Jamill Kelly


Larry Jamill Kelly is an American freestyle wrestler. He represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games where he earned a silver medal. 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.

Early life

Kelly was born in Atwater, California, where he attended Atwater High School and placed fourth in the state wrestling tournament as a senior. He spent one year at Lassen Community College then transferred to Oklahoma State where he became a three time letter winner. Kelly has coached at Cal Poly and NC State University, and is currently an Associate Head Wrestling Coach at Stanford University.

2004 Olympics

Though he never won a state high school tournament or a national title in college, Kelly did win the 2004 USA Nationals and the US Olympic trials at 66 kg to represent the US in Athens. After winning both pool matches 3-0, 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 3-1 leaving Kelly with the silver.