#WomensWednesday: Kelani Corbett signs to compete at Lyon College under her brother as head coach

In the Corbett family, wrestling is a way of life.

Kelani Corbett is a senior at Leilehua High School in Wahiawa, Hawaii, where she was coached by her father and recently made her college decision; she’s going to wrestle at Lyon College, where her brother, Kevin, is the head coach.

Lyon is a NAIA school in Batesville, Arkansas. The women's wrestling program competes at both the WCWA National Championships and the NAIA National Championships.

“It’s cool that I’m going to be coached by my brother, but it’s also normal for me because I’ve been coached by family members my whole life. Wrestling is really important to my family. It’s just a special bond that we have and part of our connection. When I was at the state championships, it was really awesome to have both of my brothers in my corner and my dad (also named Kevin) in the back. So it’s cool to go from one Kevin to another. There’s a lot of comfort there.”

Her father Kevin was named USA Wrestling’s Developmental Coach of the Year in 2015 and was also been Hawaii’s Head Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2018.

Her brothers Kevin and Liam wrestled in college. Kevin was a two-time NJCAA national finalist for Fresno City College before transferring to Doane, where he was a two-time NAIA All-American. Liam has garnered two All-American honors for Highline Community College.

Having the coaching torch passed on from father to son has been meaningful for the whole family, especially her brother Kevin, who just wrapped up his second year as the women’s head coach at Lyon and has led two wrestlers to three All-American finishes at the WCWA tournament.

“I’m really excited to get to coach my sister,” Kevin said. “She’s the main reason I got into coaching women. I’ve always wanted to be an advocate for women’s wrestling because of her. She put me in the mix of it, and I’ve wanted to go to battle for her and better opportunities. As a college coach, it’s pretty exciting to be able to provide an opportunity for her.”

Kelani is one of the top recruits in the nation, winning four Hawaii high school state titles and claiming a 2017 Cadet World Team spot as well as a Cadet Fargo title in 2017. She finished the season ranked as the No. 2 girl in the country at 163 pounds and is expected to be an immediate threat for a national title.

“Even though she’s one of our most credentialed wrestlers, she’s going to have to earn her stripes,” Kevin said. “Our room has an All-American and a lot of really hard workers. I definitely believe that Kelani has the ability to win a national title. We’re just not really sure what weight she’s going to go. We’ll play that by ear, but we’re kind of empty at the upper weights, so she’ll make an impact there.”

For Kelani, her goals at Lyon go beyond individual wrestling accolades.

“I’m striving to be a four-time national champion, but I really hope I can help my brother get a team national title under his belt,” she said. “He’s doing a great job as a young coach trying to build up the program and I hope to be a part of that process. Also, the academics are really good at Lyon, and I’ll be majoring in premed. That was one of the main reasons for going there because academics are the most important.”

Prior to joining Lyon’s team, Kelani plans to compete at multiple USA Wrestling events this summer, including Fargo and the Junior World Team Trials. Keep up with her on themat.com.