MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — All-American wrestling may be in his blood, but Brock Kehler is far from the college stage. Even further, he’s still two years away from the high school mats.
Kehler is currently a 7th-grader at St. Francis Central Catholic School, a private middle school in Morgantown, at an age that you wouldn’t expect to see someone hold multiple national titles. But Kehler does, dating back to his first few years in the sport.
“In a sport like this, everybody trains and travels, and it’s the kid with that can keep the mental space and fortitude that win the national championships,” Kehler’s father, Ryan Kehler, said. “Brock’s been able to prove that since 6 years old that — not only to compete in national tournaments, but win.
Brock holds 30 national titles and is a six-time state champion. Multiple national titles have come at the Pop & Flo national tournament.
“To continue that at the middle school level now speaks highly of his development,” Ryan said.
No kidding, and to wonder where his talent came from, one should look at his genes. Ryan is a 2002 graduate and former All-American and title-winner at WVU and still holds records with the school. Most notably, he’s No. 1 in record wins by weight class (30-8) and career pins (29). Yet even with that, he was quick to point out that, “Brock has far surpassed anything I have done.”
Brock’s legacy begins with a tough, yet daunting decision to make. After Ryan had accepted a job in North Carolina, he and his pregnant wife made a deal: If it’s a boy, stay close to Pennsylvania. If it’s a girl, move south. I’m sure you can figure out by now what they did.
Staying close to Pennsylvania is a big move for a budding wrestler, as West Virginia’s northern neighbor is host to some of the best wrestling in the country. With that knowledge, Ryan enrolled Brock in multiple programs — Young Guns, Quest School and One Shot — that have helped his development since he’s been 3 years old. A premier club, Young Guns advertises that “According to Flo Wrestling, ‘Young Guns leads the country in number of ranked kids both in the All-Class rankings and on the Big Boards.’ ”
“Admittedly, there’s a learning curve, especially when you’re competing against kids that come from legacy lines of wrestling,” Ryan said. “Brock’s biggest advantage in the sport is that he’s grown physically over the last year. He was wrestling 110, now he’s wrestling 170 [after] growing 10 inches in 14 months. He’s always wrestled the middle and lower weights, and now as he’s getting into the heavyweight, he still wrestles like a lightweight, so that’s hard for the bigger kids to contend with his speed and agility.”
That advantage has helped over the last few weeks. Brock has had multiple accolades flood in, including a Super 32 championship, being part of the national middle school dual meet championship team in Toledo, Ohio, and being ranked No. 1 in his weight class for middle schoolers.
Further, he’s ranked in the top 100 with Pop & Flo. You’d imagine a middle schooler would be content with accomplishing those goals, but the Kehler mindset reaches far past middle school and even high school.
“Our goal is the 2028 games,” Ryan said. “We’ve trained with three Olympians — Cary Kolat and Coleman Scott to name a few — and the mats I have at my house have had Olympic medals trained on. The history is steeped so to speak in the Kehler household when it comes to wrestling, but our goal is to shoot for the 2028 games at the 213 or 265 spot. That, of course, after a successful collegiate career whether D1 or Ivy League.”
After middle school, Kehler is slated to go to University High to wrestle with Ken Maisel’s Hawks team, one that has produced multiple talented athletes and state champions over the years.
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