Scott Morningstar

2008 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

“I was just a freshman having fun wrestling. Then at Vets, Al Baxter sat me down and went through the qualifiers and what I had to do with each one. When he finished, he told me there was no reason I shouldn’t win the title… that’s when the lightbulb went on (in my head),” recalls Scott Morningstar on the first of his four state championship titles.

The dominant wrestler helped establish the groundwork for a new era in Lisbon wrestling that continues today. It is a rich history that includes names like Baxter, Brad Smith, Royce Alger, and Scott’s son Ryan, as well as a long list of other state titlists and placewinners.

“I grew up in the right place at the right time,” Morningstar said as he reflected on his wrestling career. “I didn’t come from a wrestling family. My mom was a teacher, and I met Al Baxter after school while waiting for her,” he recalls. He noted that Doug Englert showed Lisbon wrestlers they could win state titles.

Morningstar was so dominant that he lost only one match in high school while wrestling to a draw in another. “Paul Kramer beat me on a referee’s decision my sophomore year… he was a two-time state champion, a runner-up, and a fourth-place finisher,” Morningstar recalled. The draw came his junior year to a Durant wrestler known for a neck wrench. “I was up 8–4 with four takedowns, and I went in for another takedown and found myself fighting for my life. I fought off my back and then got an escape for the tie. Sometimes you learn more from your mistakes.”

Morningstar’s titles came at 98 pounds his freshman year, 105 his sophomore year, 119 as a junior, and 126 his senior year. His record was 115-1-1.

He then went on to wrestle for UNI, where he qualified for nationals his senior year. “When I was in high school, I could pretty much ride anyone. In college, I wished I could have done more things on my feet,” he recalls, noting that he wrestled three of four years injured. “I still say that a national titlist may not be the best wrestler, but might be the one who isn’t injured.”

Changes in wrestling Morningstar has witnessed include the conditioning of today’s wrestlers. He noted that wrestlers now work on strengthening the large core muscles—the big body muscles. The importance of being strong from the feet is also more critical now that options in the second and third periods have changed.

Morningstar cites his four coaches in high school and college as big influences. He noted differences in their styles and said Brad Smith was a great technician and Chuck Patten a great talker and philosopher.

Scott Morningstar was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008 along with Mark Schwab, Greg Randall, and Kevin Evans.