Joey McKenna is off to a great start this season, earning a pair of victories and Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors in a four-day span. The Conference presented the Ohio State senior captain with the first weekly award of the season after a major win over No. 4 Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State at the annual NWCA All-Star Classic in Denver.
The award marked McKenna's second Wrestler of the Week crown; he was the most recent Buckeye honored as Wrestler of the Week, back on February 20.
McKenna defeated Brock in a primetime battle last Friday, ending the bout with nine unanswered points and securing an 11-4 victory. Just 24 hours and two timezones later, he outlasted Navy's Nicholas Gil to clinch Ohio State's 28-9 first dual-meet victory of the season.
The senior from Towaco, N.J., is ranked No. 2 in the country at 141 lbs., by most media ranking services. He had quite the weekend to open the season, wrestling Friday night in Denver at the Classic, waking at 5 a.m. the next day to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Maryland for the dual versus Navy.
“The All-Star Classic is always something I wanted to be part of in college wrestling,” McKenna said after the match in Denver. “I wanted to wrestle in this event and I’m happy I got a chance to be a part of it. But the first dual of the season starts (Saturday). We’ve got a long grind ahead of us.”
If his first matches of the season are any indication, McKenna is more than ready for the grind ahead.
