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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]
High school
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
Stanford University
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
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]
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.[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
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
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
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
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
In January, McKenna claimed a bronze medal from the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, soundly defeating returning World finalist Sebastian Rivera.[63]
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