Picture this: It’s the final day of the 2025 U17 Wrestling World Championships, and Team USA faces nearly impossible odds on its road to the team title. Trailing behind Iran, the boys from the USA needed to “win every match, and Iran needed to lose every match,” wrote USA Wrestling. “As improbable as it might have seemed, that’s exactly what happened,” they added.

The U17 team had pulled off a miracle, overcoming the deficit and beating Iran by four points, scoring 154 points. Despite the tough odds, the defending champions had done it, winning six gold medals in the process. And the man behind the Stars and Stripes’ success? Former 92kg World Champion J’den Cox, who started coaching just over a year ago. Yet his resume already looks stacked.

“Not to be overlooked: Since J’den Cox @MATrix_8692 got hired last July, the @USAWrestling U17 and U20 teams have gone 4-for-4 with winning World Team Titles,” wrote Baschamania Podcast host Justin Basch on social media. The podcaster’s appreciation post of the 30-year-old came shortly after he drove Team USA to another U20 World title a couple of days ago.

But that’s not all. “In that span of 13 months, the Cadets have had 7 individual World Champs, and the Juniors have had 6 Individual World Champs. And, with 5 Champs/8 Medalists this year, there’s an argument to be made that this is the best Junior World team ever. At a minimum, it’s one of them! Safe to say, J’den was a great hire,” added the wrestling enthusiast.

It’s almost hard to imagine that a little over a year ago, J’den Cox hit a huge low before retiring from competition. You see, David Taylor wasn’t the only fall from grace story at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. “I think if I’m losing to guys I was beating before, I’m doing a disservice to myself and them to stay a part of it,” he said after not making Team USA’s Paris 2024 squad.

“It’s hard. I love this sport, but you know, I’ve had a great career,” the Team USA coach told the media. Yet, just as David Taylor has turned things around and found brilliant success in his rookie season as a coach, Cox has done it too. In fact, you could say the 30-year-old exceeded expectations.

Team USA’s record-breaking performance under J’den Cox

While the U17 and U20 teams winning their respective world titles since J’den Cox took over in 2024 is mighty impressive, people expected nothing less from the former world champion. That’s because the veteran wrestler was taking over at the helm after Kevin Jackson. The 1992 Olympic gold medalist helped the USA become the dominant team during his tenure.

So when J’den Cox took over, Team USA’s U17 and U20 squads were multiple-time defending champions. Had the U17 team lost to Iran under Cox, it would’ve broken a major streak. Thankfully, that scenario didn’t become a reality. What’s more? Cox exceeded expectations with the U20 team, setting a new record in his second World Championship as coach.

On Wednesday, August 20, Marcus Blaze and Max McEnelly added two more golds to Team USA’s tally at Arena Samokov in Samokov, Bulgaria. Luke Stanich, P.J. Duke, and Justin Rademacher already earned three golds for the Red, White, and Blue, taking the total tally to five. That’s the most gold medals the United States has won in its U20 World Championships history.

“I mean, five gold medals, amazing, eight medals total. It is just impressive to watch these guys, and the future is bright with USA Wrestling,” J’den Cox told FloWrestling. This comes after the 2025 U17 squad brought home 11 medals, including six golds, at the World Wrestling Championships in Athens, Greece, in early August. So it’s safe to say that Cox is living up to the hype and then some.