OSU legend Kenny Monday's new mission: Coach college wrestlers to focus on opponents, HBCU legacy

Gold and silver Olympic medalist, Kenny Monday, receives the Male Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa on June 18, 2018.

Kenny Monday, a former Oklahoma State All-American wrestling and Booker T. Washington graduate, is leading the Morgan State wrestling program's move back to NCAA Division I.

Kenny Monday, three-time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University, speaks at his introductory press conference at Morgan State University last fall.

Kenny Monday is entering an important and significant chapter in his life.

The former Booker T. Washington and Oklahoma State wrestling star was named Morgan State’s head wrestling coach last August.

The 61-year-old is resurrecting a program that’s making a comeback after a 25-year hiatus. Morgan State is the only HBCU program at the Division I level, which has special meaning to a coach who lived in times of segregation while being raised in north Tulsa.

“This is bigger than me. It’s bigger than Kenny Monday. It’s an opportunity for me to reach out and touch a lot of kids that may not have gotten the opportunity to compete at the Division I level,” Monday said. “Tulsa was a hotbed of wrestling when I grew up. It’s really the reason I stuck with it. We had so many clubs. Growing up, I had all-black teams until I went to college.

“From that seventh grade, I got bussed to Madison Junior High. Those first couple of days was pretty, pretty tough days. But I went through it and learned a lot. It shaped me for my relationships later.

“This is exciting. It’s a chance to showcase an HBCU and the culture that we bring, just bringing kids in and teaching them about HBCUs and the history and what it means for our country and why they exist in the first place.”

Monday has about 17 wrestlers on his roster and is targeting 25. He said he has wrestlers from Oklahoma, Texas, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

Monday is a trailblazer for black wrestlers. He was the first African-American Olympic gold medalist in 1988. In 1984, he won an NCAA championship for OSU. While wrestling at B.T. Washington, he went undefeated (140-0-1) and won four high school state titles.

His high school alma mater’s gym surface is named the Kenny Monday/Wayman Tisdale Gold Medal Court.

Tulsa will always remain home for Monday, a 1980 Booker T. Washington graduate.

Monday’s life lessons began from mentors at school and the Hutcherson YMCA. His plans this week also include a visit to Vernon A.M.E. were he worshipped as a young man.

Monday’s anxious for his hometown to host the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center this week.

“It’s like a reunion for wrestlers every year,” Monday said. “You see people you haven’t seen in five, 10 or 20 years. Wrestling is really a small community but everyone loves seeing wrestlers that they grew up with or they wrestled against or who they knew of. This is a special moment for wrestlers and fans of wrestlers.”

His father Fred Monday lives five minutes from the BOK Center. He’ll be in the stands cheering for his grandson Quincy Monday, who wrestles for Princeton and is a fifth seed in the 165-pound weight class.

“To bring this tournament to his back yard, it’s special. Especially with his grandson — my son Quincy — wrestling during his senior year at Princeton. That makes it more special,” Kenny Monday said.

The BOK Center won’t be the only must-stop for Monday in his return to town.

“I’ll got to hit Pop’s house. I’ll drive by the (Hutcherson) YMCA. I got to see my street; it’s on Kenny Monday place. I gotta get some barbecue at the hottest place, wherever that is,” he added. “Then I’ll go to my church, Vernon A.M.E., to get a service in. My wife loves to eat coneys so we’ll go to Coney Island.”

“I had so many great leaders who were part of my development and set my foundation. Tulsa and Greenwood, the historical aspect of that … Tulsa has just been a special place. Every year of my life there has been a good time.”

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At Oklahoma State, Kenny Monday was a three-time All-American. Tulsa World file

His career record at Oklahoma State is 121-12-2. Tulsa World file

The Tulsa World sports front on Oct. 1, 1988. Kenny Monday had won a gold wrestling medal the night before in Seoul.

Kenny Monday receives a welcome-home hug from a fan after the 1988 Olympics, in which he won a gold medal. Tulsa World file

Kenny Monday walks with his mother, Elizabeth Monday, at Tulsa International Airport in October 1988 after winning a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics. Tulsa World File

Kenny Monday holds his gold medal that he won in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Photo taken on Oct. 7, 1988. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World file

During a press conference on Oct. 7, 1988, Kenny Monday holds a drawing by Brad Thompson. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World file

The Tulsa World sports front on Aug. 7, 1992. Kenny Monday had won a silver medal at the Barcelona Games the day before.

Sabrina Monday and her daughter Sydnee, 2, show their American flags as they prepare Friday, July 12, 1996, to leave from their Tulsa home for the Olympics in Atlanta. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World file

Kenny Monday poses for a photo in downtown Tulsa in 1996. Tulsa World file

Kenny Monday gives instructions to his student, Tracey Eitel, a 115-pounder from Dallas, during the youngster's match during the Cliff Keen Tulsa Nationals wrestling championships at the Expo Square's Pavilion on Jan. 16, 2009. Tulsa World file

Kenny Monday (left) practices with his student, Tracey Eitel, a 115-pounder from Dallas, before the youngster's match during the Cliff Keen Tulsa Nationals wrestling championships at Expo Square's Pavilion on Jan. 16, 2009. Tulsa World file

Several jerseys, including a wrestling uniform of Kenny Monday and Ryan Humphrey, are mounted on the walls inside the Booker T. Washington Hall of Fame. Taken on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Tulsa World file

Former Booker T. Washington great wrestler Kenny Monday (left) and former Memorial High School great track and cross country runner Michelle Scholtz, both inductees into the Tulsa Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame, chat before the hall's dinner on Jan. 16, 2014. Tulsa World File

Currently, Kenny Monday is head coach of the Tar Heel wrestling Club at the University of North Carolina. PATRICK DAVISON/For the Tulsa World

Gold and silver Olympic medalist, Kenny Monday, receives the Male Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa on June 18, 2018. JOSEPH RUSHMORE/For the Tulsa World

Kenny Monday was among Booker T Washington Ring of Honor inductees on February 8, 2019. JOEY JOHNSON/for the Tulsa World

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Oklahoma State legend Kenny Monday will join his son Kennedy Monday in hosting a free wrestling clinic on Wednesday.

The event — open from boys and girls ages kindergarten through eighth grade — begins at 10 a.m. at the Hurricane Training Center (11004 E. 41st Street, Tulsa).

Kennedy Monday is a two-time state champion and a three-time NCAA qualifier from the University of North Carolina.

Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix has been an NCAA runner-up for three straight seasons.

This week, Fix is the second seed to two-time defending champion Roman Bravo Young at 133 pounds.

There’s plenty of hunger for Fix, a Sand Springs native. Kenny Monday understands that feeling. While at OSU, Monday finished as a two-time runner-up before winning a national championship in 1984.

Wrestler-to-wrestler, what advice does Monday have for Fix this week?

“Stay consistent and do what you do,” Monday said. “He can’t put more pressure on himself that he already is. He’s a pro. He’s a winner. He’s been in the game a long time. He’s wrestled on the biggest stages.

“It’s just stay true to who you are ... focus on being your best self and don’t get caught up in the pressure.”

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Tulsa World Sports Writer

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