Kalyssa Koehn in action (left). /Submitted photo
Kalyssa Koehn
Kalyssa Koehn, 11, of Twin Lakes, recently won the Midwest Grappling Championships and Illinois State Grappling Championships held in Chicago, Illinois.
During the tournament, she compiled a record of eight wins and one loss. Kalyssa submitted all of her female opponents in under 90 seconds before entering the boys division. Defeating her first two male opponents by points, Kalyssa lost by armbar in the championship fight.
Kalyssa, a student at Randall School, began training in Tae Kwon Do at age 4. At age 6 she won the Illinois and Wisconsin State Championships and then went on to win the Midwest Regionals earning a trip to the Junior Olympics. Soon after she began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – Wrestling and Muay Thai Kickboxing in Kenosha, under the guidance of Ulitmate Fighting Championship veteran Dave Strasser. By age 8, Kalyssa had competed in over 10 tournaments compiling over 30 wins. In August 2008 she began training in Crystal Lake Illinois under Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, former #1 World Extreme Cagefighting competitor and Gracie Jiu Jitsu Blackbelt Jeff Curran.
After a layoff of about eight months due to an illness, Kalyssa returned to competing. She has a record of 131 wins to 24 losses in her five years of grappling.
