| Kellen has always been an active and athletic kid. His love for sports started with soccer and basketball when he was three. He then moved on to flag football and a season of tackle football, but his dad really wanted him to try wrestling. His dad would take him to watch his Uncles Val and Jade Rauser when they wrestled in college, and to the National Tournaments held in Las Vegas. He started his wrestling adventure at the end of the 2017-2018 season at the House of Centennial Wrestling Club, HOC, and loved it. He only participated in 4 tournaments that first year. He placed 2nd in two of them. This got him excited, and he was eager to come back the next year. He trained with HOC for the Greco and Freestyle spring season, as well as worked over the summer and fall with his dad. This dedication helped him move out of the rookie room after the first year to the advanced room. Kellen was very successful the second year in both the true beginner and advanced divisions for the 2018-2019 Southern Nevada Wrestling tournaments. He took 3rd in Folkstyle, 2nd in Freestyle and, 2nd Greco at the USANV 2019 State Championships on his first time attending the event. He also wrestled all three styles at the 2019 Marines Western Regional after state. It was a great first experience to wrestle kids from other states. Kellen placed 2nd in both Greco and Freestyle. |
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| The Las Vegas wrestling community has been a big support in developing Kellen. His first home at the House of Centennial had a great family atmosphere and the large coaching staff brought a lot of experience and diversity. We thank head coach Tyson Garamendi, Coach Jose Sosa, and the rest of the HOC coaching staff for believing in Kellen and developing him into a strong wrestler. He also attended camps around the valley and worked with one-on-one with Coach Richard Rios at SLAM, now Pride. Kellen did extra training from Napoleon and Alex Aniciete while they were doing small groups and privates out of their garage. This small group has grown into a facility, and it is Kellen’s current wrestling club. He has developed great friendships with other wrestlers at his clubs, and with kids at other clubs around Las Vegas. These friendships have made great wrestling partners and extend outside the mat, not just for him but for our families. |
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| The biggest influence and most important to Kellen’s growth as a wrestler has been his Uncle Val Rauser. Val moved in with us right before Covid started. He would spend the summer working one-on- one with Kellen in the basement as well as with a small group of wrestlers that were attending lessons out of the garage of the Aniciete Training Club. Val has taken the time to promote not only his wrestling skills, but work on the mental aspect of wrestling. While he was living with us, they would have some great battles in Fortnite or a competitive night of Mario Cart. We thank Val for all his wrestling experience and the fun he brings to the family. |
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The other coaches at ATC are also wonderful. We thank Nap and Alex for having the courage enough to open a gym during the pandemic to give kids a place to wrestle, when the other clubs could not be open. They are great role models and very caring people that have created a family atmosphere. Thanks to Coach Bob, Greg and Teddy for your wisdom and encouraging Kellen to do more. |
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| Covid has been a blessing for wrestling for Kellen. We were all heart-broken when the USANV 2020 State Championships was canceled and the 20-21 SNWA local tournament season, but it forced him to start wrestling at a large National Tournament and gave him much more experience in wrestling. The season started for him at the Western State Preseason Regional. Even though he did not place, he gained a lot of experience, and it motivated him to work harder for the next tournaments. He then placed 4th at the TOA-2020 Northwest Bigfoot Battle and Turkey Tussle. He has had several top 5 finishes at RMN events this season, and he finally reached his goal of winning a belt in the 9u division at the Rumble in Arizona tournament. |
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| Kellen’s favorite wrestler is Jordan Burroughs. He was excited to be able to attend and meet him at a camp hosted by SLAM in 2019. Another camp that Kellen enjoyed at SLAM was with Alex Dieringer. He enjoyed learning a technique and was inspired by his wrestling journey. Kellen was also honored to attend a special HOC camp with Kyle Snyder because one of the HOC wrestlers was the winner of the Golden Ticket from Rudis. They were all wonderful experiences and fun to learn from Nationally Known Wrestlers. |
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Kellen is currently a 3rd-grader at Somerset Lone Mountain. He excels in all subjects, but math is his best and favorite subject. He is hoping next year the school can have sports, so he can try-out for the flag football team. He is currently starting a new season of flag football with his wrestling friends. He also enjoys the outdoors. He loves to hunt and fish with his family, go camping, and ride his motorcycle or quad. But most of all he loves being a big brother to his sister Aubrey. He is very protective of her and enjoys playing on the trampoline together. He teachers her lots of silly sayings and of course tries wrestling with her. |
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