December 4, 2025 • 8 mins
A night after Johnson & Wales met fellow Division III powerhouse Augsburg in a dual meet in Minneapolis, coach Lonnie Morris and his squad was back in action at the Auggie Invitational.
In this quick eight-minute interview, we'll catch up with Coach Morris to see what things have been like in Providence since JWU won the school's first national title last March.
In this quick eight-minute interview, we'll catch up with Coach Morris to see what things have been like in Providence since JWU won the school's first national title last March.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Lonnie Morris, head coach at john Soon Wales,
making the trip out here to the not so frozen
Confines in Minnesota, you got you lucked out coming out here.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You got some decent weather.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
The weather it was much better than it's been in
the past, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So last night as we're wrestling here at the Augie
Open on a Saturday, you brought your squad out here
to take on Augsburg. Here at sime Melby Hall Well
went into the decision.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
To come out and wrestle the Augies.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
To be the best, you got to wrestle the best,
and it's the best wrestling in the countries in the Midwest,
and you got to come out here to wrestle them.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You look at the banners behind you, there's four banners
up there for national championships that were won by this
school before you even had a program at Johns Wills.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And then last year, you guys break through. You know,
you don't break the streak, but.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You kind of start one of your own with you know,
it's not just the birds, you guys are there in
your backyard. What's life been like for John Soon Wales
Wrestling since that title last year?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
I mean it's it's great, but it's the same o' samel.
The best CHAMPI ship is the next one. We're trying
to get better and every day, and we got a
new crop of kids, and we got a great team,
and we're just trying to compete and try to get
out there and wint another team trophy and tell the
kids all the time, no one's gonna remember last year
(01:15):
if we went this year.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
When we look at last night's duel me you know,
before the match, you thought you had a path to victory,
even though the numbers said otherwise. You know, matches our
wrestle on paper, and you're a guy, you like to
mix it up. You were bumping things around.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So what went into this match strategy last night?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I just think they got such a talented team and
we had to find their weaknesses.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And at the end of the day, I knew kids.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Could fight their butts off and stay off their back
against some of their best kids, and we moved one
of our bigger pieces off and it gave us a
chance to the end. And in the end it was
a questionable answer. The face at the end, it was frustrating.
I like to see, hey, a warning there that's what
the emphasis on the rules committee was.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
But at the end of the day, we lost two
to one.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Right at the end, I told the kids, we're super
proud as effort give us a chance to win. At
the end, it didn't work out, but it was fun
to be competitive.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So when we look at that, last night was about
last night. Today is about getting better for March. So
the opportunity you don't just come out here for one off.
You've got the open, you got twenty guys, you brought
on the trip, you know the logistics and all that
that goes into it. What's it like to come out
here and do the dual Friday in a tournament Saturday.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
It just gives those other kids that maybe didn't get
the opportunity on Friday night to get show that Hey,
let's show me you're the guy. Right, We're trying to
still figure out our lineup, and it's really about them
being able to show that they are one of the
best guys too, not a big wrestle off guy unless
we have to. Everyone goes to a tournament, whoever does
the best. We use the tournament to evaluate who.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
The guy is.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
When you started your program nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You know, we're talking twenty nine years doing twenty eight
to win a national title, and.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You've got to go through both Augsburg and Wartburg to
do that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
The rest of you out here in the Midwest, of course,
their rivalry is legendary.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You are one of two home duel meets this year
for Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
They also wrestle Wartburg, so they wrestled the national champs
in both SAIDs.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So that's also unique for them. But what what uniqueness
do you have to your schedule this year?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Well, last week we wrestled the three nationally ranked teams
and Stevens, Coast Guard and West Liberty.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
So we pride ourselves and wrestling.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
The tough schedule gets the kids ready and we'll wrestle
anybody we want to compete.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
You know, that's the best part about.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Wrestling, is wrestling the best guys to see where we're at.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
It's a measuring stick.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
It's a tribute to BALLACKI I think getting Balloch and
Keller in the same way they don't run from anybody.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know, it was it was kind of a calling
card for you guys. Jaywu Jayhu, Jaywu.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well everybody knows who Jaywu is now and what's that
like for you as a guy that built this program
