Stanford's Joey McKenna poised for NCAA Championship run

Joey McKenna of Stanford controls Duke’s Zach Finesilver in a dual meet earlier this year. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.

Two-time Junior World Team member Joey McKenna has rocketed onto the college wrestling scene as a freshman at Stanford. The Ridgewood, N.J. native is 17-1 and currently sits No. 2 in the latest WIN individual rankings. Some 18-year old freshmen would be pleased with that ranking so early in their collegiate career but, McKenna is nowhere near satisfied.
“Obviously, this year my goal is to be an NCAA champ,” McKenna said. “Last year I honed in my technique instead of my grit and just going hard. This year is more of wrestling hard all the time and grinding through a lot of positions. Wrestling internationally last year gave me that technical edge that allows me to get through positions a little bit easier. In the upcoming years I want to be a Senior World Team member, Senior World champion and eventually an Olympic champ. I just need to trust my coaches, trust my training and trust the process.”

The process for McKenna has been a thrill ride already. A graduate from the prestigious Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., McKenna has been a Cadet and Junior superstar. He captured three consecutive prep national championships (2011, 2012, 2013), three Fargo Greco-Roman championships (2010, 2011, 2013), was a member of the 2012 U.S. Cadet World Team and won a silver medal at the 2014 Junior World Championships.
McKenna thrived under legendary coach Jeff Buxton at the Blair Academy and at the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club.
"Coach Buxton has been one of my greatest mentors besides my parents,” McKenna said. “He has been my coach for almost 10 years. When I first exposed my wrestling to him, I knew that I wanted to wrestle under him. Throughout my years of training with him before attending Blair, he helped me and I wasn't even on his team. When I decided to go to Blair, his investment in me rose to another level. I put all of my trust in him and that's why I believe he has helped me become the wrestler I am today."
With that glowing resume, McKenna had his choice of litter when it came time to choose a school to wrestle collegiately. He made the move across the country to the West Coast to attend Stanford University.
“It was a tough decision,” McKenna said. “I was looking at more Ivy League schools. I focused more on academics than athletics, that’s just what we did. I made the decision to come here because I knew I could succeed academically and athletically.”
Stanford head coach Jason Borrelli knows that McKenna is capable of being as good as it gets in the sport of wrestling and hopes to lead him to that next level on “The Farm.”
“Joey is a special kid,” Borrelli said. “He is just a freshman, so making this claim early is a big deal but he really is a special kid. You recognize as a coach that you don’t get to coach a lot of guys like Joey in your career. He is wise beyond his years. He uses his voice to lead as much as he uses the way he performs on the mat. He understands the concept of team. He came from a great program at Blair Academy that taught him that. He also understands what it takes to be great individually. He brings a great overall feeling to our program. Even though he is just a freshman he feels like a senior by the way he leads and his maturity.”
That leadership and maturity really flourished in the year after high school while McKenna trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. McKenna, a Junior World Team member, was learning from Senior-level athletes like World team members Reece Humphrey, Brent Metcalf, Zach Rey, and Jake Herbert.
“Wrestling at the OTC definitely helped me a lot,” McKenna said. “I was able to train with a lot World Team members which was an awesome experience. Just all of wrestling internationally was a great experience. It gave me an edge and really helped me get focused for this season at Stanford.”
Another part of that international experience is being exposed to expert training from U.S. National Freestyle coaches like2000 Olympic Gold medalist Brandon Slay and World Champion Bill Zadick.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Slay,” McKenna said. “He took over the junior program and on my two Junior world team trips we definitely made a connection. He has always looked out for me and helped me whenever I am out at the OTC. He was the one that gave me all the opportunities to travel with Team USA and gave me a shot at the Senior level when I am still a junior.”
Stanford assistant coach and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Jamill Kelly really notices the Senior level impact on a young man like McKenna.
“It makes a big difference,” Kelly said. “For a kid like him to spend the year with full grown men is huge. He spent time with guys at the training center and he was able to see what these guys do and how hard they work. It has made a huge impact on him as a freshman. It gives him a better outlook. He totally understands the life of a wrestler because of the time with them.”
McKenna has totally engulfed himself in the sport, which his coaches not only notice but really appreciate.
“If you saw him every day in the room, if you saw the extra workouts he puts in, if you knew what wrestling meant to him, you would know the No. 2 ranking is well deserved,” Borrelli said. “We feel that he has a good chance at winning the national championship. He loves wrestling. If he isn’t wrestling then he is probably watching or following wrestling. He is a wrestling junkie. He is pretty fun spirited and easy going. However, he knows when to zone in. When he gets close to competing, you aren’t going to kid around with him a lot. He gets locked in.”
“He really works hard,” Kelly said. “I didn’t really know the level of commitment he had. He wanted to work out twice a day, every day. I had to calm him down and remind him it is a long season. He was so excited to compete and looking for success. You would rather have a horse that wants to run than a horse you have to push. As a coach, it is always nice to have an athlete like that. He was a winner when he got here and he is going to continue to be a winner.”
McKenna also shows his maturity and leadership off the mat, earning an impressive 4.1 grade-point-average in his first semester at Stanford while balancing his intense training workload.
“As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, he really is a nerd,” Kelly said. “He tries to hide it but he is a nerd through and through.”
He might be a nerd in the classroom but when it comes to competing, McKenna has been dominant through his freshman season, posting four pins and outscoring his opponents by a combined 117-20 in the other matches.
“This is what I expected,” Kelly said. “I had a feeling he would be able to come right in and find success. It hasn’t shocked me at all what he has done so far but there is still the tournament at the end that is most important. That’s what we are working towards.”
Oklahoma State sophomore Dean Heil currently sits atop the rankings at 141 lbs. and has already defeated McKenna this season at the Southern Scuffle. The two will meet again this Sunday as Oklahoma State and Stanford meet for a dual in Stillwater, Okla. Coach Borrelli hopes to use the previous tightly contested 2-1 overtime match as a learning process for McKenna.
“He has to make a few adjustments on his finishes,” Borrelli said. “He wrestled Dean Heil at the Southern Scuffle and got into positions to score but didn’t capitalize. He is going to have to be able to finish. In order to win a national title, you have to take someone down but he has made great strides on top. I think that is his best position right now. He also has the ability to ride but also turn. He has a lot of great turns that he is slowly getting better at. A couple turns here and there breaks a match wide open. Then he just needs to focus on the little things off the mat like making sure the academic side of things is taken care of and making sure his weight is set. If he gets those things in check, then when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, he can focus on just those five matches. He is showing us that he can do those things so we are excited.”
Matt Gentry is the only Stanford wrestler to win an NCAA Championship back in 2004 at 157 pounds. McKenna, armed with knowledge, wisdom and technique well beyond his years, seems to be on a collision course with history in 2016. And remember, he is only a freshman.