#TeamUSATuesday: Greco-Roman and Men's Freestyle National Team member Adam Coon

Adam Coon is currently the No. 1 wrestler at 130 kg/286 lbs. for Team USA’s Greco-Roman National Team and the No. 2 wrestler at 125 kg/275 lbs. for Team USA’s Men’s Freestyle National Team. He is the only current wrestler to hold spots on multiple Senior National Teams. In March, Coon was named the 2018 Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling.
The 24-year-old Fowlerville, Mich. native was a three-time NCAA All-American and two-time finalist for Michigan.
Coon has racked up an impressive list of international accomplishments across all age divisions. These accomplishments include a Cadet World gold medal in freestyle, a Junior World bronze medal in both styles, and a Senior World silver medal in Greco-Roman.
Coon took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions. Here are his top responses.
What is your favorite movie?
I have a lot of them, but I would probably say Apollo 13 for obvious reasons. I stick with the space route and that’s one of the greatest catastrophes that anyone has been able to survive. A lot of great engineers put in a lot of work to make sure to get those three guys back home.
Who is your favorite musical artist?
Pretty much anybody that rocks. I listen to Skillet a lot. They’re a good Christian rock band that has a lot of good songs.
What is your favorite food?
Anything that I can eat pretty much. Back when I was not having to watch my weight, I would say burgers. I used to go with those the night before competition. It’s nice to get some good red meat, but now I’m living way too much of chicken and greens.
What is your favorite sport to watch other than wrestling?
Football, 100 percent. I’ve always had a love for football, ever since I started back in fourth grade, especially college football.
What sports did you play growing up?
I actually started out playing soccer, and then got into wrestling. Once I got into fourth grade, soccer stopped and I got into football. Then once I got into junior high, I also picked up track. All through high school, I was football, wrestling, track.
Who is your favorite wrestler, either past or present to watch?
Honestly right now, I have to go with Dalton Roberts. That man is absolutely insane. He has a gas tank like no other. Obviously I have a little hometown bias, but just watching him go against these foreigners and just completely gassing them, the guy is just an absolute work horse. So, if you’re not watching Dalton Roberts, I don’t know who you’re watching.


What is your favorite place you’ve travelled to?
In terms of wrestling, I liked going to Szombathely, Hungary because that’s where I won my first World title. In terms of actual sightseeing, I had a Pan American Championships my Cadet year in Campeche, Mexico, that had the best churros.
What are some of your hobbies off the mat?
I like playing disc golf. I also like to watch TV and read books. Right before I got out here to Colorado, I bought a Saturn 5 Lego build set, so I’m excited to start building that thing.
Why did you choose aerospace engineering as your college major?
Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Everybody’s going to read this and think, “aren’t you too big?” Yeah, I get that a lot. Don’t worry about it. That’s why I went the aerospace engineering route, those are the guys that actually work hand-in-hand and make sure that these guys can actually get up there. I want to be working on the space sector, I want to be working with humans, I want to be working with astronauts, I want to be doing these types of things. Hopefully if I can put myself in a nice little niche area and rub shoulders enough, they’ll put my big butt in there too.


Why did you choose to stay up in Michigan after you completed your college career?
The coaching staff, the training partners. I just really like the atmosphere there. I chose to go to college there because of how great a fit it was. Why would I want to change everything up when I’m having success?
How did you get involved in wrestling?
My dad is the high school coach for Fowlerville. He’s been coaching pretty much since he graduated from college. So, pretty much once I was out of the womb and old enough to hold my head up, I was basically getting dragged out on the mat. I competed with soccer first, but I’ve basically been on the mat since birth.
What motivates you?
I just have a series of goals that I want to get through in my early stages of life. Growing up I wanted three main things; I wanted to wrestle in the Olympics and preferably get a gold out of it, I wanted to have a chance at the NFL, and I wanted to put myself in space. Now that I’m at this stage, I feel like I’m actually to that point where these goals are starting to get attainable. Whether these three goals are all actually attainable, I don’t know, but I’m too crazy to sit down and think about it. So, I’m just going with goal number one right now.
Moving forward, are you planning on competing in both freestyle and Greco-Roman as long as you can?
As long as I can and in the foreseeable future, yeah. I’m going to take it one step at a time. In 2019 I feel like I can hit both again. 2020 might be a completely different story, and we’ll kind of see from there. We’re just taking it one step at a time, but right now I feel like I want to do both.
The Coon File
Born: Nov. 14, 1994
High School: Fowlerville, Mich.
College: University of Michigan
Club: NYAC
Residence: Fowlerville, Mich.
Instagram: @adam_coooon
- 2018 Greco-Roman World silver medalist
- 2018 U.S. Open champion in freestyle
- 2016 U.S. Open champion in Greco-Roman
- 2016 Greco-Roman Olympic Team Trials runner-up
- 2014 Junior World bronze medalist in both freestyle and Greco-Roman
- 2011 Cadet World freestyle champion
- Three-time NCAA All-American
- Four-time Michigan state high school champion
- Two-time USA Wrestling Junior Triple Crown winners