Behind the Veil: The Courage and Support of a Wrestling Wife

Photo; Right to Left: Laney and Jimmy Kennedy, Lauren, Beacon, Jordan and Ora Burroughs, David and Kendra Taylor.

Much is made of a wrestler’s sacrifice to achieve greatness. The countless hours spent perfecting the craft. Traveling across the world to compete against elite competition. The life of a wrestler is grueling.

The side not often seen or discussed is what a wrestler leaves behind to chase his or her dreams. Spouses, children, family and friends, all of which are crucial cogs to a wrestler’s success, can get lost among the on-the-mat ventures.

Being a leader on the support team of a World-level wrestler has created a unique opportunity to connect with similar individuals, and a bond that can be shared along the way. This is particularly the case with a group of wives behind some of today’s top American men’s freestyle wrestlers.

This group of inspirational women include the likes of Lauren Burroughs, wife of 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, Kendra Taylor, wife of 2017 U.S. Open champion David Taylor, and Laney Kennedy, wife of 2015 World Team member Jimmy Kennedy.

These women make up a few of the many wives who join their husbands on quests to become the best in the world. These quests take time, dedication and sacrifice, but also travel to the distant corners of the world in search of greatness.

An example of this sacrifice comes from February of this year when the U.S. men’s freestyle team traveled to Kermanshah, Iran, for the Freestyle World Cup. During this time, President Trump enforced a travel ban upon a number of countries for 90 days, Iran included. The political tussle created a cloud of uncertainty over the trip.

As is often the case with international travel, America’s top wrestlers navigated limited cell phone service for over a week, losing contact with their wives and children during that time. This is one of the most challenging times for their wives. To push through such times, these women found support and encouragement in each other.

“When they were traveling to go to Iran this year there was a lot of stress for some of the wives because you weren’t sure of some of the political tensions and how that was going to affect them, but we all had a group chat going and we were just reinforcing one another and we were all really supportive of each other,” Burroughs said.

Burroughs has emerged as a leader for the women of wrestling, guiding in encouragement and creating a space where they would be able to turn to for support during that time. 

“Everyone is very supportive, even the people at the same weight class. Everyone is still very friendly and all of the wives communicate a lot whether it’s on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook groups,” Taylor said.

Although there was a higher-than-normal concern with traveling to Iran, losing their husbands to competition travel is something that these women experience frequently. Travel is often times one of the hardest things they face.

“The traveling is tough because when they compete overseas we have to watch it in the middle of the night on a computer,” Taylor said.

While international competition offers its own obstacles, staying stateside is often not as hard on families.

In efforts to close the gap of Jordan’s time away, Lauren and their two children will make domestic trips with him. 

“If at any point, he is competing in the U.S. we’re all there, and that includes different camps that he does. If he’s gone for more than just a day or two we usually all go. We try and stay together. It’s a lot for families that do this and are not able to travel together,” Burroughs said.

“It’s not as bad as a military wife or something like that, but when your husband is gone and you have kids it’s hard for them being away for like two weeks and you miss them. On top of that you have other responsibilities, so we try to combat that by staying together a lot,” she added.

Anyone who follows Lauren or Jordan on any social media platform can quickly see that family is a huge part of their lives. Having their two children, Beacon and Ora, present and involved on Jordan’s journey is incredibly important to the Burroughs family.

“A lot of people choose to wait to have kids when they’re in this sport, but it’s really fun to have kids in the stands on days like this when you come out successful and your child gets to see that. [Our kids] might not remember this but it’s pretty special that one day [they] will be able to look back on it. That’s our favorite part right now at this point in life, and this point in [Jordan’s] career, is enjoying it with these little crazies,” Burroughs said.

While Burroughs has her children as travel companions, Taylor and Kennedy offer a different aspect of travel to the mix.

Jimmy Kennedy is not only the husband to Laney, but he is also Kendra Taylor’s older brother. Taylor and Kennedy are one of the only in-law duo’s that are present on the Senior level. Not only do the two always have someone to sit next to during domestic tournaments, they also offer an extensive amount of support to each other during international competition.

“Traveling has been unique. It’s easier with Kendra traveling with another wife and she’s my sister-in-law. We traveled to Uzbekistan in 2015 for the World Championships when Jimmy was competing and it was nice to have her there,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy applauds Taylor for the knowledge that she has carried forward in wrestling and the way that she has taught her about wrestling through the years.

“Kendra taught me everything I know about wrestling. Before I started dating Jimmy, I didn’t know anything about wrestling. We all went to college together so having Kendra there was nice and she grew up with wrestling and I did not. She’s definitely my go-to. She knows everything about everything,” Kennedy said. 

The women have been able to turn to each other for support through all aspects of the journey. They’ve created a tight group with each other, one that could be considered as close as the wrestlers themselves.

“We mostly keep in contact via phone and social media because at [big events] it’s really hard. We’re in Facebook groups and group chats. It’s just a really cool close-knit group of girls. We might not spend a lot of time together but we all experience the same things and get to bounce different concerns or excitements and joys off of one another. It’s fun,” Burroughs said.

The wives and their husbands have created an atmosphere that has drawn their families in to create inseparable bonds within Team USA. 

“This team and this group of guys are really special because they all have the same morals and everybody is a good husband or a good father or even a good boyfriend. Everybody gets along really well. It’s been such a blessing to have such a tight-knit group of people,” Burroughs said.