Within the span of a year, Cohl Schultz suffered three defeats that he hopes can produce his ultimate dream: Olympic gold in Paris in 2024.
Last April, the former Ponderosa High School star and four-time state champion lost to Adam Coon in the Greco-Roman 130-kilogram finals at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Then October brought a loss to Georgia’s Kajaia Iakobi at the World Wrestling Championships. And in March the Arizona State heavyweight fell in the NCAA Division I national title match to Minnesota’s Gable Stevenson.
The defeats are rare for Schultz, who never lost in the state of Colorado while in high school and has only been defeated in the NCAA tournament during his career with the Sun Devils.
“At this point in time, I’ve dang near lost on every big stage there is,” Schultz reflected. “Which is always a bummer, and I hate losing, and of course it’d be great if I could win every single one of them. But it’s not how it’s written up for me, and that’s all right. It’s definitely motivation, and I just keep on learning and keep on growing as a wrestler and enjoying the experiences that I’m going through.”
A two-time Pac-12 champion, Schultz made his second consecutive U.S. Senior World Team earlier this month. After going one-and-done in the world tournament last year, Schultz — who previously won a Cadet gold in 2017, a Junior bronze in 2018, and a Junior silver in 2019 — has a single goal in mind while training this summer for the World Wrestling Championships (Sept. 10-18 in Belgrade, Serbia).
Schultz is traveling to Italy this weekend to compete in a ranking event, then will take part in a training camp in Austria before heading back to Phoenix and then Colorado Springs for a camp at the Olympic Training Center.
“Knowing Cohlton, he’s not going for anything other than to be world champion,” ASU coach Zeke Jones said. “And we’re two years out on the Olympic games, we’re coming up on those shortly, and ultimately that’s where he’s headed: to be the Olympic champion. However, this is part of the path to get there. It didn’t sit well last year when he didn’t get what he was looking for (at the World Wrestling Championships).”
As Schultz continues to find himself on the sport’s biggest stages, his star has risen correspondingly. The 21-year-old Highlands Ranch native recently announced a name, image and likeness deal with WWE as part of the wrestling circuit’s “Next In Line” signees. It’s part of his long-term plan, after hopefully becoming the first Colorado-born wrestler to win Olympic gold.
“It will plug me into all the WWE resources and really open doors for me,” said Schultz, who grew up a WWE fan. “They’re going to help me build my brand. They’re also going to help me with everything I’m doing in college wrestling, amateur wrestling, and then down the road, once I get an Olympic gold medal and I’m ready to hang it up, that door’s open.”
With Stevenson going pro and headed to the WWE — he has a COVID redshirt year remaining with the Gophers, but it appears unlikely he’ll return to college — Schultz will be the favorite to win the Division I heavyweight title in 2023 as a redshirt sophomore.
“Cohlton needs to be ready for anything,” Jones said. “He needs to be ready for Gable, or be ready for the next new Gable, because there’s always going to be somebody new coming along who’s very, very good and who’s hungry and who wants what you want.”
Despite enduring the continued and combined grind of an NCAA season and an international season, Schultz is the healthiest he’s been in a while as he looks to cement his place on the global stage later this year.
“I’m feeling great,” Schultz said. “Right now my entire focus is on trying to put myself in the best position possible to win a world title.”
