Wrestlers · Career complete
Kelsey Campbell
2012 Olympian; 2x U.S. Olympic Trials champion; fifth at the 2010 World Championships; the first woman on Arizona State's wrestling roster
Milwaukie, OR · Milwaukie HS · Arizona State
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 28, 2026
Kelsey Campbell graduated from Milwaukie High School in Milwaukie, Oregon. She started wrestling as a senior after a friend bet her she could not last two weeks. She placed eighth at Fargo to earn All-America honors.
After high school she trained at Peninsula Wrestling in North Portland and competed for one season at Pacific University. In 2006 she began serving as a leader at a new church in Phoenix. At Arizona State she joined the wrestling team as the only woman on the roster. She won the Women's Collegiate National Championships at 63 kg, about 139 pounds, in 2007 and at 59 kg in 2008.
In April 2009 she won the U.S. Senior Nationals at 59 kg as the third seed, beating top seed Deanna Rix of the New York AC in the final. She then took second at the Pan American Championships. She made the U.S. World Team at 59 kg in 2010 and 2011 and placed fifth at the 2010 World Championships.
She moved down to 55 kg and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. At the 2012 Olympic Trials she beat Helen Maroulis of the New York AC in the final to make the Olympic team. In London she lost to Saori Yoshida of Japan, the eventual champion, and then to Yuliya Ratkeviç of Azerbaijan in the repechage. She placed tied for 17th.
She won the Olympic Trials again in 2016, at 58 kg. At the last World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul she won two matches before a quarterfinal loss to Valeria Koblova-Zholobova of Russia. Only the two finalists qualified.
She kept competing after 2016. She reached the 2018 U.S. Open finals, and in 2019 USA Wrestling named her to the Pan American Championships team at 59 kg.
She is the author of the children's picture book I Am A Worldchanger, published in 2023, and has released music as Keshi Kr.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | College | Women's Collegiate National Championships, Forest Grove, Ore. | 63 kg | 1st | 3-0. Unseeded, for Arizona State's club, in the first tournament win of her career. She beat the No. 4 and No. 1 seeds, then No. 2 Emily Rinehart (Missouri Valley) in the final. |
| 2007-08 | College | Women's Collegiate National Championships | 59 kg | 1st | Her second straight college national title. She was not scored on at the tournament and went 22-8 that season. |
| 2009 | Senior | U.S. Senior Nationals, Las Vegas | 59 kg | 1st | 3-0. Seeded third. She beat Nena Garcia (Cumberlands) and Natasha Umemoto (Sunkist Kids), then top seed Deanna Rix (New York AC) in the final. Her first senior national title. |
| 2009 | Senior | Pan American Championships, Maracaibo, Venezuela | 59 kg | 2nd | Second place. She went to Venezuela after winning her senior national title that April. |
| 2010 | Senior | World Championships | 59 kg | 5th | Her first of two U.S. World Teams at 59 kg. |
| 2011 | Senior | World Championships | 59 kg | 14th | Her second U.S. World Team at 59 kg. |
| 2012 | Senior | U.S. Open | 55 kg | 3rd | Helen Maroulis (New York AC) won the weight and Leigh Jaynes (New York AC) was second. |
| 2012 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Iowa City | 55 kg | 1st | She beat Helen Maroulis in the final to make the Olympic team. |
| 2012 | Senior | Olympic Games, London | 55 kg | Tied for 17th | 0-2. She lost to Saori Yoshida (Japan), the gold medalist, and in the repechage to Yuliya Ratkeviç (Azerbaijan), the bronze medalist. |
| 2015 | Senior | U.S. World Team Trials | 2nd | Second behind Alli Ragan (New York AC). | |
| 2016 | Senior | U.S. Open, Las Vegas | 58 kg | 2nd | She lost the final to Teshya Alo (Titan Mercury WC). |
| 2016 | Senior | U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Iowa City | 58 kg | 1st | Her second Olympic Trials title. The win sent her to the World Olympic Qualifiers to try to qualify the weight for the U.S. |
| 2016 | Senior | 2nd World Olympic Games Qualifier, Istanbul | 58 kg | She pinned Thi Ly Kieu (Vietnam), beat Yanet Sovero Nino (Peru) 4-2 and lost 4-1 to Valeria Koblova-Zholobova (Russia) in the quarterfinals. She won a repechage match over Aiym Abdildina (Kazakhstan). Only the two finalists qualified. |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/126710 · Olympedia athlete record. Kelsey Campbell of the United States competed in women's freestyle lightweight at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and placed tied for 17th.
