Greco newcomer and Senior Nationals champion Kevin Radford continues his impressive run, advancing to Dave Schultz Memorial finals
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by Kala Ibarra, USA Wrestling
Kevin Radford throws Khymba Johnson in the semifinals at Dave Schultz Memorial International. (John Sacks, Tech-Fall.com)
2017 U.S. Open champion Kevin Radford advanced to the finals at 85 kg/187.5 lbs. at the Dave Schultz Memorial International on Wednesday.
In last year’s tournament, Radford, who wrestles for Sunkist Kids, fell to Ryan Hope in the third-place match.
In this year’s quarterfinals, Radford beat Easton Hargrave, 8-4, to advance to the semifinals, where he faced 2017 U.S. Open runner- up Khymba Johnson from Sacramento, Calif., in a U.S. Open finals rematch. Radford came out with the win, 8-4.
He had a late start to his semifinals match but made his way out on top. The rematch between Johnson and Radford was more intense than their previous match. Just 30 seconds into the match Johnson was leading by four points, but Radford quickly turned it over, starting the second period tied. Radford continued to add points to the scoreboard during the second period and ended the match four points ahead.
“[Johnson] came ready to wrestle and gave me a battle. I wasn’t as stingy as I was in the finals battle. I tried some things and paid for it. At the end of the day, I just have to go out there and wrestle and stop trying to do everything perfect,” Radford said.
Even with Radford’s success in the tournament thus far, he doesn’t believe that he is making the best moves. He knows the improvements that he needs to make for his upcoming finals match and future competitions.
“I don’t feel the best today, if I could grade myself I would give myself a C-. I know what I need to work on. There are a few things I’m having difficulties with so I want to go out there and fix them for the next time around.”
Radford graduated from Arizona State University in 2015 and made the decision to stay there and train with Sunkist Kids.
He originally planned to wrestle freestyle, but with so many tough wrestlers at 86 kg and the help of his coach James Johnson, he gave Greco a try and has stuck with it since.
“I graduated in 2015, and they were trying to get me going in the freestyle circuit and everyone was coming up at 86 kilos. I’m confident in my ability, but I didn’t want to be doing freestyle just to do freestyle while knowing that I was going to go out there to fight a losing battle. My coach JJ came up to me and asked if I wanted to try Greco and I was like ‘let’s do it.’”
Arizona is a hot bed for freestyle wrestling and to have a Greco wrestler out there training is a different scene, but not one that we haven’t seen before. Radford is given the opportunity to train both styles by working out with Sunkist Kids.
“It’s been good, I do a lot of cross training between folkstyle and Greco. It’s a little different but it works for me,” he said.
Radford made his way out to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 19 to participate in training camp. This was Radford’s first Greco-Roman training camp.
“It’s been different because it’s the most that I’ve solely done Greco training without going and doing folkstyle and freestyle,” Radford said. “It’s helped me a lot. There are some things that I need to work on, it’s a process and I’m still trying to figure it out”
Radford will continue his Greco-Roman training at the conclusion of Dave Schultz Memorial International in preparation for upcoming competitions overseas. In March, Radford will be spending the month overseas in Europe competing and training.
The Dave Schultz Memorial International finals will begin at 4:00p.m MT and are being streamed live by Flowrestling.com.
2017 U.S. Open champion Kevin Radford advanced to the finals at 85 kg/187.5 lbs. at the Dave Schultz Memorial International on Wednesday.
In last year’s tournament, Radford, who wrestles for Sunkist Kids, fell to Ryan Hope in the third-place match.
In this year’s quarterfinals, Radford beat Easton Hargrave, 8-4, to advance to the semifinals, where he faced 2017 U.S. Open runner- up Khymba Johnson from Sacramento, Calif., in a U.S. Open finals rematch. Radford came out with the win, 8-4.
He had a late start to his semifinals match but made his way out on top. The rematch between Johnson and Radford was more intense than their previous match. Just 30 seconds into the match Johnson was leading by four points, but Radford quickly turned it over, starting the second period tied. Radford continued to add points to the scoreboard during the second period and ended the match four points ahead.
“[Johnson] came ready to wrestle and gave me a battle. I wasn’t as stingy as I was in the finals battle. I tried some things and paid for it. At the end of the day, I just have to go out there and wrestle and stop trying to do everything perfect,” Radford said.
Even with Radford’s success in the tournament thus far, he doesn’t believe that he is making the best moves. He knows the improvements that he needs to make for his upcoming finals match and future competitions.
“I don’t feel the best today, if I could grade myself I would give myself a C-. I know what I need to work on. There are a few things I’m having difficulties with so I want to go out there and fix them for the next time around.”
Radford graduated from Arizona State University in 2015 and made the decision to stay there and train with Sunkist Kids.
He originally planned to wrestle freestyle, but with so many tough wrestlers at 86 kg and the help of his coach James Johnson, he gave Greco a try and has stuck with it since.
“I graduated in 2015, and they were trying to get me going in the freestyle circuit and everyone was coming up at 86 kilos. I’m confident in my ability, but I didn’t want to be doing freestyle just to do freestyle while knowing that I was going to go out there to fight a losing battle. My coach JJ came up to me and asked if I wanted to try Greco and I was like ‘let’s do it.’”
Arizona is a hot bed for freestyle wrestling and to have a Greco wrestler out there training is a different scene, but not one that we haven’t seen before. Radford is given the opportunity to train both styles by working out with Sunkist Kids.
“It’s been good, I do a lot of cross training between folkstyle and Greco. It’s a little different but it works for me,” he said.
Radford made his way out to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 19 to participate in training camp. This was Radford’s first Greco-Roman training camp.
“It’s been different because it’s the most that I’ve solely done Greco training without going and doing folkstyle and freestyle,” Radford said. “It’s helped me a lot. There are some things that I need to work on, it’s a process and I’m still trying to figure it out”
Radford will continue his Greco-Roman training at the conclusion of Dave Schultz Memorial International in preparation for upcoming competitions overseas. In March, Radford will be spending the month overseas in Europe competing and training.
The Dave Schultz Memorial International finals will begin at 4:00p.m MT and are being streamed live by Flowrestling.com.
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