Rex Cox began his wrestling career at the YMCA in Knoxville, Tennessee when he was a sophomore in high school. He had hoped to play football, but the coach told him he was too small. 

Since his only hope of attending college was on a scholarship, Cox quit school for a year to build up his body. He returned to school and played football, earning a scholarship to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. 

After arriving at UTC and realizing that he was not as big as some of his teammates, Cox returned to wrestling and won Southeastern Conference titles in 1960 and 1961. He qualified for the 1961 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, where he lost to Oregon State’s Fritz Fivian, a 31-year-old who had wrestled for the United States in Greco-Roman at the 1960 Rome Olympics.  

Cox and his wife, Carol, moved to Lynchburg, Tennessee in 1967 and he became a volunteer coach at Brookville High School. He coached both of his sons at Brookville and continued to coach there until 1983. During Cox’s tenure, several Brookville wrestlers won state titles. 

He then turned his focus to cycling and became a legend in the local biking world, averaging 4,000 to 5,000 miles each year. After undergoing quintuple bypass heart surgery in 1991, Cox continued to cycle and rode an additional 15,000 miles during the next three years. 

Sadly, on April 19, 1990, the day after he finished a bike ride across Florida, Rex died in his sleep at a relative’s house in Florida. 

All who knew Rex admired and loved him, and he has been missed very much by family and friends since his passing. 

Rex had a life well lived and without regrets, a positive example for us all.