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Posted: Jul 9, 2024 /
12:03 PM CDT
Updated: Jul 9, 2024
/ 12:04 PM CDT
ANN
ARBOR, Mich. (WOOD) — Adam Coon has been down this road before.
Twice,
before the Olympics in Tokyo and Rio, a heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from
Fowlerville in mid-Michigan came within a hair’s breadth of living out his
Olympic dream. Twice, he fell just short of qualifying.
He
even hung up his singlet at one point to pursue a professional football career.
He was invited to a couple of NFL camps, but wrestling never lost its grip on
him.
“Call
it gut feeling. I just felt like the sport wasn’t done and I wasn’t done with
the sport yet. So the body was still healthy enough to continue to compete, and
that’s what I want to do,” he said.
When
Coon sets his mind to something, he goes after it, no matter how difficult it
might be. His first dream was to become an astronaut, so he studied aerospace
engineering at the University of Michigan (where he also wrestled).
“To
hopefully get in the industry, where I can bump shoulders with the astronauts,
maybe become on myself. We’ll see. We’ll figure that out in the future,” he
said.
It will have to wait. In April, he realized another dream. He succeeded at the Olympic Trials and qualified to compete in Paris.
“There
was just that relief of finally overcoming. The guy that I beat in the finals,
I had lost the last five straight against,” he said. “So there was that
overcoming the obstacles that were thrown my way and there was that relief and
excitement all at the same time of the relief that I finally am taking that
step and on the journey that was toward my dream.”
A
dreamer of the highest order, Coon embraces the pursuit and deals with the
results, good or bad. No matter how many times he’s been thrown on the mat, he
gets up to fight some more.
“It’s kind of that dream that never died as a little kid,” Coon said. “I just have those dreams and goals that I want to do. And I know that each step is a path along that journey to get to eventually where I want to be, and just taking those baby steps one step at a time.”
Photo: Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids WC) and Adam Coon (Cliff Keen WC/New York AC) wrestle in the Greco Roman 130kg Championship Finals of the Olympic Wrestling Team Trials on April, 20, 2024 at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA.
