J’den Cox, on the most dominant recent run of any U.S. male wrestler in three decades, will enter reigning Olympic champion Kyle Snyder‘s weight class at April’s Olympic trials.
Only one wrestler per division makes the team for Tokyo.
Cox, a Rio Olympic 86kg freestyle bronze medalist, won world titles the last two years at 92kg, a non-Olympic weight. Last September, he went unscored on at worlds for a second straight year. Only one other U.S. man achieved that once at an Olympics or worlds in the last 30 years.
Then Cox, 24, faced a decision for the Olympic year: go back down to 86kg, or move up to 97kg.