Joseph McKenna

Joseph Christopher McKenna (born August 3, 1995) is an American freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 65 kilograms. 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.

As a folkstyle wrestler, he was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, twice out of Ohio State University and once out of Stanford University.

Folkstyle career

High school Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and raised in the Towaco section of Montville, McKenna attended Blair Academy, noted for its wrestling program, in his native New Jersey. During his time as a high schooler, he went on to rack up three Prep National titles while claiming multiple titles from tournaments such as the Beast of the East and Ironman. McKenna was the team captain during his last two years. He also competed at Who's Number One in 2013, falling to eventual Penn State great Jason Nolf. Going into his junior year (November 2013), McKenna committed to the Stanford Cardinal. 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. After the season, McKenna was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

As a sophomore (2016–17), McKenna posted a 26–1 record during regular season, and after claiming his second straight conference title, he was upset and failed to place at the NCAAs.

Ohio State University After the previous season, McKenna transferred from the Stanford University to Ohio State University. During his first season as a Buckeye (2016–17), he went 12–1 during regular season, claimed the Big Ten Conference title and placed third at the NCAAs, notably defeating MAC Conference champion from Missouri Jaydin Eierman in the third–place match. 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. Overall, McKenna racked up a 105–11 record in two seasons for the Buckeyes and two seasons for the Cardinal.

Freestyle career

2014–2016 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. Afterwards, he placed third at the Brazil Cup, notably defeating future U23 World Champion from Russia Nachyn Kuular in the first round. McKenna competed in multiple tournaments throughout 2015, but only placed at the 2015 Granma y Cerro Pelado, claiming the gold medal. In 2016, he only competed at the Polish Open, placing third.

2017–2019 After placing third at the 2017 Ion Cornianu & Ladislau Simon tournament in Romania, he made the US U23 World Team and went on to claim a bronze medal from the U23 World Championships. In 2018, he started off by claiming the US Open National Championship, defeating Jaydin Eierman after tech'ing his way to the finals. 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. To finish the year, he was defeated by three–time World Champion (61kg) from Azerbaijan Haji Aliyev at the Alexandr Medved Memorial International. 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.

2020–2021 McKenna opened up the year with a seventh–place finish at the Matteo Pellicone and a ninth–place finish Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin. 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. After months of being unable to compete due to the pandemic, McKenna placed third at the US National Championships, going 7–1. To open up 2021, McKenna competed in back–to–back FloWrestling events, dominating NCAA champions Nahshon Garrett and Seth Gross. 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. Next, he competed at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, placing third.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. In a quick turnaround, McKenna competed at the prestigioys Poland Open on June 9. 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.

McKenna competed at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the World Championships. 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.

2022 To start off the year, McKenna placed fifth at the 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. McKenna competed at the 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.

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.

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. He then placed third at the Poland Open and second at the D.A. Kunaev International, in July and November, respectively.

2023 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. 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.

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. In June, he beat Matthew Kolodzik in the true-third bout at Final X Neward.

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. 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.

McKenna wrestled at the US Senior Nationals on December 16, placing third and qualifying for the US Olympic Team Trials.

2024 In January, McKenna claimed a bronze medal from the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, soundly defeating returning World finalist Sebastian Rivera.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 142–57

