Moorhouse picks wrestling power

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Marengo’s Joey Moorhouse had several enticing offers from NCAA Division II schools at which he could continue his wrestling career.

But when Nebraska-Omaha entered the picture, everything became much clearer for Moorhouse.

The Mavericks have won back-to-back D-II national championships and have collected five titles since 2004.

“Everyone there is there to win a national championship,” Moorhouse said. “The program’s phenomenal. There’s great support for the team, and the coach (Mike Denny) has been there for something like 30 years. The wrestling team gets taken care of.”

Moorhouse hardly could wait to become a part of it. He visited UNO last month and signed his NCAA letter of intent with the Mavericks on Wednesday. UNO is getting a big-time winner in Moorhouse, who took second and third in the past two IHSA Class 2A Wrestling State Tournaments.

Moorhouse was 120-16 in his four-year varsity career for the Indians. The Mavericks learned about Moorhouse in an interesting way.

“One of their wrestlers there is Mario Morgan, from Mount Carmel, and his dad, Andre Morgan, is a commentator [on illinoismatmen.com],” Moorhouse said. “The coach asked him about any tough kids from Illinois.”

Moorhouse said he will receive a combination of athletic and academic scholarships that will cover most of his costs. He will redshirt his freshman season and might have his athletic scholarship increased at that point. Moorhouse has mixed emotions about leaving to start his college career after being part of a wrestling revival with Marengo’s program.

“I’m excited, but I’m sad to leave Marengo when the program’s on such an upswing,” Moorhouse said. “Ever since I’ve been in third or fourth grade, I’ve always wanted to wrestle in college.”

Nee to Southern Utah: Former Crystal Lake South kicker Bryan Nee plans to walk on for the football team at Southern Utah University this fall. Southern Utah plays at the Football Championship Subdivision level (formerly Division I-AA). Nee spent two years at Harper College but was redshirted one of those seasons, so he has three remaining years of eligibility.

Nee will try out for the Thunderbirds, who have two kickers on their roster, but neither of whom can handle punting duties. Nee can do both.

Nee almost gave up on the idea of furthering his career after he didn’t see action at Harper, but then he found Southern Utah.

“I was looking for a school in Arizona that needed a kicker, and while I was out there I checked out Southern Utah, and it was pretty nice,” Nee said. “They’re not looking to bring in any other kickers, so if I make the team I can work toward a scholarship.”

While growing up, Nee worked closely with his father, Ed, as his kicking coach. Last summer, Nee attended some camps of kicking guru Chris Sailer, who travels around the country.

Family tradition: Crystal Lake South senior Kristina Aubert, who will run at D-I Arkansas State next year, qualified in the 3,200-meter run and with the Gators’ 4x800 relay team for next week’s IHSA Girls Class 3A State Track and Field Meet. It will be Aubert’s fourth trip, equaling her sister Jacqui’s total for track.

Both sisters also qualified for the state cross country meet three times. Brother Nic also qualified once in track with a 4x800 relay team. All three siblings ran or will run at D-I schools.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.