J'den Cox was named MAC Wrestler of the Year (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference announced today three wrestling postseason awards for the 2017 season as Missouri swept this year's awards. Missouri Tigers wrestling coach Brian Smith was named MAC Wrestling Coach of the Year, while Missouri freshman Jaydin Eierman was selected as MAC Freshman of the Year and senior J'den Cox was named MAC Wrestler of the Year.
All three awards were voted on by the conference's head wrestling coaches following the conclusion of the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Tournament.
Smith was named MAC Wrestling Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. Smith led Missouri to the Tigers fifth consecutive MAC Tournament Wrestling Title in the programs fifth year as an affiliate member in wrestling.
Smith and his Tigers earned a 11-4 overall record this past season, including 7-1 in the MAC. Missouri earned its fifth overall consecutive conference tournament title as the Tigers won the MAC Wrestling Championships Title. Missouri entered the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships ranked 10th in the nation and concluded with 86.5 points to finish fifth overall and five Tigers earned All-American status, including J'den Cox winning the National Championship at the 197-weight class.
This season marked the 19th for Smith at the helm of the Tigers wrestling program. Under his leadership, Missouri has posted a 248-93-3 record and 24 of his wrestlers have become All-Americans claiming a total of 47 medals. In addition, Smith's squads have posted 16 consecutive winning seasons.
Smith witnessed Missouri junior J'den Cox became the 12th MAC wrestler in Conference history to win a National Championship. Cox won the 197-weight class for the third time in his collegiate career with an 8-2 win over Minnesota's Brett Pfarr of Minnesota at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
A native of Columbia, Mo., Cox became the first wrestler in Missouri history and MAC history to become a three-time NCAA Champion. Cox also was the fifth MAC National Champion in the last seven years -- joining Kent State's Dustin Kilgore in 2011 (197 weight class), Cox in 2014, 2016 and 2017 (197 weight class) and Missouri's Drake Houdashelt in 2015 (149 weight class). During his collegiate career, Cox has won the MAC 197 weight class four consecutive years, won three NCAA National Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2017, while finishing fifth in 2015.
In addition to winning MAC Wrestler of the Year for the third time in his career, Cox, who won an Olympic Bronze medal in men's freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, previously won the national title at 197 pounds in 2014 and 2016. Cox finished the season with a record of 28-0, becoming just the second Tiger wrestler to finish a season with a perfect record. Of Cox's 28 victories, he scored 19 bonus point victories with six falls, six technical falls, and seven major-decisions.
For his career, Cox finished with the best winning percentage in program history among any wrestler with over 100 wins (96.4 percent, 136-5), tied for second-most wins (136), second in technical falls (20), third in major decisions (31) and tied for eighth in falls (27). Cox is one of two wrestlers in program history to record four All-America honors (Ben Askren, 2004-07).
Missouri redshirt freshman Jaydin Eierman finished fifth overall at the 141-weight class at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships to earn All-American status. Eierman finished the NCAA Championships with a record 5-2 with two major decisions while knocking off four seed wrestlers, including the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
Eierman also won the MAC Wrestling Championship at 141 with a 10-1 major decision over Ohio's Noah Forrider. He finished the season with a record of 29-7 with 16 wins by bonus points (seven major decisions, five falls and four technical falls). Eierman became the fourth consecutive Tiger freshman to earn All-America status, following Cox (1st at 197 pounds in 2014), redshirt junior 184-pounder Willie Miklus (7th at 184 pounds in 2015) and Daniel Lewis (4th at 165 pounds in 2016).
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