BALTIMORE, Md. (February 8, 2024) — The Morgan State Men's Wrestling Team will host two duals this weekend at Hill Field House. Queens College of Charlotte will be the Bears first opponent on Sunday at 12 p.m., followed by a dual against Sacred Heart at 2 p.m.
Both contests will be featured on Morgan State's Athletics website - vs. Queens - here vs. Sacred Heart - here.
Morgan will also honor graduating wrestler Jacob Marsh as part of its Senior Day celebrations.
SCOUTING QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE
• Paul Bradley joined Queens University of Charlotte as Assistant Wrestling Coach in July 2019 for the Royals' second season in Division II and the program's third overall. Bradley came to the Queen City after spending 13 years in California as a professional MMA fighter and the owner of USA Ultimate Warrior Wrestling Club. As a freelance fighter, Bradley competed in several MMA promotions such as UFC, Bellator MMA, Strikeforce, Shark Fights and King of the Cage. While simultaneously juggling his work as Owner of his wrestling club, Bradley oversaw practices, techniques and drills, and brought in high-level clinicians for advanced training purposes.
• The Royals hold a 2-12 overall record and are 0-4 in road matchups this season.
• Last week, the Queens University of Charlotte wrestling team traveled to compete in the Newberry Open, where three Royals were able to place top five in their weight classes. Sebastian Shered took third place in the 174-pound bracket. Riley Kuhn finished third in the 197-pound bracket to earn 15.5 points for Queens. Vladimir Sukhikh took fourth place in the 165-pound bracket.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
• Since taking over as head coach of the Sacred Heart wrestling program in the summer of 2017, John Clark has built the Pioneers into a program that competes both on the mat and in the classroom.The Pioneers have ranked in the Top 10 in the nation for team grade point average the last five years. Brandon Levesque earned NWCA Scholar-Athlete honors and was one of three Pioneers to earn an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Academic Achievement Award.
• The Pioneers hold a 2-12 overall record, 1-3 in the Northeast Conference, and are 2-3 in road matchups this season.
• Sacred Heart earned its second dual meet victory of the season as the Pioneers took down Huskies by a final score of 33-11 last Saturday afternoon.
• Junior Jake Ice (Wilbraham, Mass.) has recorded back-to-back dual victories at 125 pounds.
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.
• Senior 165-pounder Jacob Marsh and freshman 174-pounder Cortilius Vann etched their names in program history as they both earned huge wins on December 10, 2023 when the Bears hosted No. 22 Maryland. The competition marked just the third dual match in over 25 years hosted by Morgan.
• Jacob Marsh, a transfer from Princeton, leads the Bears with a 12-12 overall record and has a 7-9 record in duals. Marsh represented Team USA at the U23 World Championships in Serbia in 2021.
• Morgan freshman Kingsley Menifee has an 8-7 winning record and won his first two matches at the Bobby Kaufman Open before falling to Bucknell's Mikey Bartush by a decision. He has won three of his last four matches at 184lbs.
• Makhare Rogers scored a 7-3 decision over West Virginia's Gahrett Dickerson at 133 pounds. With the win, Rogers improved to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in duals.
Season tickets and individual match tickets are now on sale for the 2023-24 Morgan State wrestling season - Click here
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS IN CYBERSPACE
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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.
