A six-foot-two, 285 pound redshirt freshman at ASU from Parker, Colorado, Cohlton Schultz is a force on the wrestling mat. And now he is training for the Tokyo Olympics after amassing back-to-back Greco-Roman championships, his most recent coming this past October.
The four-time Colorado state champion was rated as the No. 1 pound-for-pound recruit in the nation. He’s been a member of the Junior World Team three times and traveled across the world to compete in and win multiple world championships.
And he's yet to wrestle for ASU.
Still, the 20-year-old phenom has already made an impact on his coaches and teammates, and those who have been around him can all agree on one thing: He’s a great teammate.
“I like telling other people about him because his character is on point,” said ASU assistant coach Frank Molinaro. “He’s not about inhaling his success or the praise or the accomplishments. He makes everyone around him better.”
ASU wrestling redshirt junior Chad Porter said Schultz is "a goof and a fun guy to be around."
“He brings that kind of energy to us and he’s always cracking jokes," Porter said. "That’s my buddy.”
“Cohlton is a great guy, he always adds an extra spark into the wrestling room,” ASU wrestling redshirt senior Anthony Valencia said.
Both Porter and Valencia placed as runner-ups in their weight class during Senior Nationals in October where Schultz successfully nabbed his second-consecutive Greco-Roman championship.
At the tournament Schultz dominated his first three matches before entering the championship round. He stormed back to beat his opponent, West Cathcart, by a score of 4-2. The nine Sun Devils who competed in the competition went on to go a combined 20-14 en route to having five wrestlers with podium finishes.
But since joining ASU, the 20-year-old has been nothing but thankful for the help of his coaches and teammates.
“I think I’ve been blessed, when I came in we had some amazing leadership from our coaches and upperclassmen,” Schultz said. “I was able to come into a great culture. We’re always working to get better as a team, if I can help in any way with that then it’s a blessing.”
Schultz, like many others, has had to adjust to the nuances of life during the COVID-19 pandemic and the other challenges that 2020 has thrown his way.
In July, his younger sister Sammie was killed in a car accident near his family’s home in Colorado. Schultz says that the support from his family during the tough times has helped him.
“My family has been able to come together through all the craziness,” Schultz said. “It’s been rough but everyone is really sturdy together now.”
He has a tattoo of a beating yellow heart on his left bicep in remembrance of his sister Sammie, a reminder of how Schultz shares his triumph and even defeat with those closest to him, he said.
“I’ve been grateful for wrestling lately,” Schultz said. “It’s always been a little bit of a getaway where no other problems matter. Even if I wasn’t on the mat, I was still watching film and trying to learn as much as I could."
He said pushing through challenges is "tough, but you gotta keep finding a way to grow every day.” And his teammates are there to help, he said.
“As cheesy as it sounds, our team really is a big family,” Schultz said. “Everybody on the team is my best friend.”
Even though he said "wrestling is freaking hard" and "it beats you up," that doesn't stop him from making sure all of his teammates are "in a good place."
“Practice could be hard and everyone could be exhausted with all the training, and Cohlton would crack a joke or ask you how your day is going,” Valenica said.
Reach the reporter at cabradl4@asu.edu and follow @colebradley01 on Twitter.
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