Joseph McKenna (wrestler)
Joseph Christopher McKenna (born August 3, 1995) is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms.[1] In freestyle, he is a two-time Pan American Continental champion, multiple-time Grand Prix medalist, and a U23 World medalist and US National champion.[2][3]
As a folkstyle wrestler, he was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, twice out of the Ohio State University and once out of Stanford University.[4]
Folkstyle career
[edit]High school
[edit]McKenna attended Blair Academy, noted for its wrestling program, in his native New Jersey.[5] During his time as a high schooler, he went on to rack up three Prep National titles while claiming multiple titles from prestigious tournaments such as the Beast of the East and Ironman.[6] McKenna was the team captain during his last two years.[7] He also competed at Who's Number One in 2013, falling to eventual Penn State great Jason Nolf.[8] Going into his junior year (November 2013), McKenna committed to the Stanford Cardinal.[6]
College
[edit]Stanford University
[edit]After redshirting during the 2014–15 season, McKenna posted big success during his freshman year, going 19–2 during regular season with top–ranked Dean Heil being the only to beat him during this period of time.[9] The second–ranked wrestler in the country, McKenna claimed the Pac-12 Conference title and placed third at the NCAAs, only losing to Bryce Meredith in the latter and bouncing back to beat Anthony Ashnault in his last match of the season.[10] After the season, McKenna was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.[11]
As a sophomore (2016–17), McKenna posted an outstanding 26–1 record during regular season, and after claiming his second straight conference title,[12] he was upset and failed to place at the NCAAs.[13]
The Ohio State University
[edit]After the previous season, McKenna transferred from the Stanford University to the Ohio State University.[14] During his first season as a Buckeye (2016–17), he went 12–1 during regular season, claimed the prestigious Big Ten Conference title and placed third at the NCAAs, notably defeating MAC Conference champion from Missouri Jaydin Eierman in the third–place match.[15][16][17] In his senior year, McKenna had yet another successful regular season, claiming the Cliff Keen title and racking up a 16–2 record, before claiming his second straight B1G title and placing as the runner–up at the NCAA tournament, in his best season during college.[18] Overall, McKenna racked up a 105–11 record in two seasons for the Buckeyes and two seasons for the Cardinal.[19]
Freestyle career
[edit]2014–2016
[edit]After a second–place finish at the Junior World Championships, McKenna made his senior freestyle debut in November 2014 at the age of 19, placing fourth at the Bill Farrell Memorial International.[20][21] Afterwards, he placed third at the Brazil Cup, notably defeating future U23 World Champion from Russia Nachyn Kuular in the first round.[22] McKenna competed in multiple tournaments throughout 2015, but only placed at the 2015 Granma y Cerro Pelado, claiming the gold medal.[23] In 2016, he only competed at the Polish Open, placing third.[24]
2017–2019
[edit]After placing third at the 2017 Ion Cornianu & Ladislau Simon tournament in Romania,[25] he made the US U23 World Team and went on to claim a bronze medal from the U23 World Championships.[26][27] In 2018, he started off by claiming the US Open National Championship, defeating Jaydin Eierman after tech'ing his way to the finals.[28] Due to his last result, McKenna sat out in the finals of the US World Team Trials, in where he was defeated twice in a row by '16 World Champion (61kg) and four–time NCAA champion for the Buckeyes Logan Stieber.[29] To finish the year, he was defeated by three–time World Champion (61kg) from Azerbaijan Haji Aliyev at the prestigious Alexandr Medved Memorial International.[30] In 2019, McKenna failed to qualify for the US World Team Trials, but qualified for the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials after a second–place finish at the US Senior Nationals.[31]
2020–2021
[edit]McKenna opened up the year with a seventh–place finish at the prestigious Matteo Pellicone and a ninth–place finish Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin.[32][33] He was then scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials, however, the event was postponed as well as the 2020 Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34] After months of being unable to compete due to the pandemic, McKenna placed third at the US National Championships, going 7–1.[35] To open up 2021, McKenna competed in back–to–back FloWrestling events, dominating NCAA champions Nahshon Garrett and Seth Gross.[36][37] McKenna went back to competing overseas, first competing at the Ukraine Open, where he notably defeated '20 European Continental finalist from Belarus Niurgun Skriabin before falling to reigning U23 World Champion from Azerbaijan Turan Bayramov, failing to place.[38] Next, he competed at the prestigious Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, placing third.[39]
McKenna then competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in April 2–3, as the fifth seed, in an attempt of representing the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[40] McKenna performed outstandingly on his way to the finals, upseting fourth–seeded and '17 World Championship runner–up (70kg) James Green and top–seeded and defending US World Team Member Zain Retherford.[41] In the best–of–three finale, he was defeated by '19 US National champion Jordan Oliver twice in a row, earning hard–fought runner–up honors.[42]
As the other US Olympic Trials finalist, McKenna competed at the Pan American Continental Championships from May 27 to 30, replacing an injured Jordan Oliver.[43] He captured the crown after tech'ing all of his four opponents, most notably four–time All–American for Rutgers and representative of Puerto Rico Sebastian Rivera, helping the USA reach all ten medals in freestyle.[44] In a quick turnaround, McKenna competed at the prestigioys Poland Open on June 9.[45] After a victory over a Ukrainian opponent, McKenna suffered back–to–back losses that came in hand of the highly accomplished Vasyl Shuptar and Yianni Diakomihalis, before earning a forfeit win over Shuptar to claim the bronze.[46][47]
McKenna competed at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships.[48] After a back-and-forth win over Evan Henderson to make the finals, McKenna beat rival Yianni Diakomihalis in another slugfest, before being downed twice convincingly, losing the series.[49]
2022
[edit]To start off the year, McKenna placed fifth at the prestigious Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin, notably downing two-time World medalist Akhmed Chakaev. He then beat Kamal Begakov on February 12, at Bout at the Ballpark.[50] McKenna competed at the prestigious Yasar Dogu International on February 27, claiming a bronze medal after going 4–1, only losing to World Champion Zagir Shakhiev in a close bout.[51]
