Kieran Collins '25 Recruiting Profile

I started my wrestling journey in 4th grade. I joined an MMA program and fell in love. I quickly took to the discipline of the sport and dominated in jujitsu and kickboxing competitions through lower and middle school until Covid shut sports down.  My freshman year, I joined the sailing, swim, and baseball teams in each of the three seasons respectively to find a sport that aligned with what my school offered.  Prior to starting the 10^th grade, I realized that only wrestling could fill the hole left by this hiatus. Unfortunately, my school did not have a wrestling program, so I approached our athletic director and after many meetings with the school and regional conference leadership, I founded a wrestling team at Ranney School. I started competing for Ranney and joined the Shore Thing Wrestling Club, a well-known regional club, to get more mat time and get exposure to some incredible coaching staff and fellow wrestlers. This experience only deepened my love and commitment to the sport. My goal was to take advantage of every opportunity to compete and practice to improve my skills and mindset despite being the only member of the team and not having a school coach. This September, I also joined the Triumph Wrestling Club, which helped me with my fundamentals and mindset and allowed me to wrestle most days of the week. I wrestle at both clubs year-round in addition to wrestling for Ranney. To facilitate more training / practice time, coaching, matches, and tournaments for the 2023/2024 Ranney season, I worked with the Ranney athletic director to establish a cooperative program whereby I am practicing and traveling with the St. John Vianney wrestling team, although I will continue to compete as a Ranney wrestler. 

Wrestling has taught me discipline, focus, and resilience. I have always believed that hard work and dedication is required to create major results.  This mindset and set of skills have supported all aspects of my life including academics and my entrepreneurial spirit. I was diagnosed with Type one diabetes at the age of three and I am the founder of a fund-raising team for Type one diabetes research. I have raised over a quarter million dollars over the 13 years I have led this program.  I am a dedicated honors student with a 3.9 weighted GPA, I am a drummer and have released two professionally produced albums available on all streaming platforms with my band Butterfly Garden, I am a school leader across numerous extracurricular activities, and I have established several online businesses.  I look forward to continuing my pursuit of excellence in academics in college while striving to be the best wrestler I can be and plan to wrestle in college at the highest level possible.