Kellen Long is carving out an impressive wrestling career at Butler High School. Last year, as a sophomore, Long wrestled for a state title at 150lbs. In the 2024 State Championship match, Long came up just short as he faced Marco Dalakishvili of St. Pius X, but Long still constructed a heck of a Sophomore season, collecting 46 wins on his way to a 2nd place state finish. 

This year, Long is still reaching goals as he has already rattled off 100 career wins as a junior. Long said that 100 wins has been of a goal his for some time now. Being a Junior, Long still has many other goals he is seeking to accomplish at BHS. When asked how he plans to keep achieving his goals, Long says “I need to keep working both on the mat and off. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone so that when I get tired, I can keep going and not stop, even if it goes the full 8 and a half minutes. Additionally, I aim to reach the next level and consistently compete at a high level.”

It is no easy task to compete in such an intense sport at such a high level. When talking about the work that goes into competing, Long said, “There’s definitely a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into being a successful wrestler, whether you’re on the mat or off. You have to be willing to give up things like hanging out with friends because you need to work all the time. It gets even tougher when you’re losing weight and trying to keep good grades. On the mat, you have to push yourself to your limits during two-hour hard practices, with a coach pushing you to be the best version of yourself.”

Kellen is a very motivated young man who says, “My motivation is to push myself to perform to the best of my ability. I always go out on the mat with the attitude that I’m going to give my all against my opponent. I see them as an enemy trying to take away my goals, and I aim to prove that I’m the best out there on the mat.”

We asked Long what advice he would give to younger kids looking and him and wanting to reach a similar level of success, Kellen told us, “I would tell them that in youth and middle school, just have fun and enjoy it. Make sure to try new things and see if they could work at tournaments. Spend time with friends and cheer them on, be there for each other and push your teammates to be the best version of themselves. Being so young gives you endless ability to learn, enjoy the sport and just have fun with it.”