from scratch to know that you know there is light
at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It's just something that we always jumped out and BA
and I started this way back and the when, and
just super proud of it.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You know. It's but again, good kids.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Make good good coaches, and we're just gonna keep on
going and build as much as we can and still
be competitive every day.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Atmosphere of the Division three champions just last year in Providence,
it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You know, you ended with your guy with the chance
to win it out right, and you know you end
it with the time.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But you know, obviously you might be a little biased here,
but you know, I thought Providence did a great job
at hosting the event. What were your happy points outside
of you know that trophy.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, it was an awesome environment. I think a lot
of the teams loved the city. But it was expensive
and I don't think.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
People realize it cost the home team about fifteen thousand
dollars just to host it, and it was it was
really hard paying for the bills, but it still was
worth having the Midwest kids to get to experience the
East Coast, get to go to the ocean, get some
you know, experienced Federal Hill and maybe some seafood, and
give our kids a chance to wrestle in front of
(04:52):
their families.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
It is good, you know, coming out here.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You know last year TC and Jane Stevens have come
out here, and it seems to be like every you know,
every year there's a teeth about EA that comes to
the Midwest, whether it be you know, Tcjay's.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
At Concordy up in Wisconsin this weekend. You guys are here.
Other teams fount used to come in. It seems like
do you.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Guys talk about and share that information, Like, hey, what
was good for you out there?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I mean, how is that that knowledge shared out east?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I think it's just people are realizing the value of it.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Right. Gives our kids an experience to get out here,
do something fun with the kids, get on a trip,
get on the plane.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
We did, went to All Player a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Went to a Vikings game. It's just it's more than
just wrestling. We want to give kids a good experience.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
What's moving forward with.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Johnson Wales obviously where you know you've you've got a
team that's you've got some studs, but you've also got
to rebuild a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So what's this this season's goals?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, the goal is again to be competitive in March
every year.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
The goal is to win the region every year, to
win our conference duels every year, to try to win.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
A national trophy, national championship, that's.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Always the goal. Again, you got to stay healthy. Uh,
we got to get get the competition. I always tell
the kids. If we get continue to schedule like we do,
our regional championship ends up being the one of the
easiest weekends of the year. When you do weekends like this,
you do weekends like the National Duels, and then you
circle back with the exception of three or four teams
(06:13):
in the region, it really is a pretty easy weekend
for us when.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You look at what's coming up in terms of scheduling.
This is the last night.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Was the first time you wrestled in Augsburg that wasn't
at the National Duels.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Do you think a return trip could be in order where.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
They're going to come out easter, you guys gonna come back.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Out here again.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I mean, it's pretty cool that that happened on campus again.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I think it's really important that he gives the teams
out in the Midwest make a trip out to US
and give their kids a chance of going to the
Atlantic going and experience maybe a lobster roll and have
that experience, and we we share it. Like again, it's
an expensive trip for us and we raise a lot
of money.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I think it's important for them to give the.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Same experience of their kids. I know Vatos's you know,
valued that when he was at Whitewater. Then he went
to All Claire, and it's reciprocal. You come out, you
wrestle us on a Friday, you wrestle with the Roger
Willams invitation, all the Doug Parker and it's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We just keep going back and forth and it's great.
It's not just the East Coast teams value and coming
out here. It's about the Midwest.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Team saying, hey, this is a hell of a trip
for our kids. Let's get all make the trip out
there and make it good for kids. It's bigger than wrestling.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
You guys have done some great events with bringing in
you know, Pyro and all sorts of things with like
the rivalry with with Rhode Island College or on the
motor but last.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Night you could see it in your eyes. Some of
your kids were like, this is a different atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I mean, you know, how did it feel for you
guys and your kids last night?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And this place was pretty full.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
The fact that you got all the little kids dreaming
of being a college wrestler. It's all the stuff that
we all need to do to, you know, give back
to the sport and make sure we're growing the sport.
