There are several matches we'd love to see at the World Team Trials this weekend, but there is one in particular that stands out: David Taylor vs J'Den Cox.

On June 10th, our men's freestyle world team will be decided, and this potential final stands out above the rest. So we wanted to examine who has better wins heading into Lincoln, Taylor or Cox?



Now this question will of course favor Taylor, as he has a three year head start on his senior level career. But it also provides some context into the guys Cox has wrestled thus far.

Of Taylor's nine wins over guys with senior level world or Olympic medals, six of them came at 86kg.

The magicman has double digit wins over guys with serious credentials, all of whom could end up being their country's rep at the world championships this quad.

With a few more years on the senior level, Cox could catch up to him. Now that he is out of school, the three-time NCAA champ will have more time to do tours overseas and wrestle in big events like the World Cup or Beat the Streets again.



But as of right now, J'Den has just two wins over guys with world medals, one of which he shares with Taylor: Alireza Karimi of Iran. Although Cox's resume is not quite as strong, he made an Olympic team, something Taylor has never done, and won an Olympic medal while he was there.

What makes this all the more interesting is that Cox chose Taylor as his training partner for Rio. Which means Taylor has seen Cox as he was hitting his peak for the biggest tournament of his life.

Who will become the next notch in the other's belt? Tune in this Saturday night to find out, LIVE on Flo. In the meantime, check out the biggest wins for each stud up at 86kg.

J'Den Cox Big Wins

Alirez Karimi - 2015 world bronze
Reineris Salas Perez - 2x world silver
Adilet Davlumbaev - 3x military medalist
Aleksandr Gostiyev - 3x Euro medalist
Meisam Moustafa Joukar - Asian Games champ
Pedro Ceballos - Pan Am silver
Umidyon Ismanov - 4x Asian medalist

David Taylor Big Wins

​Sharif Sharifov, AZE - 2012 Olympic gold
Hassan Yazdani, IRI - 2016 Olympic gold
Dato Marsagishvili, GEO - 2012 Olympic bronze
Alireza Karimi, IRI - 2015 world bronze
Istvan Vereb, HUN - 2013 world bronze
Jake Herbert, USA - 2009 world silver
Vladislav Valiev - 2013 JR world champ
Uitumen Orgodol - military world champ
Bogdan Hrytsay - University bronze medalist