On May 8, McKenna defended his Pan American championship in Acapulco, Mexico, defeating Olympian Agustín Destribats and four-time All-American Sebastian Rivera in order to do so.[52]
At the US World Team Trials, in May, McKenna suffered a first-round upset to Ian Parker, loss which he avenged in the bronze-medal bout to place third.[53] He then placed third at the Poland Open and second at the D.A. Kunaev International, in July and November, respectively.[54]
2023
[edit]To start off the year, McKenna racked up silver medals at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open and the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series, as well as a bronze at the Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament.[55][56] In these tournaments, he earned notable wins over eventual 2023 World silver medalist Sebastian Rivera, U20 World Champion Erik Arushanian and European medalist Ali Rahimzade.[57]
In April, McKenna placed second at the US Open, falling to two-time NCAA champion Nick Lee in the finals and failing to advance in the US World Team Trials process.[58] In June, he beat Matthew Kolodzik in the true-third bout at Final X Neward.[59]
At the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial, in July, McKenna earned silver up at 70 kilograms after a notable win over eventual 2023 World silver medalist Amir Mohammad Yazdani in the semifinals.[60] In November, McKenna became the champion at the D.A. Kunaev International, earning an important victory over fellow American and World silver medalist Yianni Diakomihalis in the semifinals.[61]
McKenna wrestled at the US Senior Nationals on December 16, placing third and qualifying for the US Olympic Team Trials.[62]
2024
[edit]In January, McKenna claimed a bronze medal from the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, soundly defeating returning World finalist Sebastian Rivera.[63]
Freestyle record
[edit]
NCAA record
[edit]Stats
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Joey McKenna". Ohio State Buckeyes. May 21, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Joey McKenna chooses PRTC". Pennsylvania RTC. August 26, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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- ^ "Follow Joey McKenna, Blair — 2012-2013 Wrestling". highschoolsports.nj.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ a b Bryant, Jason (November 15, 2013). "Blair Academy's Joey McKenna signs with Stanford". The Open Mat. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "Joey McKenna - Wrestling". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "Jason Nolf and Jordan Oliver Impress at Flo's Who's #1". PA Power Wrestling. November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "Wrestling hopes to make history at the Pac-12 Championships". The Stanford Daily. February 25, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ Athletics, Stanford (March 19, 2016). "Pair of Stanford wrestlers earn All-American honors at NCAA meet". paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "This Year in Pac-12 Wrestling". pac-12.com. April 27, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ Athletics, Stanford (February 27, 2017). "Stanford's McKenna wins another Pac-12 wrestling title". paloaltoonline.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
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- ^ "Joey McKenna Named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week After Upsetting No. 2 Kevin Jack". Eleven Warriors. February 20, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
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- ^ Rabinowitz, Bill. "Ohio State wrestling | Transfer Joey McKenna finishes third in NCAAs". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ "Joey McKenna". Ohio State Buckeyes. May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
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- ^ Bryant, Jason (August 9, 2014). "Khadjiev wins France's first-ever gold, Americans McKenna, Snyder win medals at Junior Worlds". The Open Mat. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ Guillotine1 (November 10, 2014). "Bill Farrell International Open – Freestyle". The Guillotine. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ tim (November 29, 2014). "Russia and America Split Freestyle Titles at Brazil Cup as Japan Controls Greco-Roman". United World Wrestling. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
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- ^ "Six U.S. National Team members receive draws for Medved International in Belarus". teamusa.org. September 13, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021.
- ^ "Joey McKenna Qualifies for U.S. Olympic Trials; Places Second at Senior Nationals". Pennsylvania RTC. December 23, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ "Matteo Pellicone – Results Recap". tech-fall.com. January 19, 2020.
- ^ "Nine Americans set to compete at Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia". teamusa.org. January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020.
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- ^ Miller, Zach. "Wrestling: Men's freestyle seeds announced for U.S. Olympic Trials". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ NJ.com, Bill Evans | NJ Advance Media for (April 3, 2021). "N.J. native Joey McKenna upsets Zain Retherford, reaches U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials finals". nj. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
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- ^ "Who's Registered For World Team Trials So Far? - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
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- ^ "BURROUGHS CLAIMS RANKING SERIES GOLD, FOUR OTHERS EARN PODIUM SPOTS AT YASAR DOGU IN TURKEY". teamusa.org. February 27, 2022. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022.
- ^ Vinay (May 9, 2022). "Gilman adds Pan-Am title to growing resume". United World Wrestling. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
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- ^ "Kyle Snyder and Kollin Moore Win Gold, Joey McKenna Wins Silver at Zagreb Open in Croatia". Eleven Warriors. February 3, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ^ "Moore wins gold, U.S. men's freestylers claim eight medals to claim Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Event team title". www.themat.com. February 26, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
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- ^ "Nolf captures back-to-back golds at Zagreb Open, McKenna, Zapf, Marsteller tack on bronze medals for U.S. men's freestyle". www.themat.com. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.