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 142–56

Win 141–56

Win 140–56

Win 139-56

Tirana, Albania Loss 138-56

Win 138-55

Win 137-55

Win 136-55

Win 135-55

Zagreb, Croatia Loss 134-55

Win 134-54

Win 133–54

Durant, Oklahoma

Loss 132–54

Newark, New Jersey Loss 132–53

Loss 132-52

Monterrey, Mexico Win 132-51

Win 131-51

Win 130-51

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 129-51

Win 128-51

Win 127-51

Loss 126-51

Zagreb, Croatia Win 126-50

Win 125-50

Win 124-50

Loss 123-50

Win 123-49

Win 122-49

Win 121-49

State College, Pennsylvania Win

Win 120-49

Win 119-49

Loss 118-49

Win 118–48

Zagreb, Croatia Win 117–48

Loss 116–48

Win 116–47

Win 115–47

Fort Worth, Texas Win 114–47

Loss 113–47

Win 113–46

Win 112–46

Win 111–46

Win 110–46

Win 109–46

Win 108–46

Win 107–46

Loss 106–46

Budapest, Hungary Win 106–45

Win 105–45

Win 104–45

Win 103–45

Newark, New Jersey

Loss 102–45

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 102–44

Win 101–44

Win 100–44

Win 99–44

Win 98–44

Sofia, Bulgaria Loss 97–44

Win 97–43

Win 96–43

Win 95–43

Loss 94–43

Alexandria, Egypt Win 94–42

Win 93–42

Win 92–42

Win 91–42

Loss 90–42

Zagreb, Croatia Win 90–41

Win 89–41

Win 88–41

Loss 87–41

Taraz, Kazakhstan Win 87–40

Win 86–40

Win 85–40

Win 84–40

Win 83–40

Warsaw, Poland Loss 82–40

Win 82–39

Win 81–39

Win 80–39

Win 79–39

Win 79–39

Win 78–39

Loss 77–39

Win 77–38

Win 76–38

Win 75–38

Win

Istanbul, Turkey Win 74–38

Loss 73–38

Win 73–37

Win 72–37

Win 71–37

Arlington, Texas

Loss 70–37

Krasnoyarsk, Russia Win 70–36

Win 69–36

Loss 68–36

Win 68–35

Loss 67–35

Loss 67–34

Win 67–33

Win 66–33

Win

Warsaw, Poland Loss 65–33

Loss 65–32

Win 65–31

Win 64–31

Guatemala City, Guatemala Win 63–31

Win 62–31

Win 61–31

Loss 60–31

Loss 60–30

Win 60–29

Win 59–29

Win 58–29

Rome, Italy Loss 57–29

Win 57–28

Loss 56–28

Kyiv, Ukraine Win 56–27

Win 55–27

Win 54–27

Austin, Texas Win 53–27

Win 52–27

Coralville, Iowa Win 51–27

Win 50–27

Win 49–27

Loss 48–27

Win 48–26

Win 47–26

Win 46–26

Loss 45–26

United States

Loss 45–25

Krasnoyarsk, Russia Win 45–24

Win 44–24

Loss 43–24

Rome, Italy Loss 43–23

Win 43–22

Loss 42–22

Fort Worth, Texas Win 42–21

Win 41–21

Win 40–21

Win 39–21

Loss 38–21

New York City, New York Win 38–20

Loss 37–20

Win 37–19

Win 36–19

Win 35–19

Loss 34–19

East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Win 34–18

Win 33–18

Loss 32–18

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 32–17

Win 31–17

Loss 30–17

Win 30–16

Loss 29–16

Minsk, Belarus

Loss 29–15

State College, Pennsylvania Loss 29–14

Win 29–13

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 28–13

Win 27–13

Win 26–13

Win 25–13

Win 24–13

Bydgoszcz, Poland Win 23–13

Win 22–13

Loss 21–13

Win 21–12

Win 20–12

Rochester, Minnesota Win 19–12

Win 18–12

Win 17–12

Win 16–12

Bucharest, Romania Win 15–12

Loss 14–12

Win 14–11

Win 14311

Spala, Poland Loss 12–11

Win 12–10

Loss 11–10

Madison, Wisconsin

Loss 11–9

Las Vegas, Nevada Loss 11–8

Win 11–7

Win 10–7

Loss 9–7

Minsk, Belarus Win 9–6

Win 8–6

Havana, Cuba Loss 7–6

Win 7–5

Loss 6–5

Colorado Springs, Colorado Loss 6–4

Win 6–3

Win 5–3

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Loss 4–3

Win 4–2

Loss 3–2

New York City, New York Win

Win 3–1

Win 2–1

Win 1–1

Loss 0–1

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Loss 17–5

Win 17–4

Win 16–4

Win 15–4

Win 14–4

Win 13–4

Win 12–4

Loss 11–4

Win 11–3

Win 10–3

Win 9–3

Loss 8–3

Win 8–2

Win 7–2

Loss 6–2

Win 6–1

Win 5–1

Win 4–1

Loss 3–1

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2019 Senior

3 (2nd)

24–3 88.89% 55.56% 2018 Junior 4 (3rd) 21–2 91.30% 39.13% 2017 Sophomore

7 (DNP) 32–3 91.43% 51.43% 2016 Freshman 4 (3rd) 28–3 90.32% 45.16%