Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Athletics hosted a special guest, three-time Olympian Kenny Monday, to share his story and knowledge of the sport with the high school wrestling coaches.
Kenny Monday, who took gold at the 1988 Olympics and was the first Black gold medalist in the sport of wrestling. Monday also won silver in the 1992 Olympics and placed sixth in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He went to Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he never lost a match and won four state championships. As the top high school wrestler in the country, he went on to Oklahoma State University, where he became an All-American and won the 1984 NCAA title at 150 pounds. His collegiate record of 121–12–2 contributed to Oklahoma State winning two Big Eight titles. He won the 1989 World Championship and a series of USA Freestyle championships in 1985, 1988, 1991, and 1996.
The former Olympian is now the head wrestling coach at Morgan State University and came to Atlanta to share his experience and advice with the APS coaches.
“Wrestling is a vehicle to give kids an opportunity to have a purpose, have goals, be a part of something, a team,” Monday said. “I talked to the coaches about how to inspire the kids to keep wrestling or get into the sport of wrestling. Wrestling has given me the opportunity to compete, get educated, travel the world, and come back to share my vision and story with other up-and-coming wrestlers.”
APS has wrestling teams at Carver, Booker T. Washington, North Atlanta, Midtown, Jackson, Douglass, South Atlanta, and Mays. The coaches picked Monday’s brain about motivating their student athletes, encouraging them to stick with wrestling, tips for training beginners in the sport, and how to build their programs.
“The things that he’s achieved, he achieved because he believed in himself at a young age,” APS executive director of Athletics Greg Goodwin said. “He let our coaches know that we can tell our student athletes now that they can do the same thing and they can follow his road as well.”
The high school wrestling season has gotten underway, and APS is trying to build a foundation for the sport. Currently, wrestling is only at the high school level in APS. Goodwin said they are taking it school by school to see the level of interest in the sport and its potential for growth. “There are opportunities in athletics, and we think this is another avenue to get our kids opportunities,” he said. “If they don’t make it to the Olympics, they can make it to college or they can be better than they were before they came into our programs. We want to be champions in whatever direction our students take.”