BALTIMORE, Md. (Dec. 15, 2023) — The Morgan State wrestling team will hit the road to face No. 21 North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. inside Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. The dual will be streamed live on North Carolina Athletics's website.
Saturday's Morgan-North Carolina dual begins at 5 p.m. EST and all matches will be streamed live on ACCNX.
The Bears are 1-6 on the season in dual competition, while North Carolina is 5-2 and NWCA Coaches Poll has the Tar Heels at 21.
Senior 165-pounder Jacob Marsh and freshman 174-pounder Cortilius Vann etched their names in program history as they both earned huge wins last Sunday when the Bears hosted No. 22 Maryland. The competition marked just the third dual match in over 25 years hosted by Morgan.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
• North Carolina finished the 2022-23 season with an overall dual record of 6-9, including a mark of 2-3 in ACC action. The Tar Heels went 1-5 at home, 3-2 on the road and 2-2 in duals held at a neutral site.
• Rob Koll, a 1988 national champion wrestler at the University of North Carolina who has coached 74 All-Americas, was been named the head coach of Carolina's wrestling program on Aug. 31, 2023. He previously spent two seasons at Stanford.
• The Tar Heels enter Saturday looking for their sixth win of the season. They are currently 5-2.
NOTABLES
• Leading the return of NCAA Division I, Varsity-level men's wrestling to Maryland's largest Historically Black College or University (HBCU), Morgan State University announced the hiring of Kenny Monday as the Athletics Department's new men's wrestling coach, effective Aug. 24, 2022. Monday, the first Black wrestler in history to win an Olympic gold medal, is a National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, three-time Olympian and former NCAA All-American standout, who brings a championship-level coaching pedigree and an expansive yet impressive resume to a Bears' wrestling program looking to restart after a 25-year hiatus. Monday comes to Morgan after serving as the director of wrestling and head wrestling coach at Spire Academy, since 2021.
• Morgan was wrestling in its first competition in 25 years after the program was reinstated this season to make it the only HBCU with a Division I wrestling program.
• In October 2021, the University announced its plans to revive the men's wrestling program at Morgan with the support a $2.7-million gift from HBCU Wrestling (HBCUW), a new initiative reestablishing wrestling programs on HBCU campuses. The gift, which is among the largest received from a private donor to the University, provides funding for the program and supports up to nine full scholarships annually.
Season tickets and individual match tickets are now on sale for the 2023-24 Morgan State wrestling season - Click here
Next Up
The Bears wrestling team will host two programs, including Hofstra and Bloomsburg at Hill Field House on Wednesday, Dec. 20, beginning at 2 p.m. All three matches will be streamed live on Morgan State Athletics' website.
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS IN CYBERSPACE
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more.
• Follow us on social media:
Facebook: /MorganStateBears
Twitter: @MorganStBears
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.
