Kendall Reusing (born 29 October 1997) is an American grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt competitor. A former freestyle wrestler, Reusing is a five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion in colored belt and a two-time no-gi Jiu-Jitsu black belt world champion.[1]
Early career
Kendall Marie Reusing was born on 29 October 1997 in Dana Point, California,[1] the daughter of accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor Tom Reusing[5] and Holly McClung Reusing.[6] From a young age she trained in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
As a teenager, Reusing won the 2015 California state high school wrestling championship and four US national high school wrestling championships.[7] During that time she also joined Team USA as a freestyle wrestler on the Cadet National Team, Cadet World Team, and then twice on the Junior National Team.[8] By the end of 11th grade, she was the highest-ranked girl on TrackWrestling's Elite Athlete list and had twice been named Press-Enterprise Girls Wrestler of the Year.[9]
She wrestled for a year at Simon Fraser University in Canada before returning to Jiu-Jitsu full-time in 2016.[1] She won numerous championships—including double gold at the 2018 World No-Gi championship as a brown belt—before getting promoted to black belt in 2019.[1]
Reusing represented Gracie Barra alongside Felipe Trovo and Carlos Souza in the team grappling event Subversiv 3 on August 28, 2020.[10] Reusing defeated all four of her opponents at the event and Gracie Barra won the tournament.[11] She was then invited to compete against Leah Taylor in the co-main event of Submission Underground 18 on October 4, 2020.[12] Reusing won the match by submission in EBI overtime.[13]
2021
On March 27, 2021, Reusing fought Nathiely de Jesus in the main event of Fight 2 Win 168, losing the match by submission.[14] She then returned to team grappling as part of the Gracie Barra team at Subversiv 5 on May 1, 2021.[15] Reusing won her match against Maggie Grindatti, but her teammates both lost and Gracie Barra were eliminated in the opening round.[16] Reusing fought Talita Nogueira in the co-main event of Fight 2 Win 173 on June 11, 2021 and won the match by submission with a choke.[17] She returned at Fight 2 Win 177 on July 16, 2021 and fought Maria Malyjasiak in the co-main event, losing by submission.[18]
Reusing was invited to compete against Ffion Davies for the inaugural women's openweight title in the co-main event of Grapplefest 11 on February 26, 2022.[25] She won the match by decision and became the promotion's first openweight champion.[26] Reusing was then booked to defend her Polaris title against Amanda Leve at Polaris 19 on March 26, 2022.[27] She retained the title after her opponent Leve forfeited due to an injury.[28]
At the 2022 ADCC World Championship Reusing dominated her first match against Giovana Jara then got a knee injury following a failed takedown in the semi-final, losing via retirement from the match.[29] Reusing would have been eligible to compete for the bronze medal, but was unable to do so due to the injury she sustained in the previous match and had to forfeit.[30]
2023
Reusing returned to competition to defend her Polaris openweight title against Leticia Cardozo in the co-main event Polaris 26 on November 4, 2023.[31] She won the match by decision and retained the title.[32] She then competed at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship 2023, where she won the super-heavyweight division for the second time.[33]
2024
Reusing won the under 90kg division at the USA Grappling World Team Trials on June 22, 2024.[34]
Reusing was invited to compete in the over 65kg division at the 2024 ADCC World Championship.[35] She submitted Maria Ruffatto in the opening round and was submitted by Rafaela Guedes in the semi-final, but she beat Amy Campo on points to win a bronze medal.[36] She also entered the women's absolute division and was submitted by Beatriz 'Bia' Mesquita in the opening round.[37]
Reusing won the under 90kg division at the UWW No Gi Grappling World Championship on October 12, 2024.[38]
^Smith, Ryan (2020-05-28). "On The Rise: Kendall Reusing". FloGrappling. "After winning a California state championship, as well as four U.S. National Championships in high school, Kendall then went on to wrestle for Team USA internationally and trained at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. … Being the daughter of accomplished competitor Tom Reusing, her transition from wrestling back to jiu-jitsu was a natural one. Kendall enjoyed success as a colored belt making the podium of Worlds, No-Gi Worlds, World Pro, and Pans. While still a blue belt, Kendall placed second in the 2017 ADCC trials. She earned her blackbelt in 2019 after taking double gold at the 2018 World No-Gi championship as a brown belt. … She quickly went on to win the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, the SJJIF World Championship, and took second at the UAEJJF Grand Slam."
^"School News". Appen Media. Aug 18, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
^"Fight 2 Win 148 Competitor Kendall Reusing: "Don't Overvalue The Praise Or Hate"". Jiu-Jitsu Times. 2020-07-24. Archived from the original on 2024-05-22. Retrieved September 8, 2024. "A California state champion and four-time U.S. national champion in high school, she was also a part of Team USA’s wrestling team, traveling and competing internationally before returning her focus to jiu-jitsu."
^"I haven't officially represented @teamusa overseas since I was 18!!". June 6, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024. "When I was wrestling from ages 13-18, I made a Cadet National Team, then a Cadet World Team, then 2 Junior National Teams after that. I wrestled in Senior level events, but never competed at the Senior WTT. My Team USA journey ended then, as I came back to Jiu Jitsu instead …"
