By Richard Immel
USA Wrestling

A new book for wrestling fans, Seeking Kenny, has arrived, fittingly in time for the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals. The story examines the life of Oregon prep wrestling star Kenny Cox, who was a five-time Junior Nationals champion in Fargo, N.D. and the Oregon winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 1997. 

Cox was a three-time Junior Greco-Roman national champion and a two-time Junior freestyle national champion. He won three Oregon high school state titles for Churchill High School in Eugene, Ore. Cox was the 1997 ASICS High School Wrestler of the Year, an award that was given each year to the best high school wrestler in the nation. He went on to attend and wrestle at the University of Oregon. Post-college, he was an assistant coach at three Oregon high schools. 

Cox unexpectedly passed away at age 31 on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, officially of sepsis (blood infection) and subsequent acute hemorrhagic pneumonia, after spending over 70 days exploring a remote area of the island’s wilderness. 

Where Seeking Kenny excels is examining how Cox chose to live his life, and the relationships he built within and outside of the sport of wrestling, rather than fixating on his death. It is an enlightening read that forces self-reflection and expands on the theme of life being bigger than sport. 

Seeking Kenny Book Description

Kenny Cox devoted his life to wrestling: winning 10 Oregon championships in collegiate, freestyle, and Greco-Roman and five junior national championships. But when his college career came to a close, Cox realized he wasn’t sure who he was or how to go about living his life. A few years later, he walked from Oregon to Mexico and back, and upon his return, sold his house and flew to Kauai, where he ventured deep into the wilderness and survived seventy days without supplies. Just weeks after reemerging from the wild, he died at the age of 31. 

Michael Copperman considers the life and untimely death of Cox, reconstructing memories of his former training partner with the help of Cox’s family, friends, fans, and fellow wrestlers. Seeking Kenny is, in part, an ode to a storied athlete. But it’s also a cautionary tale about the mental and bodily extremes Cox demanded for his achievements. Copperman asks what it means to live past one’s “glory days,” and what roles loss, grief, faith, and memory play when athletes leave pieces of themselves behind. 

Words From Author Michael Copperman 

Motivation To Write The Book? 

“I wrote the book because I wanted to understand what happened to Kenny, so I could try to understand what had happened to me in trying to be like Kenny…I grew up looking up to Kenny Cox, idolizing him, training with him, and sort of looking at his example as the way to be in wrestling…He was, at that time, the best freestyle and Greco-Roman high school wrestler in United States history.” 

Why Should A Wrestler Read The Book? 

“I think it can be read as a cautionary tale in some ways about finding ways to value yourself beyond just what you’re capable of doing on the mat. It’s not that Kenny didn’t always believe in wrestling or wasn’t willing to sacrifice everything, but I think it’s important for people to understand that you can keep that perspective even if it takes you a long way…I explore the mystery of Kenny’s death; it’s kind of an Into The Wild kind of way…In some ways you could say Kenny died from making a last extreme cut. Thinking about the rigors of cutting, or the dangers of cutting, the consequences of cutting, which probably also sapped his own career. It certainly did with me.” 

Grab Your Copy 

Seeking Kenny is available where books are sold. The novel is 302 pages in paperback or digital editions for $22.50. If purchasing online through the University of Iowa Press, a discount is currently available using the promo code KENNY25.