Hi Aether, first of all welcome to the forums.
Ranking does seem to be impossible to climb as you hit the higher ranks. I'm currently around 11th and move rarely now. This can be explained quite easily.
The ranking system seems to weight points based on people you frag and those you die to. This means that the person whom is ranked #1 would give you more points than someone who just joined the server. This is not combat people 'farming' accounts to boost their rank. The only suggestion I can give you is to target those who are ranked high and avoid getting killed by newbies. This is easier said than done however. In all honesty, if you play smart and at a consistent level, you will find yourself trending upwards.
In the top 15 of the server, there is only one person under a 2.0kd (they are on 1.98). This gives you an idea of the skill you are going to have to overcome.