Morrison made history at Lowville

In a 1983 interview with the Times, Randy Morrison described his passion for wrestling.

He kept his words simple, his meaning clear.

"I just love the sport," he said. "I've been wrestling since I was in fourth grade."

Twenty-six years later, Morrison's still never too far away from the mats. He recently completed his 18th season as the varsity coach at Gouverneur, where he has produced five state champions and has served as Section 10 wrestling chairman in 2004.

The story of Morrison's success, however, starts in Lowville, where he wrestled under longtime coach Neal Aubel, a 2002 inductee of the Section 3 Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Morrison, competing at 250 pounds as a senior, became Lowville's first state champion when he pinned Larry Simons of Island Trees in 1984. The victory finished off a 30-1 season for Morrison.

The triumph also made up for any disappointment Morrison may have felt after competing in the 1983 state championship meet. That year, Morrison came up just short, dropping a 6-2 decision to Pittsford's John Brennan in the 250-pound final.

Morrison left Lowville with two Section 3 titles and a career record of 78-17-1. Over the course of his varsity career, he accounted for 540 team points for the Red Raiders.

Morrison, who also participated in football at Lowville, briefly attended Delhi Tech. He took the coaching position at Gouverneur in 1991, and the Wildcats have posted a 242-87-3 record under his tutelage.

John Minckler (2004), Josh Denesha (2005, '06) and David Perrigo (2006, '07) won state titles for Gouverneur with Morrison as their coach.

Morrison married his wife, Sue, in 1989. They have three children: Brock, 19, Dylan, 17, and Cassidy, 11.

Randy Morrison, 43, is employed as a process technician for Cargill Inc., an animal nutrition company.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com