Kelly to be inducted into Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame
By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mary Kelly is a modern-day Pioneer Woman. 
The original pioneers, who moved westward while homesteading with their families in the middle and late 1800s, were forging a new trail, doing what few — if any — had done before them.
Kelly, a 2002 Mahomet-Seymour graduate, made her inroads in what prior to her was considered a club for males only, elementary school and high school wrestling.
She was a trailblazing pioneer for girls who came after her and had a sincere interest in competing in the sport.
For more than two decades, Kelly has been the women’s standard-bearer for success.
In 1998, she was the first girl to earn a medal in the IESA state tournament, placing third at 75 pounds as an eighth-grader.
In 2002, she was a Class 2A regional champion and the first girl in state history to advance to the IHSA Class 2A sectional semifinals, where she lost a 2-0 decision in the 103-pound bout that would have guaranteed her a berth at state.
The junior high and high school accolades came against primarily male competition.
In 2006, she earned a national ranking while competing against women and represented the United States in the World Championships in the 105 1/2-pound weight class.
Next April, another first will come her way when she is the first female to be enshrined in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame as a competitor.
“I haven’t always liked the attention,” Kelly said, “but to be recognized for my career is a nice thing, and kind of a surprise.”
**
People who know a bit about the Kelly Family background would not find it surprising that Mary excelled on the mat.
Her father, Jerry, was an NCAA runner-up and was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1999.
Her uncle, Bill, was a two-time NCAA champion.
”The first week I was born, I was at an Iowa State wrestling meet to watch my uncle,” Mary Kelly said. “Wrestling was something that was consistent in my life.
“It was our lifestyle and culture at that point in time.”
Mary Kelly had a younger brother, Chris, who showed an interest and aptitude for wrestling.
“My parents were going to get my brother started and I was saying I wanted to wrestle,” Mary Kelly said. “When you see a girl that’s 6 or 7 and wants to wrestle, most parents question whether it’s a good idea.”
While she wasn’t pushed into participating, Mary Kelly said her mother Becci recognized an issue bigger than the sport.
“She didn’t want to start, at age 6 or 7, telling me I couldn’t do something because I was a female,” Mary Kelly said.
As a third-grader, her parents agreed to let her start wrestling. One stipulation was added to their consent.
“It was under the condition I couldn’t quit during the first season,” she said.
**
When the day arrived for the Mahomet kids’ club practice to start, Mary Kelly had to be reminded of her part of the agreement.
“The first day, I felt so awkward,” she said. “None of the boys wanted to practice with me. I was the girl with cooties.
“I felt embarrassed to be there, surrounded by the other gender. I didn’t want to do it. I went to my mom and she said, ‘You’re here. Go on.’ “
There weren’t many highlights in her inaugural year as a wrestler.
“I recall not being that good,” she said. “I had four or five black eyes and I got my butt kicked.”
But, there was something else; something more important than her won-loss record.
“I had fun,” Mary Kelly said. “To me, it was play. I enjoyed myself.
“Even when I lost, I would be in the cafeteria (afterwards) playing with the other kids.”
She started making a name for herself, not as the girl who was wrestling, but as the girl who was helping change the stereotypes about which gender could succeed in the sport.
**
Kelly posted back-to-back one-loss seasons in junior high. She was 30-1 at 65 pounds as a seventh-grader and 28-1 as an eighth-grader at 75 pounds.
In high school, she was a four-year letter winner, compiling a varsity career record of 75-36. As a senior, the 5-foot-3 Kelly was 26-13 with 15 pins.
As a junior, she was 29-13 with nine pins, including one in the dual-meet state tournament’s third-place match (which M-S won) against her opponent from Waukegan.
As a sophomore, she was 16-8 with four pins.
In the three years that she was a varsity regular, M-S won 75 of 83 dual meets.
Even as a teenager, Mary Kelly was seeing the bigger picture.
Her days competing against boys would end well before she would take off the singlet for the final time.
In the summer of 1999, following her freshman season at M-S, she won the cadet world championship in the 15-16-year-old age division.
It was an all-girls’ tournament.
“I knew that (wrestling women) was the future,” Mary Kelly said. “That’s what I was working towards.”
**
Her life changed after high school, but not immediately.
She selected a college in Kansas to attend and wrestle (Neosho), but it dropped the sport after her freshman season.
Her father was then coaching at MacMurray College, in Jacksonville, so Mary transferred there and joined a club team for one year.
As a junior, she enrolled at Northern Michigan University and said, “I had a good opportunity there for two years.”
By 2005, she was the silver medalist in the World Team Trials at 112 1/4 pounds.
That was sandwiched between finishing fourth in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in both 2004 and 2008 in the lightest weight for women.
After a year’s break from wrestling, Mary Kelly returned to Northern Michigan to complete her undergraduate degree and take advantage of her final year of eligibility.
Her comeback in 2009-10 resulted in a runner-up finish in the USA women’s national championships.
“I dislocated my shoulder in the finals and had to injury-default in a match where I was ahead,” she said. “If I had won, it would have given me a bye into the finals of the World Team Trials.”
Her adversity was only beginning.
**
Mary Kelly had an operation on her shoulder and went through the required rehabilitation.
“My goal was to do one more cycle and retire in 2012,” she said.
She got back in the wrestling room, she said, “still trying to protect my arm.”
At a practice, she landed on her head, suffered a serious concussion and said, “I had two years of symptoms.”
As time passed, she was worried that more than her wrestling career was over.
“I had a fear about my future,” she said. “I was thinking I might not be able to take care of myself.”
With rest and the passage of time, she healed.
“I have a normal life again,” Mary Kelly said, “and I’m grateful for the small things in life.”
She relocated to Texas and had a job as a fitness manager and coaching CrossFit.
“I kind of fell in love with CrossFit,” Mary Kelly said. “It was like being on a team again.”
**
About two years ago, she vacationed in Hawaii and decided she couldn’t stay away.
She has been a resident now for the past 17 months and works as a personal trainer.
As she reflects, it is with happiness and not regrets.
“Wrestling is a big part of what made me who I am, and helped me to accomplish anything I’ve accomplished,” she said. “Wrestling taught me to have integrity in what I do.
“It has given me experience to travel and see the world. I don’t know where I’d be. I wouldn’t have the perspective I have now. You can’t really understand some things until you have experienced them.”
In a few months, Mary Kelly will experience her Hall of Fame induction. Perhaps then she will understand the feeling of being considered as one of the state’s all-time greats.
IWCOA Hall-of-Famers
With Mahomet-Seymour connections
NAME YEAR
Ryan Berger 2018
Brett Camden 2006
Steve Combs 1975
Bob Handlin 2005
Jerry Kelly 1999
Mary Kelly 2019
Rob Ledin 2011
John Lockhart 2008
Jim Moxley 2017
Brett Porter 2019
Rob Porter 2011
Tom Porter 1983
Jim Risley 2018
Marty Williams 1992
