Lackawanna College is bringing in a former national champion and Scranton native to its athletic department, as the school prepares to compete in NCAA Division II and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.<\/p>\n
Dave Morgan was recently hired as the Falcons\u2019 men\u2019s wrestling coach, replacing John Fox, who will continue to coach the women\u2019s wrestling program.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we continue our transition to NCAA Division II and build a championship-level experience, Dave\u2019s background in working closely with students and supporting both academic and personal development will be a tremendous asset,\u201d Lackawanna athletic director Erik Larson said in a press release. \u201cHe understands the critical role athletics plays in complementing the work of our coaches, and his ability to connect with student-athletes will help foster a culture of accountability, growth and success both on the mat and in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 2004 West Scranton graduate, Morgan was a two-time state medalist \u2014 fourth place as a sophomore and runner-up as a senior \u2014 and finished his high school wrestling career with 144 wins, which is still a program record.<\/p>\n
After earning a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh and spending a year with the Panthers, Morgan transferred to King\u2019s College and became a two-time Division III national champion (2007, 2008) and three-time conference champion, finishing his career with an 86-7 record.<\/p>\n
Morgan started his coaching career at King\u2019s as an assistant from 2008-2010, and later coached at Scranton High School alongside his brother, Jim, for four years. Then, Morgan built and coached a club program in southern North Carolina and was an assistant at White Oak High School.<\/p>\n
Morgan not only has experience on the mat, but also in the cage \u2014 with his amateur MMA career starting in 2006. Four years later, he captured a title and entered the professional ranks. He had a 6-12 professional record, securing a belt in 2022.<\/p>\n
After 10 years away from Scranton, Morgan returned and dove back into the wrestling community, serving as an instructor at the West Scranton Wrestling Alumni Junior Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing back to Scranton is a tremendous opportunity, both personally and professionally,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cNortheastern Pennsylvania has a rich wrestling tradition, and being able to return to an area that values the sport and develop young men through wrestling is something I take great pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, Lackawanna went 5-6, captured a Region XIX title and placed third at the NJCAA Gulf Atlantic District Championships \u2014 with Jeremiah Diaz and Brodie Daugherty capturing individual titles. This season, the Falcons will make the jump to Division II.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transition to the NCAA presents both challenges and opportunities. One of the biggest challenges will be building a roster that can compete immediately while also establishing a long-term foundation for sustained success. Recruiting student-athletes who fit the academic, athletic and cultural expectations of the program will be critical,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cHowever, I view these challenges as opportunities. With a clear vision, strong institutional support and a commitment to developing student-athletes, Lackawanna can establish itself as a respected NCAA program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to create a culture that attracts talented wrestlers, develops them throughout their careers and positions the program for success at the regional and national levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox coached the program in its first four seasons starting in 2018 and returned as head coach in 2024. Since 2018, the Falcons secured two Region XIX titles and had 45 national qualifiers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lackawanna College is bringing in a former national champion and Scranton native to its athletic department, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2300,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-238117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-college-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}