I want to be surrounded by people who are like minded and I really felt that at Eau Claire. It’s awesome that I’ll have an opportunity to not only do more wrestling and travel the country, but become a better wrestler and get a college degree.”

Kaiden Morris

ROCHELLE — Kaiden Morris felt at home when he visited the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire earlier this winter. After concluding his historic high school wrestling career at the IHSA State Championship in Champaign late last month, Morris announced on his social media last week that he will continue his academics and athletics at Wisconsin-Eau Claire next year.

“It was a really good family atmosphere and that’s what I was looking for,” said Morris, who plans to wrestle at 184 or 197 pounds. “I want to be surrounded by people who are like minded and I really felt that at Eau Claire. It’s awesome that I’ll have an opportunity to not only do more wrestling and travel the country, but become a better wrestler and get a college degree. I want to get in the practice room and get used to college hand fighting because it’s a big change.”

Morris will compete for head coach Tim Fader, a former standout wrestler at Rochelle Township High School who was a two-time IHSA state qualifier and one-time state finalist for the Hubs. A three-time IHSA state qualifier and two-time state medalist, Morris finished his career as the winningest wrestler in RTHS history, recording 172 victories over his four-year varsity run. 

“Coach Fader being a Rochelle guy is awesome,” Morris said. “I committed because I think he’s a great man and his program is awesome. He knows where I came up from and he knows the kind of person I am and the kind of people I came up with. He knows what he’s getting in me.”

Morris went 49-5 during his senior season, tying the school record for pins in a season (30) and setting a new school record for career pins (85). Morris and teammate Grant Gensler each won 49 matches this season, breaking the previous school record of 47 held by Eddie Villalobos and Alex Harvey. An All-Interstate 8 wrestler this season, Morris finished fifth at 215 pounds in Class 2A during the IHSA State Championship. Morris took second in the state during his junior year.

“Coach [Nelson] Baker, coach [Alphonso] Vruno, coach [Tyler] Baker and coach [Hank] Swalla all prepared me well,” Morris said. “I don’t think anyone else could prepare me better. They’ve made me the best wrestler and person I could be and they told me, from their experiences, what college will be like. They’re there for me all of the time and they still help me if I have questions.”

An IKWF state champion in middle school, Morris made an immediate impact on the RTHS wrestling program, finishing 40-8 and advancing to the sectional tournament at 220 pounds during his freshman season. After winning the IWCOA Fresh/Soph State Championship as a freshman, Morris broke through as a sophomore, becoming an IHSA state qualifier for the first time and ending the season with a 40-9 record. Morris went 43-4 during his junior season.

“I know what I have to do to win,” Morris said. “My drive is that I’ll go out there and work harder than the other guy for however long the match is. I really found that mentality this year and I never felt like I had that mentality until my senior year. I went into matches and I didn’t care about who the other person was. I wanted to beat the other person and do whatever it took.”

Morris won three IHSA regional championships and one IHSA sectional championship during his high school career. An experienced wrestler in multiple forms outside of folkstyle, Morris was the 2024 USA Wrestling Central Region champion and 2024 Illinois state champion at the Junior Boys Division in greco-roman wrestling. Morris said he intends to study physical education at Eau Claire in hopes of pursuing a coaching career and becoming a physical education teacher.

“They offered a dual-credit class here for education and I really liked shadowing the teacher at the middle school,” Morris said. “It was a lot of fun and I also want to stay close to wrestling.”

Morris helped the Hubs to a 21-7 dual record this season and a 24-7 dual record last season, when Rochelle defeated Yorkville Christian in the IHSA 2A Dual Sectional and advanced to the IHSA Dual State Championship. A multi-sport athlete at RTHS, Morris played four years of varsity football for the Hubs, earning All-Conference honors four times as an offensive and defensive lineman while leading the Hubs to four consecutive IHSA playoff appearances.