Kennedy (left) and Korina Blades (photo courtesy of Jim Thrall; MatFocus.com)Saturday night, before the festivities took place at the “Bout at the Ballpark,†the Blades sisters, Kennedy and Korina, made their college decision public. They will attend Arizona State University and train with the Sunkist Kids as they pursue their international goals. The final three choices for the sisters came down to ASU, Iowa, North Central College.
In the latest national rankings, released by USA Wrestling, Kennedy is rated as the third pound-for-pound high schooler in the nation, while Korina comes in at number five. Korina is the top-ranked 138 lber in the country, while Kennedy is second at 164 lbs.
As of now, Arizona State does not offer women's wrestling; however, they have a large contingent of high-level women training with the Sunkist Kids and coach Mark Perry. Helen Maroulis, Kayla Miracle, and Forrest Molinari are some of the notables that currently train with the Sunkist Kids.
Kennedy and Korina are from Illinois, but have spent their high school careers at Pennsylvania's Wyoming Seminary. Both sisters made the 2021 Junior World Team and came back from Ufa, Russia, with hardware. Kennedy struck gold at the 72 kg weight class, while Korina brought home bronze at 62 kg. Each has made a Cadet and Junior World Team already. As just a high school junior, Kennedy made the finals of the Olympic Team Trials, before falling to the eventual gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock.
The sisters have combined to win four titles in Fargo, with Kennedy capturing 16U and Junior titles in 2019, after winning 16U in 2018. Korina was a 16U champ in 2019, as well.
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