Roger Kish of the University of Minnesota owns the national high school record for career victories with 252. But the 184-pound sophomore couldn't care less. In fact, if you ask him whether or not anyone since then has come close to challenging that record, he says, "You know, I couldn't tell you. I don't know. The record just kind of happened. When I was in high school, I didn't even think about it until someone said, hey, you're only two wins away from tying the record or something. But it was cool."
It's classic Roger Kish.
As a freshman last season, Roger Kish posted a 28-11 record and qualified for the NCAA Championships.He doesn't have a clue how many national titles he won growing up. Four? Five? Six? He doesn't know or care. When he arrived on the Minnesota campus in the fall of 2003 as the No. 1 high school wrestler in the entire country, his goal wasn't to be the next four-time NCAA champion or break Cael Sanderson's consecutive victories streak. Not even close.
"I just wanted to come here and wrestle, kind of see what it was all about," said Kish. "I guess my biggest goal was to break into the starting lineup after my redshirt season."
That's exactly what he did.
Last season as a redshirt freshman, Kish posted a 28-11 record, which included tournament titles at the Bison Open, Kaufman-Brand Open, and the Southern Scuffle, where he defeated eventual NCAA runner-up Tyler Baier of Cornell in the finals, 7-4. He missed five weeks of the season, though, in January and February, because of a skin infection. Kish went on to place sixth at the Big Ten Championships. At the NCAA Championships, he won three matches, but lost in the round of 12 and missed out on becoming an All-American.
"I was really disappointed with the way my season ended up," said Kish, who began the season with 11 straight victories. "With being out so long, and not being able to get on the mat or work out, I went from beating the (NCAA) runner-up the week before I got my skin infection to not even placing. It gave me a lot of motivation going into this season."
Minnesota head assistant coach Marty Morgan, who also serves as the recruiting coordinator, first spotted Kish at the Michigan State High School Championships in 2000, when he won a state title for LaPeer West High School as a freshman at 160 pounds. Morgan was there to watch Nick and Andy Simmons, but came away impressed with what he saw from Kish. From that point on, Morgan kept a close eye on Kish and followed his progress throughout his high school career.
Marty Morgan is in his 11th season as the top assistant at Minnesota (photo courtesy of TheGuillotine.com)."When he came here on his (recruiting) visit, we had some exceptional upper-weight training partners for him at the time," said Morgan, who is in his 11th season as the top assistant at Minnesota. "Brandon Eggum, Tim Hartung, and Damion Hahn were all here training, along with me, and some other guys on the team. Plus, I think he realized the style we wrestle is kind of his style. We wrestle an aggressive, conditioning-type style, and that's what he likes."
Kish, who also considered Iowa, Iowa State, and Michigan, became the prized recruit in Minnesota's 17-member 2003 recruiting class, which was ranked as the nation's best by virtually every major wrestling publication and Web site. The class also included current Minnesota starters Mack Reiter (133), Manuel Rivera (141), C.P. Schlatter (157), Gabe Dretsch (174), and Mitch Kuhlman (197).
Kish redshirted his first season at Minnesota and posted a 9-4 record while wrestling unattached at 184 pounds. He worked out daily with the likes of Eggum, Hartung, Hahn, Morgan, Jacob Volkmann, and Luke Becker.
"It was a rare occasion when I worked out with another freshman," said Kish.
But coming from a small high school in Michigan to a major Division I university was a bit of an adjustment for Kish.
"I've had classes here at Minnesota that were as large as my whole high school," said Kish. "I was kind of lost in the crowd. I just wasn't used to that many people."
Kish was honored that season as a Scholar-Athlete for his efforts on the mat and in the classroom.
On Sunday, Roger Kish defeated two-time All-American Paul Bradley of Iowa, 4-1 (photo courtesy of TheGuillotine.com)."I really enjoyed it," said Kish. "I never had the experience of flying that far away, being that far way from home while competing. It was fun. You got to see a lot of new styles of wrestling, a lot of new guys, good competition, and different attitudes about the sport."
Kish is having a tremendous sophomore season for Minnesota. He currently owns a 24-3 record and is ranked No. 9 in the country at 184 pounds by RevWrestling.com.
"I feel really good right now," said Kish. "I'm working on a couple things. A couple things I'm staring to figure out. It's all kind of coming together for me."
Morgan is pleased with the adjustments he's made.
"I think he's finally starting to figure out the style he wants to wrestle," said Morgan, who was an NCAA champion for Minnesota in 1991. "He's learning that he has some scoring positions that he didn't have last season. Probably more than anything else, he's found ways to score on people without using his old reliables."
Kish played a major role in helping the Gophers claim the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals title in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He finished the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record, which included avenging an early season loss to Iowa State All-American Kurt Backes, and picking up a key win in the championship match against Oklahoma State's Rusty Blackmon.
Kish says that he won't be satisfied with anything less than a national title this season for both himself and the Gophers. Regardless, the future appears to be extremely bright in Minnesota, with eight of their 10 starters being freshmen or sophomores.
Is it conceivable that Minnesota could win the next three national titles and eclipse the back-to-back titles won in 2001 and 2002?
"I would like to think so," said Kish, who is majoring in business and marketing education. "That's one of our goals. It's something we've thought about since we were seniors in high school."
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