USA Wrestling star Cohlton Schultz on rebounding from tragedy: “An attitude of gratitude helped me through all the highs and lows”

In the uncompromising world of Greco-Roman wrestling, Team USA's Cohlton Schultz believes that mentality separates the good from the great.

That may come as a surprise, given that the six-foot-two (1.88m) man-mountain competes in the ultra-abrasive 130 kg category, where from the outside it seems like size and aggression conquer all.

“You do need incredible explosiveness, power, and speed, but the mental game is probably the majority of it,” Schultz told Olympics.com at the 2023 Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

“Greco-Roman wrestling is essentially a chess match of non-stop action, where you have to figure it out and grind through the hard stuff, and that has always been appealing to me.

“It’s all about going at it the hard way. There’s no break in the action, you’re meeting one guy chest to chest to see who can beat the other one off the line and score some points.

“Patience is huge, and being able to think one, two, three steps ahead and understanding what will cause the right reaction from your opponent in order to break their positioning and make an opening for you to score. It’s all part of what makes the best, the best."

Visualisation, breathing, and staying mellow

Schultz is one of the brightest young athletes in the USA.

To date, the Arizona State University grappler’s resume highlights include: U17 world champion, U20 world silver medallist, two-time Senior National Champion, two-time Pac-12 Champion, two-time US Open 130 kg Greco-Roman champion, and Pan American Games silver medallist in 2023.

He was also a runner-up at the prestigious USA Olympic Team Trials in 2020.

Despite all of this success, the Colorado native has also experienced setbacks on the mat, and realised quickly that he needed to adjust his mindset.

“In the past I’ve gone through phases where I’ve tried to amp myself up before matches, but that led to me making more mistakes than I should have; mostly in being too aggressive. When I’m calm and collected, that’s when I feel like I’m at my best,” the 23-year-old continued.

“I do lots of visualisation training, where I focus on performing well and keeping my head above water even when everything is going wrong. I also do all sorts of breathing exercises too to make sure that I keep my head at the right level - not too amped up or too mellow.”

This preparation is particularly key in the 130 kg category, where the athletes’ sheer size and athleticism were intimidating for Schultz when he first started competing internationally.

“I’ve been growing into the weight class nicely, but those first few years were tough. You get off the scale and see the guys you’re going to be competing with and think, “Man, I hope I don’t get drawn against that guy at the start!” he said with a smile.

“But at the end of day, that’s the beauty of Greco-Roman. You have to wrestle big, strong guys and there’s no way around it. You gotta walk up to them on the mat and the better wrestler will prevail.”

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Rebounding from tragedy

Cohlton’s world was rocked in July 2020, when his younger sister Sammie was killed in a car accident near his family’s home in Colorado.

At a time when he was also trying to make the USA Olympic team before having to deal with the stress of the COVID pandemic, it was an incredibly dark time in his life.

But Schultz has a mantra or two that helped him through those challenging moments, and continue to ensure that he performs at his best while not becoming too consumed with his results.

“Wrestling was a bit of a getaway for me. My coach is former Olympian Frank Molinaro and he teaches us to have an attitude of gratitude, which helped me through all the highs and lows, just being grateful for all of the opportunities,” he said.

“At the end of the day, wrestling is what I love to do and I’m grateful that I get to do it at the highest level.

“It helps me to remember that wrestling is who I am, it’s what I do, and I’m lucky that I get to do it.”

Learning from Rulon Gardner

Greco-Roman wrestling was on the programme at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and wrestling has appeared at every Games since, with the exception of 1900.

During that time, the United States has been the second most successful nation in terms of medals won with 138, with 55 of those being gold.

As such, Schultz has been able to call upon some legendary figures to help him climb the ranks.

“My real inspirations and the guys I grew up watching are Dremiel Byers, the world champion, and Olympic champion Rulon Gardner. Having guys like them to watch and aspire to be like growing up, it was a blessing. And now being able to work with them and have talks about what it takes to be the best… I’m very grateful.

“Dremiel teaches me more about the mental side, about how you’ve got to keep your emotions in control and go out there and kick some butt and score some points.” he said.

“Rulon has taught me about the importance of consistency, and being in the right place at the right time.”

As part of the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, the wrestling prodigy has also been able to learn from Olympic gold medallist teammates Jordan Burroughs and Helen Maroulis.

“Jordan Burroughs is a hero for US wrestling and the first time I met him he knew my name and I was just blown away. It was a fanboy kind of moment!” Schultz said.

“Helen is one of the best women we’ve ever produced, and being able to watch the way they prepare, the way they train and take little bits and pieces of what they do to be the best in the world is a blessing.”

• Jordan Burroughs on embracing defeats and trying to be the best wrestler in the world: 'I'm not done'

A future WWE wrestler?

Blessed with natural size and having worked his life to become an elite wrestler, it wasn’t long before professional wrestling company the WWE started showing an interest in Schultz.

In 2022, he signed a deal with their Next In Line programme, which puts talented college athletes on the path to potentially becoming a WWE wrestler.

“I grew up watching WWE with my dad when I was little and now I’ve got a foot in the door, so we’ll see down the road, after I get my Olympic medals, it could be something like that I would like to explore,” he said.

“I feel like the entertainment value and what some of those guys are doing is just incredible. The way they’re flying across the ropes, throwing each other around, and that’s second nature to me in my career so far, so turning that into entertainment sounds like fun!”

If Schultz were to pursue that opportunity, he would be following in the footsteps of former USA freestyle wrestler Kurt Angle, who won Olympic gold at Atlanta 1996, and more recent rival Gable Steveson, the reigning freestyle 125 kg Olympic champion.

“Gable and I were competitors for a long time so seeing him make that jump was cool. That transition really didn’t seem like that much of an option until he did it, so I guess we will see where it goes for me.”

Cohlton Schultz' golden ambition for the Paris 2024 Olympics

But Schultz has plenty that he wants to accomplish in Greco-Roman wrestling before trying to follow in Steveson’s footsteps into the WWE.

First up is making the USA team for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Then he wants to become a world champion, and ensure that he has left a similar legacy in the sport to the role models he so admires.

Typically, Schultz’ approach is methodical and determined.

“The goal is always to go home with the gold medal at Paris 2024, but we’ve got to get there first. One step at a time.

“It would be a dream come true. Ever since I was little I told people that I will go to the Olympics, there’s no time like the present to get it done.”