Larry Jamill Kelly (born October 25, 1977) is an American freestyle wrestler. He represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games where he earned a silver medal in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg. Kelly is currently a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrestling coaching staff, as well as being the head coach for the Tar Heel Wrestling Club RTC in Chapel Hill.

Jamill Kelly
Personal information
Full nameLarry Jamill Kelly
BornOctober 25, 1977 (1977-10-25) (age 47)
Atwater, California, U.S.
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle and Folkstyle
College teamOklahoma State
ClubGator Wrestling Club
TeamUSA
Coached byJohn Smith
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens 66 kg
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2003 Santo Domingo 66 kg

Early life

edit
 
Banner at Atwater High School

Kelly was born in Atwater, California,[1] where he attended Atwater High School and placed fourth in the California state wrestling tournament as a senior. He spent one year at Lassen Community College before transferring to Oklahoma State, where he became a three-time letter winner and two-time NCAA qualifier.

2004 Olympics

edit

Though he never won a high school state title or a college national title, Kelly won the 2004 USA Nationals and US Olympic trials at 66 kg (145.5 lbs) to represent the United States in Athens. After winning both pool matches by a 3-0 score, he defeated eventual bronze medalist Makhach Murtazaliev of Russia in the semifinal, 3-1. In the gold medal match, Kelly faced Ukrainian Elbrus Tedeyev. Tedeyev would win the gold by a 3-1 score, with Kelly finishing as an Olympic silver medalist.

Coaching career

edit

Up until August 2010 he was the head coach of Dallas Dynamite Wrestling Club in Dallas, Texas. In 2015, he became a guest wrestling coach for Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold and Cain Velasquez, all from the American Kickboxing Academy.[2] Kelly has coached at Cal Poly and NC State University, and was an Associate Head Wrestling Coach at Stanford University. Kelly coached at Arizona State University from May 2018 until March 2020.[3][4] In October 2020, Kelly was named as an assistant coach at UNC-Chapel Hill.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Jamill Kelly - Wrestling Coach". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Countdown to UFC 188: Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum Archived June 8, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Jamill Kelly - Wrestling Coach".
  4. ^ "Jamill Kelly - Wrestling Coach".
  5. ^ "Scott Adds Kelly to Wrestling Staff".