University of Minnesota Athletics
Non-Freshman Friday: Ben Morgan
8/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
The leaves on the Morgan family tree are surely Maroon and Gold. Between two of them, Gordy and Marty, the Morgan earned four All-America medals in the late 80s and early 90s and spent more than 20 years combined wrestling and coaching for the Gophers. Last season, a second-generation Morgan returned home when Ben transferred to Minnesota from Nebraska. A standout at Forest Lake High School just north of St. Paul, Morgan left the Twin Cities for Lincoln but, after two season with the Cornhuskers, came back to the place where his family name is synonymous with wrestling. Redshirting in accordance with NCAA transfer rules, he built a 16-4 record in open tournaments. While he placed at all four events in which he wrestled, he finished the season on a hot streak, reaching the finals in his last two tournaments and claiming the crown at the Cobber Open. GopherSports.com caught up with the latest Morgan to step into the Gopher wrestling room to discuss his return home and his redshirt season.
With your family ties to the program, what was it like to be a part of Gopher Wrestling this past season?
It means a lot, to both me and my family. My dad and my uncle wrestled and coached here the past two decades. In a way, I almost grew up in the room myself. As I got older, I wanted to try something different. I don't know why, but I kind of wanted to go out of state. Not that I didn't like Minnesota but I went to Nebraska for my first two years of college. I didn't get to where I wanted to wrestling-wise (at Nebraska). I was a little out of focus and I realized that if I wanted to take wrestling seriously, I had to come back home.
Did your connections with the Minnesota coaches and your teammates here play a role in that?
I grew up here. I have known the coaches since I was a little kid. J, I've known him my entire life. Eggum I've known him since his freshman year of college and I've known Becker since his freshman year of college. I'm very familiar with the room, the area, all the guys on the team – at least three-fourths of them are from Minnesota and I've known them my entire life. I've got a couple guys on the team that are my best friends. So it's a really good fit.
What was this season like as you redshirted and prepared for the next two years?
This year was really big. It's a very tough room. I've had tough partners around my weight – some of the best kids in the country. There's never an easy day in the room. You can't take a day off. You either become the whipping boy or you fight back every day and make small improvements. I think I've prepared myself for next year. I went to a couple open tournaments this year and did well – won one, took third and took fifth and took second. I feel like I made some improvements. I'm ready to keep working hard, do the extra stuff and be the guy next year.
Could you sense that you were getting better as the season went on?
Yeah. Even in the room I had some guys telling me “You've definitely made some improvements.” At the beginning of the year I was getting taken down all the time in the practice room and now, I'm taking those guys down. I'm exchanging shots and my defense is a lot better. As the year went on, the more I felt I was getting better, the more I wanted to get out there at tournaments and beat everybody.
What have you been up to this summer?
I've been here on campus. I took classes because, when I transferred, they knew that I was going to have to take some summer credits to catch up and graduate on time. I have extra time in my days to do some River Roads (running) or go get a lift in or do something hard for an hour. My goal is to try and do something hard for one hour every day. Obviously there's practice, there's lifting but when I find myself in not doing anything, I try and go do something for an hour or two to make myself tired or make myself tougher. Really just trying to push myself. Kind of like a bank, trying to save up investment and get the best results you can.
What are your expectations for the coming season?
Overall as a team, we have a lot to prove to ourselves. A lot of people don't see us being in the top 10 next year just because of the guys we lose. But I don't think that's the case. We're very tough and talented. I believe that everyone's ready to work hard. I see myself being the guy as long as I stick to my word. Just keep putting the work in, be confident and it will take care of itself. And I feel like everyone feels like that. If everyone takes care of themselves, the team will be pretty solid.
