Two years ago, as his sophomore season at Mount Carmel came to an end, Liam Kelly was fed up with wrestling.
After winning just one match at state, Kelly was frustrated. He had lost his passion for competing on the mat. And he seriously considered walking away.
“I was pretty close to quitting after state that year,” Kelly said. “I went 1-2. I was just not feeling it. I was kind of almost done with the sport. But my brother, Colin, and my parents helped pulled me back in and it turned around that summer.
“They helped me love the sport again.”
It’s a good thing they did, too.
Because that was the last time Liam Kelly lost a match at state. On Feb. 21, he beat Rockton Hononegah’s Bruno Cassioppi 8-1 to win his second straight state championship, taking the Class 3A title at 165 pounds.
“It definitely means a lot,” Kelly said. “It’s really meaningful for myself and my family. I’m just really thankful and blessed to be able to go do this.”
Kelly, the 2025-26 Daily Southtown Boys Wrestler of the Year, has signed with Illinois. With the Illini, he will again be teammates with Colin, who was also a two-time state champion for the Caravan.
Of course, that reunion would have never happened if Liam quit wrestling. And it was Colin who made sure Liam stuck with it.
“He just told me, ‘You can’t quit. At least keep wrestling throughout high school and see how it goes,’” Kelly said. “After that, we went to a tournament and won together and I was ready to give it another shot.
“I started not worrying as much about the wins and losses and just trying to get better. Trying not to take it too seriously.”
As a junior last season, Kelly slipped past West Aurora’s Dominic Serio — whom he had lost to in the sectional — 4-3 to win his first state title.
Kelly came into this season with that target on his back as a defending champ but did his best to ignore it.
“I tried not to think of it like that,” he said. “I just tried to go into every match as a new opportunity. I didn’t build that up in my head at all.”
It worked. Kelly finished with a 34-2 record and was unbeaten against in-state competition.
The only thing that nearly derailed his season was a disqualification at the Morton Regional due to a skin condition.
The ensuing ordeal, which included courtroom drama and Kelly eventually getting reinstated for the sectional competition, could have been the ultimate distraction
But Mount Carmel coach Alex Tsirtsis was impressed with how Kelly handled it all.
“I think it probably weighed on him a little more than he showed us,” Tsirtsis said. “But at the same time, he stayed focused. He didn’t change the way he wrestled at all. He was prepared.”
And Kelly’s teammates, like junior Justin Williamson, praised him for continuing to help them while his own season was in flux.
Just as Kelly’s older brothers, Colin and Michael — who also wrestled at Mount Carmel but went on to play baseball at Western Michigan — were his role models, he has been someone for his younger teammates to lean on.
“Liam is a great practice partner and he always helps me train,” Williamson said. “I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s a great wrestler and a great motivator.”
As he moves on from Mount Carmel, Kelly has a pretty simple request for how he wants to be remembered there.
“I just hope they’ll say I’m a hardworking, nice kid,” Kelly said. “That’s it.”
As for the next chapter, however, Kelly’s goals are far less pedestrian. He’s ready for the Kelly brothers to take over in Champaign.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “Me and my brother are going to put on a show, win some national titles.
“It’s going to be fun.”
