| Jamill Kelly 66 kg/145.5 Gator Wrestling Club Coach: John Smith |
| Atwater to Athens – Jamill Kelly, US Olympic Team Freestyle Wrestling 66 kg. Of all the roads that lead to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Jamill Kelly’s is one of the most unlikely. He began his wrestling life as a freshman in high school, spending his first two seasons as a JV wrestler behind State Qualifier Jaime Guerra. An injury sidelined Jamill most of his junior year. Finally in his senior year the soft-spoken, mat rat, qualified for the California State tournament placing 4th. Without significant D1 offers, Jamill wrestled two years at Lassen College before transferring to Oklahoma State. His breakthrough on the national level came at the 2003 World Team Trials in Indianapolis. Seeded 5th, he fought his way through Bill Zadick, Lincoln McIllravy, and National Champion, Chris Bono, to win a spot on the World Team. Jamill won the 2004 U.S. Senior National Championships and secured his spot on the Olympic Team by taking the best 2 of 3 from Jared Lawrence, Minnesota Storm. Jamill wrestles for the Gator Wrestling Club and is coached by John Smith. We caught up with Jamill at a recent clinic for some young wrestlers in his hometown of Atwater. Q: How are your preparations for the Olympics progressing? Jamill: USA Wrestling is doing a good job making sure we are ready. We worked out for a week in West Palm Beach, Florida; and that went real well. We got some good humidity training. It was real hot and humid like it will be in Greece. Q: When did you first start wrestling? Jamill: Not until I was a freshman in high school. They tried to get me in junior high. My cousin wrestled, he was three years older than me. I used to go watch and mess around but I never got into it. Q: What made you decide to wrestle? Jamill: Basically, I was 4 feet 11 in my freshman year and about 95 pounds; so there wasn’t a lot I could do. I wanted to play basketball, but that wasn’t gonna happen. I wanted to get bigger for football, so Coach Bristow and Coach Davis told me to go out for wrestling; and I just fell in love with it. Q: When did you fall in love with freestyle? Jamill: I guess, when I got the opportunity to work with Kolat as his training partner in Sydney. I was working with him and found the style suited me. I used to have a problem staying calm and not letting the pressure get to me. In freestyle I’m just a lot calmer. The mentality is just different. In America we have that style of just go, go, go – keep shooting, shooting; and when you go overseas, it’s the total opposite. It’s more about technique, and better technique usually wins. Most of the guys are in good enough shape, and it’s not often the factor. In college wrestling it happens all the time. Someone is up by 6 points in the third period, and they loose. If you’re wrestling somebody good in freestyle, and he’s up 3 points, your chances of coming back are pretty slim. Q: When were you bitten by the Olympic bug? Jamill: In 2000 when I went to the opening ceremonies. It was the most amazing thing ever. It’s actually funny. I was gonna sell my ticket. At the time I was just out of college and didn’t have much money. I couldn’t decide what to do, so I ended up going; and it was the greatest experience of my life. Seeing all those countries come out, seeing the whole stadium filled with people from different parts of the world, and when USA came out, it was just amazing. During that camp, I was wrestling with Sammie Henson, with Terry Brands, and Lincoln McIllravy. I was just everybody’s little training partner, and I was doing really well; and I thought, I might just have to give this a try and see what happens. At that time I was still worried about just how good I could be in freestyle. I was never even an All- American in college. That was a big hurdle for me. Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the influence Coach Smith has had in your wrestling development? Jamill: Well, I really can’t even put that into words. Constantly having somebody who knows how to do it, and he never lets us get satisfied. Last year at the World Team Trials, after I beat Zadick and everyone acted like it was a big deal, but he just said, “Hey, you got 3 more matches to go.” And the same thing after I beat McIllravy. Even if I had lost to Bono, it would have been a big deal for some. But, he said, “You haven’t really done anything. We are here to win the tournament.” He constantly reminds me of the goal. He never lets my head get too big. He helps keep things on an even keel. You don’t want to be satisfied and say, “OK, I’m on the World Team” or “I made the Olympic team.” You want to go out there and make something happen. He’s always been a winner, and that’s his mentality all the time. Q: What’s it like to have Coach Smith in your corner? Jamill: He’s different with me. I think people assume that he is telling me all this stuff…do this and do that. But with me, I have to be kind of calm before I wrestle. I’m not one of these people who need to be smacked around. At the Trials he just looked at me, shook my hand, and said, “Go out there and make the Olympic Team,” and that was it. He knows with me that if I try and over analyze things too much, that’s when I start wrestling more passive. Instead of just going out there and letting it flow. Q: It’s been a remarkable year. Do you have a favorite match or two? Jamill: The match with McIllravy. With everything I did, my mind was clear; and it was just flowing. After the match I could honestly not tell you how I scored my points. That’s when I wrestle my best, when I’m just reacting. You know, the second match with Bono was the same way. I was just opening up and flowing. I wasn’t thinking about the shot before I took it. I was just doing it when it was there. Q: What does it mean to be an Olympian? Jamill: Wow, the magnitude of it really hasn’t sunk in yet. Everybody’s congratulating me; and there’s all these things to do. I don’t think it will sink in until the opening ceremonies. It’s just such an honor and a blessing to be able to represent the United States of America. Knowing all the people that have trained so hard and put their life on hold, making sacrifices to help you get to this position. Q: Is it fun to have the other Californians on the team? Jamill: It’s awesome you know, reminiscing and laughing about old times at camps and who saw this person at State. It’ s the same team as last year, and that makes it a lot better. Because we are all close, it’s a more relaxed feeling. We’re not too intense. We’re training hard, but we are relaxed; and that helps a lot. It can eat you up if you’re constantly everyday trying to be so intense. That can make for a hard road. Q: Is there anything you would like to say to the young California wrestlers? Jamill: I guess I’m a good example that nothing is impossible. I was actually going to get a shirt made saying – state championships 0, NCAA All American 0, National Championships 0, 2004 Olympics – Possible – Nothing is Impossible. If you work hard and put in the effort, nothing is impossible. For more informatin, visit Jamill Kelly's website www.jamillkelly.com |
| Jamill Kelly - Atwater to Athens |
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