Morgan Smith, a fourth-year wrestler and one of the captains of the men’s wrestling team, has improved every year he’s wrestled. It’s been a long road for him to arrive where he is now. Just last season, he became only the fourth Clan athlete to break 40 wins in the NCAA era.

“I started wrestling in seventh grade, but didn’t really commit to it until the eighth grade. My dad wrestled and I loved WWE, so I tried it out,” Smith said, regarding his start in the sport in his hometown of Lynnwood, Washington.

Despite the difference between WWE wrestling and the amateur wrestling practiced in schools, Smith stuck with the sport. He gradually improved, eventually getting good enough that he was able to win a state championship in his last year of high school. It was also during that year that he started realizing he might be able to wrestle at a post-secondary institution.

“I never even thought about trying to wrestle in college before [my senior year of high school]. I didn’t think that far ahead until my coaches and my dad started putting it in my head. Back then, it seemed more like an opportunity to receive an education than anything else.”

Once the idea was in his head, Smith knew he had to at least try to make it into a college program. His work ethic and talent attracted attention from several different schools. Ultimately, SFU was the school that stuck out to him.

“I decided I wanted to go to SFU because of the coaches, Justin Abdou and Mike Jones,” Smith said. “Also, it was only three hours away from my home in Lynnwood, and it’s well-known academically.”

Smith knew the transition between high school and wrestling at SFU would be tough, and tried to adjust accordingly. “I had to get a lot stronger and faster. To prepare, I spent a lot of time on the track and on the field,” he said of his preparation for his first year of collegiate wrestling.

“Looking back, I should have focused more on technique and mat time, because the strength came over time, whereas learning technique is a lifelong process for me.”

Despite the amount of training done to prepare, student athletes still usually find themselves overwhelmed in their first season. For Smith, it was no different.

“My first year was brutal, but I think that’s because I was so upset that I wasn’t as successful as I wanted to be,” he said. “If I could go back, I’d tell myself it’s a long road ahead, and that I should just take it one day at a time.”

The lessons learned in his first year have stuck with him every year since, as Smith has improved his record each year at SFU. After failing to secure a spot at the NCAA national tournament last year, Smith rebounded with his strongest season to date after moving up to the 197lb weight class. Just recently, he placed fourth at the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions, which is populated by many of the top wrestling teams in Division I. Before that, he won three consecutive tournaments and had dominated most of his opponents.

“If I could go back, I’d tell myself it’s a long road ahead, and that I should just take it one day at a time.”

When asked how he’s been able to make such major leaps in his wrestling, Smith responded, “I seriously take things one day and one match at a time. Of course, I plan ahead to give myself structure, but in practice and especially in competition, I just focus on the task at hand. I don’t even look ahead in the brackets anymore or at online rankings. Focusing on the objective at hand really helps me, that’s how my brain works best.”

One of the toughest, and often most overlooked, aspects of a student-athlete’s life is the balancing act they must perform to manage their athletics along with their academics. This is doubly true for sports such as wrestling, which requires athletes to maintain a specific weight class to compete.

Smith, a model student who often helps younger members of the team, said, “the balancing act is difficult, but it’s a challenge I really enjoy. I love wrestling and I love learning, but school is the hardest thing for me. I study daily, at least two or three hours. That’s a rule that has helped me a lot. When I say I study, I mean no email, no social media, no texting, [and] no distractions.”

Even better than improving himself each year, Smith has also been a part of an ever-improving SFU wrestling team as a whole.

“The team has improved, but it’s an ongoing process. It’s been a strong showing for our guys so far, we just have to stay mentally and physically strong in this second half of the season. It’s a tough sport, and the season is full of ups and downs. As a captain, I show up focused and ready to wrestle, learn, and work my butt off everyday. I owe it to myself, and to my teammates, to maximize my time every time I step into practice or into competition.”

In practice, Smith leads by example on and off the mat. He is a political science major, and hopes to continue to wrestle even after he graduates from SFU.

“I will continue to wrestle after university, wherever I have the best opportunity to improve myself and sustain my living.”

