FOWLERVILLE — Adam Coon’s athletic career flashed through his mind as he walked off the wrestling mat April 20. He’d just achieved his dream of qualifying for the Olympics.
He thought back to 2016, when he earned a spot as an alternate just three years out of Fowlerville High School, but didn’t get an opportunity to compete in Brazil.
There was, of course, the heartbreak of winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2021, only to be denied a trip to Tokyo because he didn’t advance from the World Olympic Qualifier in Bulgaria.
His Plan B was to give the National Football League a shot before it was too late. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans, but wasn’t able to bounce back from a neck injury suffered before training camp in 2021.
After putting his wrestling career on hold, Coon began training again in the winter of 2023, with his eyes set on finally making it to the Olympics.
Mission accomplished.
Coon achieved his dream by winning a Greco-Roman 130-kilogram best-of-three championship series, 2-1, over long-time rival Cohlton Schultz. Coon won the decisive match 6-1.
“It was a pretty exciting feeling,” said Coon, a four-time state champion. “Just the adrenaline rushing at that point. Just the thoughts of coming so close the last couple times and to finally break through.
“The first time, I was the alternate. The weight class was qualified. I lost in the final match in 2016. In 2020-21, I made said team, but didn’t get the weight class qualified. To be so close two times in a row and not break through was one of the reasons I left the sport.
“I tried my hand at football. I came back with the goal to make the Olympic team and to finally break through on the third. Those emotions were going at that point. All I could do was let out a roar.”
When Coon returned to wrestling, he told The Daily, “I wanted to pursue Olympic gold.”
“I’m definitely not just happy to be here,” Coon said. “I’m proud of what I accomplished thus far. I’ve taken my time to be happy to have finally pushed through. It’s something I haven’t been able to do before.
“The mindset is now, ‘Let’s go win a medal, preferably in the gold color.’ I don’t have one of those. That’s the focus from here on out. I’ll take a little bit of time to let my body recover and it’s go time. We’re going for a medal.”
Coon can afford some recovery time, because he won’t have to take an additional step to qualify.
When he won the Trials in 2021, his weight class wasn’t qualified because no American had recent international success in that division. He needed to reach the championship round to qualify, but lost in the quarterfinals.
Ironically, it was Schultz who got the weight class qualified with his performance at the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier in February in Mexico.
“It’s nice I can focus on the 16 guys I’m going to have to compete against in the Olympics,” Coon said. “I don’t have to worry about the 24 guys or so who will be at this last-chance qualifier. My focus can be shifted to one event and one event only. I don’t have to worry about stepping stones. It will make it easier to go and train hard.”
The son of Fowlerville wrestling coach Dan Coon, his Olympic dream began after learning about Rulon Gardner. Gardner won the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the weight class in which Coon will compete in Paris.
Gardner attributed his strength to working on his family’s dairy farm in Wyoming growing up.
“I don’t remember if I actually watched the 2000 Olympics or just heard about the 2000 Olympics,” said Coon, who was five at the time. “Once I heard that story, I wanted to be an Olympian. … That’s what kept me moving forward. That dream never died.”
A large contingent of family and friends were watching when he finally qualified.
“It meant a lot to have some of those people supporting me there,” Coon said. “There are way too many people who have supported me over the years. I definitely couldn’t have fit them into that arena. There are way too many people to thank. The whole town of Fowlerville has all just shown up, as well as people from many other different places.”
Also present that night was former Fowlerville teammate Dalton Roberts, who won the Olympic Trials in Greco-Roman at 60 kilograms.
Roberts, like Coon three years ago, will need to reach the finals of the World Olympic Qualifier, running May 9-12 in Istanbul, to qualify for Paris.
— Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Gold is the goal: Fowlerville wrestler Adam Coon is going to the Olympics