- https://www.olympedia.org/results/332690 · Olympedia, 2012 Olympic women's 55 kg freestyle. The full bracket, including her losses to Saori Yoshida of Japan and, in the repechage, Yuliya Ratkeviç of Azerbaijan.
- https://thesundevils.com/kelsey-campbell-profile · Arizona State athletics biography. Her two Women's Collegiate National titles, her season at Pacific University, and her years at Milwaukie High School, including eighth place at Fargo.
- https://news.asu.edu/20201228-campbell-represent-usa-2009-pan-am-games · ASU News, April 2009. As the No. 3 seed, she won the U.S. Senior Nationals at 59 kg, beating top seed Deanna Rix in the final, and was named to the Pan American Championships team.
- https://news.asu.edu/content/alums-named-initial-qualifiers-2012-us-olympic-trials · ASU News, 2012. The only woman ever on an Arizona State wrestling roster, and fifth at the 2010 World Championships.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2009/may/19/feature--kelsey-campbell-is-re-20343 · USA Wrestling, May 2009. Her senior national title, second place at the Pan American Championships, and her start as the only woman on the Arizona State team.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2012/april/13/2012-u-s--olympic-team-trials--24941 · USA Wrestling, April 2012 Olympic Trials preview. Fifth at the 2010 World Championships, a two-time World Team member at 59 kg, and third at the 2012 U.S. Open at 55 kg.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2016/march/28/olympic-trials-preview-at-58-kg-in-womens-freestyle · USA Wrestling, March 2016 Olympic Trials preview at 58 kg. She beat Helen Maroulis in the 2012 Trials final, was second to Alli Ragan at the 2015 World Team Trials and lost the 2016 U.S. Open final to Teshya Alo.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2016/may/07/campbell-mensah-beaten-in-quarterfinals-at-final-olympic-qualifier-in-turkey · USA Wrestling, May 2016. As the 2016 Olympic Trials champion at 58 kg, she reached the quarterfinals of the last World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul.
- https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2012/07/olympic-hopeful-kelsey-campbell-august-2012 · Portland Monthly, July 2012. She began wrestling as a Milwaukie High School senior on a bet and trained at Peninsula Wrestling in North Portland before Arizona State.
- https://www.abnewswire.com/pressreleases/arizona-olympian-collaborates-with-art-to-give-hope-to-kids-around-the-world_663875.html · Book announcement, August 2023. Olympian Kelsey Campbell, who goes by the stage name Keshi Kr, marks her debut as an author with the picture book I Am A Worldchanger.
- https://www.teamusa.com/profiles/kelsey-campbell · Team USA athlete profile. Her World Championships appearances at 59 kg in 2010 and 2011, including 14th place in 2011.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/march/10/match-of-the-day-kelsey-campbell-and-lauren-louive-in-the-2018-open-finals · USA Wrestling, March 2021. Her 2018 U.S. Open final.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2019/april/10/pan-am-wfs-roster · USA Wrestling, April 2019. The 2012 Olympian was named to the U.S. team for the Pan American Championships at 59 kg.
- https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/i-am-a-worldchanger-book-kelsey-campbell-9781088294505 · World of Books listing for I Am A Worldchanger by Kelsey Campbell, published September 2023.
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