Keep an eye out for the rest of the season to see how Smith and the rest of the men’s wrestling team does as they prepare for the second half of the season. Don’t be surprised if you see their names pop up in the paper. The team has grown so much that success is now expected for them, and they are confident that they will find it moving forward.

Fun Fact: Favourite Food?

“I believe there’s no such thing as too many bananas! They’re my super food. I eat about six per day when I’m at a wrestling tournament.”

The Peak may have been on a break, but SFU athletics certainly were not. Here’s what happened in the month and a bit since we’ve last published.

Men’s Basketball

It’s been a tough stretch for the men’s basketball team. The team has gone 0–4 over the break, losing its first two games against fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) members, Seattle Pacific and Saint Martins, before dropping both games in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic against Tarleton State and Angelo State. They now have an overall record of 2–8, with both wins coming against the same team, Lindenwood University, back-to-back in November.

Perhaps the silver lining is that they are only 0–2 against conference opponents this season, the main record looked at when determining who makes the playoffs at the end of the season. With SFU playing only fellow GNAC members the rest of the season, it makes for a good opportunity to improve on this record, and SFU just maybe be in contention for a playoff spot down the stretch – something that was not the case last year.

To do that, they will have to hope that Kedar Wright stays healthy throughout and that Michael Provenzano remains consistent. Also, avoiding the Clan’s traditional January slump is key, as SFU lost all eight games in January in the 2015–16 season and went 2–8 in the 2014–15 season.

Volleyball

It was undoubtedly a tough way for the season to end. After making the playoffs for the first time in program history, SFU lost in the opening round against the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders 3–1. Emma Jennings and Tessa May both led SFU with 14 kills on the night, while Alison McKay had 24 digs to lead the Clan.

“Obviously, I’m proud of our team and what they’ve accomplished this year,” head coach Gina Schmidt told SFU Athletics afterwards. “It’s a lot of firsts for our program and I thought they represented SFU well tonight — we fought hard. NNU played a great game, and when it came down to it, they executed a few things just a little bit better than us.”

On December 11, SFU volleyball announced its 2017 recruiting class, with Farnaaz Johal, Mia Ricci, Bianca Te, and Julia Tays all committing to the Clan for next season. With the departure of seniors Alison McKay, Devon May, Emma Jennings and Tamara Nipp — all of whom were part of the starting lineup against Northwest Nazarene — these four players, along with returning ones, will be expected to pick up where this historic team left off.

Women’s Basketball

It’s a different story for the women’s basketball team than for their male counterparts. The Clan went 2–1 over the break, with the lone loss coming against powerhouse Alaska Anchorage, who knocked them out of the playoffs last year. After that, they narrowly defeated Alaska Fairbanks and then Nova Southeastern. SFU now has a 10–2 overall record, good enough for the third-best overall record in the conference.

However, playoff spots are given to the best conference records, and the Clan are 1–1 in that regard. Like the men’s team, all of their remaining games are against conference opponents, meaning that now are the games that truly matter.

How this team fares going forward is an interesting question. They’re very likely going to make the playoffs once again, but what spot they will be in come playoff time is anybody’s guess. Right now, SFU sits sixth in the conference in scoring offence and fifth in scoring defence — right in the middle for both categories. While having Elisa Homer back will certainly help, this year’s team identity is yet to be determined.

Swimming

SFU swimming had an impressive showing at the Husky Invitational on December 4, as the men finished first and women finished third. Individual wins from star swimmers Mackenzie Hamill and Adrian Vanderhelm helped propel the men to a first place finish. On the women’s side, Jessica Gibson set a SFU record with a time of 1:59.92 in the 200 yard backstroke, en route to a first place individual finish. Both Vanderhelm and Gibson were named MVPs of the tournament.

Men’s Hockey

The Clan continued to roll over the break with back-to-back wins against the University of Victoria on December 2 and 3. SFU came out on top 4–3 on the second and 9–3 on the third.

The games were marked by SFU’s goal scorers coming up and producing. Tyler Basham had three goals and two assists over the two games, including the game winner on December 2 with just over a minute left. Daniell Lange had three goals over two games as well, and Mitch Crisanti had a five-point night on December 3. SFU is first in the standings heading into the restart of the season, which begins the weekend of January 13.