after winning three matches as the Tigers won the NWCA National Dual tournament.

Cox, who will leave Saturday for a World Olympic Qualification Tournament from April 22 to 24 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, was seeded ninth at the Olympic trials. He beat the Nos. 8, 1 and 4 seeds before winning a best-of-three championship series 8-1, 3-5, 4-3 against No. 2 seed Kyle Dake for the national crown.

Cox is a two-time NCAA champion and boasts the best winning percentage in Mizzou wrestling history at .955, going 108-5 in his first three seasons. His 14 technical falls are fourth-most in program history.

If Cox, who is in the process of getting his passport, finishes in the top three in Mongolia, he advances to compete in Rio de Janeiro in August.

There also is a last-chance World Olympic Qualification Tournament from May 6 to 8 in Istanbul. The top two at that meet also advance to the 2016 Olympics.

Cox and 97-kilogram freestyle champion Kyle Snyder are the only college wrestlers who won titles last weekend during the Olympic trials.

Tod Palmer: 816-234-4389, @todpalmer

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Missouri’s J’den Cox wins USA Wrestling national award."