And it's it's not perfect, but you just got to
put effort into it. And Augsburg and Tony and Jim,
they do a hell of a job, you know, marketing
the sport and getting young kids excited about wrestling.
All right, Lonnie Morris, head coach at john Soon Wales,
making the trip out here to the not so frozen
Confines in Minnesota, you got you lucked out coming out here.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You got some decent weather.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
The weather it was much better than it's been in
the past, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So last night as we're wrestling here at the Augie
Open on a Saturday, you brought your squad out here
to take on Augsburg. Here at sime Melby Hall Well
went into the decision.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
To come out and wrestle the Augies.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
To be the best, you got to wrestle the best,
and it's the best wrestling in the countries in the Midwest,
and you got to come out here to wrestle them.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You look at the banners behind you, there's four banners
up there for national championships that were won by this
school before you even had a program at Johns Wills.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And then last year, you guys break through. You know,
you don't break the streak, but.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You kind of start one of your own with you know,
it's not just the birds, you guys are there in
your backyard. What's life been like for John Soon Wales
Wrestling since that title last year?
Speaker 4 (00:54):
I mean it's it's great, but it's the same o' samel.
The best CHAMPI ship is the next one. We're trying
to get better and every day, and we got a
new crop of kids, and we got a great team,
and we're just trying to compete and try to get
out there and wint another team trophy and tell the
kids all the time, no one's gonna remember last year
(01:15):
if we went this year.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
When we look at last night's duel me you know,
before the match, you thought you had a path to victory,
even though the numbers said otherwise. You know, matches our
wrestle on paper, and you're a guy, you like to
mix it up. You were bumping things around.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So what went into this match strategy last night?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I just think they got such a talented team and
we had to find their weaknesses.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And at the end of the day, I knew kids.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Could fight their butts off and stay off their back
against some of their best kids, and we moved one
of our bigger pieces off and it gave us a
chance to the end. And in the end it was
a questionable answer. The face at the end, it was frustrating.
I like to see, hey, a warning there that's what
the emphasis on the rules committee was.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
But at the end of the day, we lost two
to one.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Right at the end, I told the kids, we're super
proud as effort give us a chance to win. At
the end, it didn't work out, but it was fun
to be competitive.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So when we look at that, last night was about
last night. Today is about getting better for March. So
the opportunity you don't just come out here for one off.
You've got the open, you got twenty guys, you brought
on the trip, you know the logistics and all that
that goes into it. What's it like to come out
here and do the dual Friday in a tournament Saturday.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
It just gives those other kids that maybe didn't get
the opportunity on Friday night to get show that Hey,
let's show me you're the guy. Right, We're trying to
still figure out our lineup, and it's really about them
being able to show that they are one of the
best guys too, not a big wrestle off guy unless
we have to. Everyone goes to a tournament, whoever does
the best. We use the tournament to evaluate who.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
The guy is.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
When you started your program nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You know, we're talking twenty nine years doing twenty eight
to win a national title, and.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You've got to go through both Augsburg and Wartburg to
do that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
The rest of you out here in the Midwest, of course,
their rivalry is legendary.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You are one of two home duel meets this year
for Augsburg.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
They also wrestle Wartburg, so they wrestled the national champs
in both SAIDs.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So that's also unique for them. But what what uniqueness
do you have to your schedule this year?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Well, last week we wrestled the three nationally ranked teams
and Stevens, Coast Guard and West Liberty.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
So we pride ourselves and wrestling.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
The tough schedule gets the kids ready and we'll wrestle
anybody we want to compete.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
You know, that's the best part about.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Wrestling, is wrestling the best guys to see where we're at.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
It's a measuring stick.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
It's a tribute to BALLACKI I think getting Balloch and
Keller in the same way they don't run from anybody.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know, it was it was kind of a calling
card for you guys. Jaywu Jayhu, Jaywu.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well everybody knows who Jaywu is now and what's that
like for you as a guy that built this program
from scratch to know that you know there is light
at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It's just something that we always jumped out and BA
and I started this way back and the when, and
just super proud of it.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You know. It's but again, good kids.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Make good good coaches, and we're just gonna keep on
going and build as much as we can and still
be competitive every day.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Atmosphere of the Division three champions just last year in Providence,
it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You know, you ended with your guy with the chance
to win it out right, and you know you end
it with the time.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But you know, obviously you might be a little biased here,
but you know, I thought Providence did a great job
at hosting the event. What were your happy points outside
of you know that trophy.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, it was an awesome environment. I think a lot
of the teams loved the city. But it was expensive
and I don't think.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
People realize it cost the home team about fifteen thousand
dollars just to host it, and it was it was
really hard paying for the bills, but it still was
worth having the Midwest kids to get to experience the
East Coast, get to go to the ocean, get some
you know, experienced Federal Hill and maybe some seafood, and
give our kids a chance to wrestle in front of
(04:52):
their families.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
It is good, you know, coming out here.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You know last year TC and Jane Stevens have come
out here, and it seems to be like every you know,
every year there's a teeth about EA that comes to
the Midwest, whether it be you know, Tcjay's.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
At Concordy up in Wisconsin this weekend. You guys are here.
