No Vegas Vacation – Mustangs face nation’s elite, strengthen program

The final results of a late May opportunity for Morningside University wrestling are still being sorted out in head coach Jake Stevenson's mind.

"Yeah, the five guys we had entered at the US Open may not have been impressed with how they finished," he reflected. "To me, though, it's all about the experience of facing top-notch competition and observing where we want to be."

Rising seniors John Diener, Evan Shell, Noah Styskal, and Taylor Vasquez, and rising sophomore Logan Stumpf donned the maroon and black, battling the nation's best NCAA Division I athletes on the Vegas Strip.

"I've always told myself that when I went into a freestyle competition, I just wanted to have fun," Styskal said. "I did that at the Open." 

"Seeing a lot of the top collegiate guys when I was in middle school and early high school at a big national tournament that is part of the international scene was a great experience," he added. "I wrestled two pretty good opponents and was able to score points. I don't take it as a complete loss in being able to do that."

Stevenson had been in the practice of taking whoever was interested from his teams to the Open until the last two years halted that due to the pandemic.

"It's a nice bonus for some of our student-athletes to get into a normal training schedule," he said. "We were lifting three days a week and wrestling three to four days a week. Everyone went at it pretty hard, which will help keep them focused on the future." 

"I felt like everyone competed hard," he added. "I'm proud of all of them. The reality of doing this was that most of our guys don't have much experience in freestyle and Greco-Roman, which they got in this process. It's a tough learning curve, but I hope they each learned as much as I did." 

Diener came away bright-eyed from his effort. He picked up a win by fall and led a Division I All-American early on in his opening match.

"As I look back at it, I realize I need to work on being in better positions on the mat," he said. "I was up a weight class, but that's no excuse when you don't execute as you should."

"Overall, it was great to get my cardio back up going into our summer workouts and getting a month and a half of intense training," he added. "I'm just glad Coach Stevenson trusted me enough and figured I could be successful on that level." 

Styskal, who almost decided not to join the Vegas trip, was glad he did, harkening back to a conversation he had with his head coach during the recruiting process.

"He showed me a picture of the guys who went to the U.S. Open that year saying 'I want you to have a similar opportunity'," he remembered. "Getting a chance to wrestle out there brought everything full circle." 

A choice made where Morningside University's head coach can see the final results of his plans still being put into use.