Takedown Report

Making history at Morgan State: Q&A with wrestling coach Kenny Monday

In October 2021, Morgan State University announced that its historic wrestling program, one that was cut in the late 1990s, would return after over two decades to become the only Division I historically black college and university (HBCU) in the NCAA. The administration then hired Olympic gold medalist Kenny Monday to lead the program, inspiring even more excitement in the revitalized team. 

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Flash forward to 2023, the Bears have just nearly completed their first month of competition and will head to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend to compete against some of the best teams in the country. 
NCAA.com caught up with Monday to talk about the team, the challenges he’s experienced in rebuilding the program and his goals for the future of Morgan State wrestling. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I want to talk about your team, some of your standout athletes and your competitive dual schedule this year, but before I get to all of that, I’d love to go back to when you took this job at Morgan State. What drew you to the program? 
I think just the historical opportunity [to bring] the program back after 25 years. In 1996, I was training for the Olympics, and it broke my heart to know that a program was dropping, so when I really thought about it, I just felt like, me being in that position [to be the head coach], I could have a bigger impact than anywhere else. 
You’ve coached at a ton of places. What have been some of the biggest challenges in bringing this program back and in starting this program in general? 
I think, first of all, just getting the administration and the school up to speed on what wrestling looks like it, what it entails — that was one of the challenges. Then, just the recruiting process, starting from scratch, going out and recruiting student athletes to Morgan State and believing in the journey and believing in the process of starting a program. … rest of story at … NCAA.com/news/Making-history-morgan-state-qa-wrestling-coach-kenny-monday

December 9, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized