J’den Cox, World Champion
Things have been weirdly dour around Mizzou sports since news of Jontay Porter’s knee injury. So this morning, we’re going to be positive.
You may be surprised to hear it, but J’den Cox won another award for wrestling!
Annnnd @MATrix_8692 makes three World champions so far for the USA! #BudaWrestle2018 pic.twitter.com/tB5dPxIGvv
— USA Wrestling (@USAWrestling) October 22, 2018
“Win,” he said to media members after the match. “Go out there, take what’s yours, don’t expect it to be given to you. Don’t expect it to be easy. Just go out there and take what’s yours. Do what you gotta do. Get your points on the board. Just wrestle, have some fun, win.”
The former Tiger took gold in Budapest as he continues to ready himself for the 2020 Olympics. He won his championship bout 4-1 against Ivan Yankouski of Belarus, continuing his reign of terror against the world’s wrestlers that began as a freshman in Columbia, Missouri.
Look, I’m not here to preach, because I’m sure we all love and appreciate Cox for the greatness he’s been gracing us with for the past 6 years. But we really do need to appreciate Cox while he’s in his prime. Not many schools get to point to one of their own doing things like this on a global level. Let’s take full advantage while we can.
Congratulations, J’den! Here’s to many more championships!
Big recruiting day at the Zou
In case you missed it last night, Robin Pingeton won her most biggest recruiting battle since taking over in 2010.
Is this what you all were waiting for?
— Aijha Blackwell (@AijhaAnniece) October 22, 2018
Video cred : @whoz_nextsports @coachyancey22 pic.twitter.com/eejoPFvONj
Blackwell is the 8th ranked player in the 2019 class and the No. 1 player in the state. Pingeton now has commitments from Blackwell and the state’s No. 2 player, another 5-star in Hayley Frank. This may be Sophie Cunningham’s last year in Columbia, but Pingeton’s Tigers won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Onto men’s sports, Barry Odom landed another member of his next recruiting class when 3-star DE Shamar Pearl pledged himself to the Tigers.
The recruiting sites rank him as the nation’s No. 41 and No. 52 weakside defensive end, respectively. In February, Pearl announced he received a scholarship offer from Alabama. Recruiting sites also list Pearl with offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Georgia, Notre Dame, Purdue among others.
If you hop over to PowerMizzou, they’ve got an in-depth analysis of Pearl’s commitment ($$).
Sigh I guess we should mention Jontay
Even with recruiting and J’den Cox, Jontay Porter was still the big story of Monday, as life without him becomes clearer.
Gabe covered it in his Monday morning thoughts; Alex Schiffer asked how Mizzou will replace his production; and Ben Hochman — one of the best human interest sports writers in the country — wrote about why this kind of things feels too familiar around Columbia.
However, we’d like to point your special attention to a podcast done by Rock M friend Carrington Harrison. He was joined by Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou and our very own Sam Snelling.
Sam and Carrington chop it up for about 10 minutes on exactly how Jontay can be replaced. It’s a really great listen, and very worth your time.
Yesterday at Rock M
- Missouri-Memphis snap counts: Drew Lock Gets His Rhythm Back
- 2019 Three-Star DE Pearl Commits to Tigers
- Mizzou’s Offense is Back on Track and the Second Half of the Season is Underway
- SEC Hoops Preview: #10 South Carolina Gamecocks
- Despite the win, penalties prove to be a problem for Mizzou
- Blue-chip guard Aijha Blackwell commits to Robin Pingeton and Mizzou
More Links:
- Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is thinking about mixing things up at quarterback ahead of this weekend’s game in Columbia. After all, it worked for Purdue and — unintentionally — South Carolina, right?
- Jalen Knox was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this year
Caught 5 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown to help spark @MizzouFootball to a 65-33 win over Memphis.@JalenKnox9_ is the #SECFB Freshman of the Week. pic.twitter.com/8Z36GcGUx6
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 22, 2018
Larry Rountree and Albert Okwuegbunam were also named to PFF’s Offensive Team of the Week for their strong performances.
Larry Rountree and the Missouri offense had things working on Saturday – Rountree and Albert Okwuegbunam find themselves on our National Offense of the Weekhttps://t.co/Rzn8TeMuAn pic.twitter.com/ZGIyaxiGYJ
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 22, 2018