Oct. 21, 2015
By Ryan Hickey, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" While many wrestlers on the Nittany Lion squad hail from Pennsylvania, 19 of 31 to be exact, Morgan McIntosh is a rare recruit from the West Coast. There were many factors that drove the senior to pick Penn State, mainly head coach Cael Sanderson.
McIntosh, who enters the 2015-16 season ranked No. 1 in the 197-pound weight class, fell in love with the staff during the recruiting process.
"Coach Cael first of all. I always watched him wrestle growing up and I watched him as a coach at Iowa State and I thought it would be awesome wrestling for him there," McIntosh said. "When he made the move to Penn State that drew my attention here. I took a lot of recruiting trips and took five official visits to schools, but when I took my trip here and met [Sanderson] and the guys, that's what drew me here."
Wrestling, you could say, runs in the McIntosh blood, as his dad wrestled in high school and a bit in college.
"I started wrestling when I was eight and my sisters played volleyball at a sports arena and my mom saw a flyer for a wrestling club and my dad was like 'Oh there's kids wrestling here let's do that.' That's how I really got into wrestling and I fell in love it right off the bat. It felt natural for me to wrestle," said McIntosh. "I love the one-on-one aspect of the sport and how competitive and physical it can be.
"There are guys that are polar opposite of me and are intense in every aspect of their lifestyle and that's good for them and they can use that to their advantage in wrestling. I don't take it too seriously. At the end of the line, wrestling is just a game and I think you are supposed to have fun and enjoy it. I know it's not the most important thing in the world, there's more than just wrestling even though I love it and I'm going to do whatever I can do to win. I love competing and working hard, but to me it's fun and I like to do it and if it comes to anything more than that, then you know why your doing it. I want to make sure I'm enjoying it and something happens, I'm still going to be ok."
McIntosh is a criminology major, citing that there are many different career paths he can go down. In particular, the senior is thinking joining a fire department, a profession he thinks he can be good at and more importantly, a job that McIntosh would like to do. Before his career after wrestling begins, the Santa Ana, Calif., native has his eyes on the ultimate wrestling prize.
"I'll continue to wrestle and manage to stay on with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and compete freestyle and try to win an Olympic medal," said McIntosh.
Get to know a little more about what drives McIntosh.
Motivation:
Since wrestling is an individual sport, each wrestler gets themselves ready both physically and mentally in their own way. As a head coach, trying to motivate a group of wrestlers can be difficult. But Sanderson doesn't feel the need to motivate his guys too much; as he recruits wrestlers who are already self motivated to be the best. For McIntosh, he finds his motivation in his love for the sport.
"For me, my motivation is that it's a fun sport and I love to do it and I love to compete," said McIntosh. "I want to compete and help win a national title for my team."
Having three years of collegiate wrestling under his belt, McIntosh has had many opportunities to wrestle on the sport's big stages and learned a lot from these moments. McIntosh was named an All-American last season after finishing seventh at the NCAA Championships. Alongside that, the senior was a runner-up at the Big Ten Championships. All of these experiences have really allowed McIntosh to look back and learn lessons along the way.
"My freshman year, I was worn out towards the end of the year and looking at the tournaments, I think I looked ahead too much instead of taking it one match at a time," said McIntosh. "When you do that, you wear yourself out even before you start."
The biggest thing McIntosh learned is how to take care of his body off the mat and make sure he is healthy and sharp once competition comes.
"Over the years I've also learned a lot about my body. You learn when to take a break, let things heal or let your mind recover from putting in the work," said McIntosh. "I think just learning about your body and how you need to train before a competition is a big thing I've learned over the last three years."
Relationship with Coach Cunningham:
The coach who spends the most time with McIntosh and a person that the senior looks up to is Casey Cunningham, who is in his sixth year on the Penn State staff.
"Cunningham is a great guy and I look up to him a lot. He's such a good coach and is great at explaining technique and getting down in the nitty gritty details and explaining things," said McIntosh. "You can ask him about any little position and he can figure that out. He always brings something interesting to the wrestling room with his crazy beard and baggy sweatpants. He's a funny dude an it's fun having him in our wrestling room."
Senior Leadership:
While there are no voted on team captains, McIntosh is primed to be one of the main leaders for the Nittany Lions this season. The senior is one of five on the team, and McIntosh exudes his leadership in a lead by example style. McIntosh cited how for the most the most part, he is not a vocal leader and won't give too many pep talks, he will try and provide a path for the younger wrestlers to follow and avoid the same mistakes that he made at that age.
"I try and lead by example so the younger guys can see the things that I do that I've learned over the years and have them pick up on those," said McIntosh. "I want to show guys the right things to do both inside and outside of the wrestling room."
Personality and Transportation:
Besides being one of the best on the mat, McIntosh is also well known for his quirky mode of transportation around campus. Hailing from California, it was nearly impossible for McIntosh to bring his car up to school. So instead, he resorted to a cheaper and more convenient way to getting to and from class: a moped. The senior purchased the vehicle from a former assistant coach and rides it to class all year round.
"It's fun and really convenient to get around campus and I am known for being that scooter guy," said McIntosh. "It was a nice and less expensive option as an out-of-stater than to buy a car or bring one up."
Adding to his personality is the fact that McIntosh wears flip-flops everywhere he goes, noting that he is known for his scooter and flip-flops. Having to adjust to brutal Central Pennsylvania winters is another hurdle McIntosh had to first adjust to when coming to Penn State, but the senior has acclimated very quickly and now doesn't even mind the winter.
"I like it and it's cool having four seasons. In California, you get a summer, a little bit of spring, a little bit of fall, and a tiny bit of winter," said McIntosh. "It's nice having four seasons and getting to see the snow, it's definitely a cool experience. I think everyone should live somewhere cold at least for a little bit."
One thing people don't know:
"I enjoy music a lot and what I do in my free time is play piano and guitar. Some other guys on the team enjoy that too, so we get together and play a lot. I'm not a singer. I can play piano pretty decently. Dylan Dailey is a killer drummer on the team, so we go over to his house and he has a sound system set up in his basement, s we plug in and play. I never used to play with a band, so it's new for me trying to figure that out, but it's fun. It's something to take a break and take your mind off wrestling."
Biggest difference between now and high school:
"On the mat, probably my top wrestling game has increased a ton. There's no riding time in high school, so it wasn't as big of a part of wrestling, but I used to worry about that a lot because I was pretty good on my feet. Coach Cael and coach Cunningham are both killers on top. Being in the room with them for five years can't help but get me better on top. In the last two and a half years, I've been really trying to focus on it too because you need riding time to win those really close matches. I have grown a lot. My freshman year, I was pretty small for a 197-pounder. I've grown a lot and gotten stronger with our great strength coach."
Being where you are now, what he would tell his freshman self:
"I think I know my body so much better now. I was just talking to Coach Cael and we were talking about little things that I've learned that have helped me stay away from injuries. Staying in good position when you're wrestling. I have dealt with a number of injuries over my four years too which were never fun. Learning what your body is like and if I knew that back then what I know now, it could have helped me stay away from injuries and know when I needed to take a break and how I need to be feeling going into Big Tens and Nationals."