FARGO, N.D. — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Jimmy Kennedy punched his ticket to the 2014 World Championships, sweeping the best-of-three championship series against Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott at 61kg/134 pounds in the second phase of the U.S. World Team Trials on Thursday afternoon (July 24) at the Fargodome.
The World Championships is scheduled for September 8-14, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
“I’ve been telling myself that I’m going to be on the podium at the Worlds in September,” said Kennedy. “This is just one steppingstone to get to this point. It feels good when you see all the hard work paying off for a good cause.”
Kennedy earned a free pass to the championship series after defeating Scott in the U.S. Open final in April. He claimed victories of 5-2 and 10-0 against the former Oklahoma State standout, giving up the first two points in the opening match before scoring 15 unanswered to complete the series sweep.
After Scott earned his points on a pair of pushouts midway through the first period in the first bout, Kennedy responded with one of his own in the final 10 seconds of the frame to cut the deficit to just one. He evened the score with another early in the second and padded his advantage with an explosive double leg with less than 45 seconds remaining. Scott got in deep on a duck under in the waning seconds, but Kennedy avoided the takedown and earned an extra point after Scott’s challenge was denied.
Kennedy broke open the second match with a pair of four-point takedowns, scoring the first off a seatbelt to a back trip with Scott on the passivity clock late in the first period before adding another off an ankle pick early in the second. He scored again on a counter attack moments later, spinning around on a Scott half shot to end the bout with 1:32 remaining on the clock.
The trials victory continued a successful season for the CKWC wrestler. He has won each of his last 12 matches and has claimed four medals, including two gold, in four international tournament appearances since October.
Kennedy, who claimed second at the 2013 World Team Trials, has previously represented the U.S. as a member of the 2012 University World team and the 2013 and 2014 World Cup teams.
CKWC’s Kellen Russell also competed at the Phase II World Team Trials, posting a 1-2 record up a weight class at 70kg/154 pounds. He defeated Dan Vallimont, 9-8, in the first round after earning an early lead and stopping a late Vallimont turn attempt to claim the deciding point, but he dropped two consecutive matches to Kyle Ruschell, 11-4, and Adam Hall, 7-5, to be eliminated from the competition. Russell rallied in both contests but twice gave up late counter takedowns to halt his comeback bids.
