(Oklahoma City, OK) Morningside College’s wrestling team received the NAIA Buffalo Funds Five Star Champions of Character Award for the 2009-10 season.

The Morningside wrestling team also received the award in 2005-06 and 2007-08. The NAIA Buffalo Funds Five Star Champions of Character Award is presented annually for each of the NAIA’s 23 championship sports. The awards are presented to institutions and athletic programs that strive for excellence in and out of competition and are part of communities throughout the country dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.

The NAIA Champions of Character program is designed to instill an understanding of character values in sport, and provide student-athletes, coaches and parents the training to help them know and do the right things, inside and outside the sports setting. The program is dedicated to the principle that character is a choice and that being a champion is about reaching potential and making good decisions consistently in daily life.

The mission of Champions of Character is to restore character values and raise a generation of students who understand and demonstrate in everyday decisions respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.