I am Mario Charles Morgan, 18, from Markham, Illinois. I have been a honor student and three sport athlete in Wrestling, Football and Baseball for the past ten years. I attend Mount Carmel High School in Chicago and I am a senior.
As a wrestler I have reached the state quarterfinals four times and have been ranked as high as number one in the state in my respective weight class by the Chicago Sun Times and have four times made the All Area team. I have placed fifth in the toughest bracket 125 in my senior year, losing to two nationally ranked wrestlers but came back to secure an All State spot. I have won my conference (Chicago Catholic League) four times, the IHSA Regional 3x and the Sectional championship three times. In 2003 I won the A.A.U. 105 Folkstyle National Championship and the Illinois Greco State Championship. I am the current 119 pound Illinois Freestyle Champion and the 135 pound Greco Roman Champion. I was a member of Team Illinois this past summer for the Junior National Duals which placed second nationally and the Junior Individual National championship. I finished my career with 161 win-19 loss record, good for second on the Mt. Carmel all time win list and 27th on the Illinois all time list. As a freshman I finished second on the Mt. Carmel varsity career record for falls (23) in a season with 22. As a senior I registered 19 pinfalls. As a sophomore I was selected as one of the varsity team captains. In 2005 I became a Brute - Adidas folkstyle All American. As a senior, I am currently ranked @ 6th in the Nation @ 125lbs. and 108th best Senior wrestler in the country by InterMat Wrestling and Wrestling USA Magazine. I won the Tony Lawless Award as the best senior wrestler in my conference, the Chicago Catholic League, the best conference in Illinois. I have signed to wrestle in college with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, defending three peat NCAA D2 National Champions.
On the grammer school level I wrestled for the legendary Harvey Twisters Wrestling Club winning the Illinois State Championship three times and have been named All American six times. My first two championships in 2000 and 2001 I pinned every opponet in Regional, Sectional and State tournament competition with 14 straight pinfalls. I am also member of the illinoismatmen.com Hall of Fame. In 2000 I did not give up a single point enroute to the state title.
On the baseball field I was selected by the Chicago White Sox as one of the 200 best players in the Midwest. I have been invited to numerous prospect camps and all star games over the last five years. My summer team the Upper Deck Cougars finished second in the CABA National World Series. I also played in the major motion picture "Hardball" with actor Keanu Reeves, released in the summer of 2000. You can find me in several scenes including making a spectacular catch in the big game and getting in trouble in the dugout with my coach.
On the football field my teams have always been of championship calibur. Last season my high school team was conference runner ups and the previous season to that, conference champ. As a sophomore I was a starter at wide/slot receiver. This upcoming season my varsity team will be considered one of the favorites to win the state championship - a title Mt.Carmel won more times than any team in Illinois.
In the classroom I am on the academic honor roll with a 3.0 average and on the discipline homor roll also. In November 2002, I was named my high schools academic student of the month. I expect to attend college and pursue a degree in interior design and return to the Chicagoland area to teach and coach following my student/athlete career. I have passed the ACT/PSAT test with a 21. I scored one of the highest practice ACT test scores (23) in my school among fellow sophmores. All areas of my test were above the national average for college bound sophmores.