Other teams fount used to come in. It seems like
do you.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Guys talk about and share that information, Like, hey, what
was good for you out there?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I mean, how is that that knowledge shared out east?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I think it's just people are realizing the value of it.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Right. Gives our kids an experience to get out here,
do something fun with the kids, get on a trip,
get on the plane.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
We did, went to All Player a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Went to a Vikings game. It's just it's more than
just wrestling. We want to give kids a good experience.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
What's moving forward with.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Johnson Wales obviously where you know you've you've got a
team that's you've got some studs, but you've also got
to rebuild a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
So what's this this season's goals?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, the goal is again to be competitive in March
every year.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
The goal is to win the region every year, to
win our conference duels every year, to try to win.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
A national trophy, national championship, that's.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Always the goal. Again, you got to stay healthy. Uh,
we got to get get the competition. I always tell
the kids. If we get continue to schedule like we do,
our regional championship ends up being the one of the
easiest weekends of the year. When you do weekends like this,
you do weekends like the National Duels, and then you
circle back with the exception of three or four teams
(06:13):
in the region, it really is a pretty easy weekend
for us when.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You look at what's coming up in terms of scheduling.
This is the last night.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Was the first time you wrestled in Augsburg that wasn't
at the National Duels.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Do you think a return trip could be in order where.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
They're going to come out easter, you guys gonna come back.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Out here again.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I mean, it's pretty cool that that happened on campus again.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I think it's really important that he gives the teams
out in the Midwest make a trip out to US
and give their kids a chance of going to the
Atlantic going and experience maybe a lobster roll and have
that experience, and we we share it. Like again, it's
an expensive trip for us and we raise a lot
of money.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I think it's important for them to give the.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Same experience of their kids. I know Vatos's you know,
valued that when he was at Whitewater. Then he went
to All Claire, and it's reciprocal. You come out, you
wrestle us on a Friday, you wrestle with the Roger
Willams invitation, all the Doug Parker and it's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We just keep going back and forth and it's great.
It's not just the East Coast teams value and coming
out here. It's about the Midwest.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Team saying, hey, this is a hell of a trip
for our kids. Let's get all make the trip out
there and make it good for kids. It's bigger than wrestling.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
You guys have done some great events with bringing in
you know, Pyro and all sorts of things with like
the rivalry with with Rhode Island College or on the
motor but last.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Night you could see it in your eyes. Some of
your kids were like, this is a different atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I mean, you know, how did it feel for you
guys and your kids last night?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And this place was pretty full.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It was awesome.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
The fact that you got all the little kids dreaming
of being a college wrestler. It's all the stuff that
we all need to do to, you know, give back
to the sport and make sure we're growing the sport.
And it's it's not perfect, but you just got to
put effort into it. And Augsburg and Tony and Jim,
they do a hell of a job, you know, marketing
the sport and getting young kids excited about wrestling.
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