2014–2016 After a second–place finish at the Junior World Championships, McKenna made his senior
freestyle debut in November 2014 at the age of 19, placing fourth at the Bill Farrell Memorial International. Afterwards, he placed third at the Brazil Cup, notably defeating
future U23 World Champion from Russia
Nachyn Kuular in the first round. McKenna competed in multiple tournaments throughout 2015, but only placed at the 2015 Granma y Cerro Pelado, claiming the gold medal. In 2016, he only competed at the Polish Open, placing third.
2017–2019 After placing third at the 2017 Ion Cornianu & Ladislau Simon tournament in
Romania, he made the US U23 World Team and went on to claim a bronze medal from the
U23 World Championships. In 2018, he started off by claiming the US Open National Championship, defeating
Jaydin Eierman after
tech'ing his way to the finals. Due to his last result, McKenna sat out in the finals of the US World Team Trials, in where he was defeated twice in a row by
'16 World Champion (61kg) and
four–time NCAA champion for the Buckeyes
Logan Stieber. To finish the year, he was defeated by
three–time World Champion (61kg) from Azerbaijan
Haji Aliyev at the Alexandr Medved Memorial International. In 2019, McKenna failed to qualify for the US World Team Trials, but qualified for the
2020 US Olympic Team Trials after a second–place finish at the US Senior Nationals.
2020–2021 McKenna opened up the year with a seventh–place finish at the Matteo Pellicone and a ninth–place finish
Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin. He was then scheduled to compete at the
US Olympic Team Trials, however, the event was postponed as well as the
2020 Summer Olympics due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. After months of being unable to compete due to the pandemic, McKenna placed third at the US National Championships, going 7–1. To open up 2021, McKenna competed in back–to–back
FloWrestling events, dominating NCAA champions
Nahshon Garrett and Seth Gross. McKenna went back to competing overseas, first competing at the Ukraine Open, where he notably defeated
'20 European Continental finalist from Belarus
Niurgun Skriabin before falling to
reigning U23 World Champion from Azerbaijan
Turan Bayramov, failing to place. Next, he competed at the
Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series, placing third. McKenna then competed at the rescheduled
US Olympic Team Trials in April 2–3, as the fifth seed, in an attempt of representing the
United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. McKenna performed outstandingly on his way to the finals,
upseting fourth–seeded and
'17 World Championship runner–up (70kg) James Green and top–seeded and defending US World Team Member
Zain Retherford. In the best–of–three finale, he was defeated by '19 US National champion
Jordan Oliver twice in a row, earning hard–fought runner–up honors. As the other US Olympic Trials finalist, McKenna competed at the
Pan American Continental Championships from May 27 to 30, replacing an injured Jordan Oliver. He captured the crown after
tech'ing all of his four opponents, most notably four–time All–American for
Rutgers and representative of
Puerto Rico Sebastian Rivera, helping the USA reach all ten medals in freestyle. In a quick turnaround, McKenna competed at the prestigioys
Poland Open on June 9. After a victory over a Ukrainian opponent, McKenna suffered back–to–back losses that came in hand of the highly accomplished
Vasyl Shuptar and
Yianni Diakomihalis, before earning a
forfeit win over Shuptar to claim the bronze. McKenna competed at the
2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, intending to represent the country at the
World Championships. After a back-and-forth win over Evan Henderson to make the finals, McKenna beat rival
Yianni Diakomihalis in another slugfest, before being downed twice convincingly, losing the series.
2022 To start off the year, McKenna placed fifth at the
Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin, notably downing two-time World medalist
Akhmed Chakaev. He then beat Kamal Begakov on February 12, at Bout at the Ballpark. McKenna competed at the
Yasar Dogu International on February 27, claiming a bronze medal after going 4–1, only losing to
World Champion Zagir Shakhiev in a close bout. On May 8, McKenna defended his
Pan American championship in
Acapulco, Mexico, defeating
Olympian Agustín Destribats and four-time All-American
Sebastian Rivera in order to do so. At the US World Team Trials, in May, McKenna suffered a first-round upset to Ian Parker, loss which he avenged in the bronze-medal bout to place third. He then placed third at the
Poland Open and second at the D.A. Kunaev International, in July and November, respectively.
2023 To start off the year, McKenna racked up silver medals at the
Grand Prix Zagreb Open and the
Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series, as well as a bronze at the
Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament. In these tournaments, he earned notable wins over eventual
2023 World silver medalist Sebastian Rivera,
U20 World Champion Erik Arushanian and
European medalist Ali Rahimzade. In April, McKenna placed second at the US Open, falling to two-time NCAA champion
Nick Lee in the finals and failing to advance in the US World Team Trials process. In June, he beat Matthew Kolodzik in the true-third bout at Final X Neward. At the
Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial, in July, McKenna earned silver up at 70 kilograms after a notable win over eventual
2023 World silver medalist Amir Mohammad Yazdani in the semifinals. In November, McKenna became the champion at the D.A. Kunaev International, earning an important victory over fellow American and
World silver medalist Yianni Diakomihalis in the semifinals. McKenna wrestled at the US Senior Nationals on December 16, placing third and qualifying for the US Olympic Team Trials.
2024 In January, McKenna claimed a bronze medal from the
Grand Prix Zagreb Open, soundly defeating
returning World finalist Sebastian Rivera. == Freestyle record ==