Kellen Russell has been synonymous with the University of Michigan wrestling for more than a decade. The two-time NCAA champion arrived in Ann Arbor in 2007 and has been there ever since as a standout athlete and then as a coach for the Wolverines.
However, his outstanding high school career took place at Blair Academy in New Jersey and as of today, he’s back in the Northeast as an assistant coach with the Spartan Combat RTC and with Cornell wrestling.
“I’ve always known Cornell is a top notch program,” he said. “It’s a premier school academically and in wrestling. It’s great to be back on the East Coast, recruiting the areas I wrestled in when I was younger. And I’ve known Mike [Grey] forever.”
Russell said the two ran in the same circles in elementary and middle school and trained together quite a bit as high schoolers.
Training with high level partners is something Russell covets to this day.
While he was on staff at Michigan, the Wolverines had 27 All-Americans, including many who worked closely with Russell such as Rossi Bruno, Brian Murphy, Alec Pantaleo, Stevan Micic, Cameron Amine and Logan Massa.
He expects his new athletes to pile up accolades as well.
“I’m still a workout partner,” he said. “Rolling around with the guys is the most fun part of the job. The talent on the team is super exciting and so deep. I’m excited to get on the mat with them. I know the philosophy here is a lot of individual work - helping guys play to their own strengths and that’s so important. There’s a lot of variety of styles in the room and I can’t wait to help hone that talent, making the strengths even stronger and the weaknesses stronger too.”
Russell is no stranger to a number of the wrestlers.
“I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the guys,” he said. “I recruited them or ran into them in the past. Just a few examples - when I was a Cadet World Team coach, I worked out with Josh Saunders and I’ve rolled with Yianni [Diakomihalis].”
Russell is thrilled to stay integrated in the international styles at the Spartan Combat RTC. He was a multi-time Fargo freestyle champion and at the senior level, Russell captured the 2013 US Open title and was a World Team Trials finalist. He also earned a championship at the Guelph Open and a bronze at the Cerro Pelado.
In recent years, he’s focused on coaching at Michigan’s Cliff Keen Wrestling Club and he’s one of a few Americans to coach at the European Championships.
“It’s super important to me to work with the RTC,” he said. “I was heavily involved in traveling with the guys overseas and coaching them [at Michigan]. I really enjoy international wrestling and I think I bring a lot of experience in that area.”
A four-time Big 10 champion and the 2008 Big 10 Freshman of the Year, Russell went 134-12 in college (including 71-1 in his last two seasons). In both of his NCAA championship campaigns he was also named Michigan’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Now, he’s ready to start a new chapter in a different location.
“I saw a great opportunity to jump on this staff and bring some Big 10 experience and perspective,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed by the guys. The way they carry themselves on and off the mat - it’s clear there’s been a good thing going on here for a while. I’m grateful to help out and I’m looking forward to bringing home world and national championship to the guys, the coaches, the program, the really strong alumni base, and everyone involved.”