The year is 1984.

The setting is Mt. Vernon Iowa and a young Alex Morf is wrestling Donald Duck. Donald doesn't have much of a chance against the bathrobe-clad youngster. Naturally, the stuffed animal eventually is pinned and Alex is the one whose hand is raised at the end of the match.

Since early in his life, wrestling has had a significant place in the life of this sophomore theater and english major. This past weekend Morf made an appearance at the NCAA National Wrestling Championships in Waterloo, Iowa. He took second place in the MIAC championships two weeks ago and qualified as a wildcard for Nationals.

Morf said he was pretty happy with his performance in Waterloo, "All-American would've been good, but I wrestled the best I could, and that's all you can really ask of yourselfŠmaybe next year I'll take the next step and do a little better, but I'm happy. It was a fun and a good experience."

While he did not make All-American at Nationals, he did finish up the season as Academic All-American.

Morfıs wrestling doesnıt end at the NCAA level. This past summer he was offered cash to make a cameo in a professional wrestling match.

Needless to say, he turned the offer down. Maybe after graduation you can search UPN and get a glimpse of Alex Morf in action, but for now the best bet is to hold off until Olaf's next wrestling season.

Alex also is active with his theater major and draws parallels between wrestling and his time on the stage, "You canıt do either without a lot of passion for the subject. [They are about] individuality and proving how far you can push yourself. I know, they aren't exactly the same, but you need to work to improve your craft and each needs lots of love and passion."

Acting is what he wants to do, and he made that decision this year with support from faculty. "That's what I like to do, more than anything else," said Morf. For Alex, it isnıt all about personal goals, he also sees the entity of theater as a service to the community and society because of the important things it expresses.

He was most recently seen as Malvolio in William Shakespeareıs Twelfth Night on campus, receiving rave reviews. Morf can be seen this weekend in Paula Vogelıs How I Learned to Drive directed by senior Sarah Rasmussen.

Another element of his St. Olaf theater career was the play, People Like You, which he wrote last year. Writing it gave him a new perspective of what education is and a new passion. It signified "finding happiness at St. Olaf and learning there is lots more to an education than books and Great Con." The play won a contest and was produced by the Five Guys theater group on campus last spring.

Now don't let all this serious stuff throw you off, Alex Morf has quirks like the rest of us. His favorite color when he was growing up was lavender, but he was teased out of that and has since changed it to blue. And I am sad to report he is not a fan of Pop music in the least, (Dido being the only exception‹he favors the tunes of Patty Page).

Faith and spirituality also are factors in the activities he takes part in and the life style he chooses. He likens faith to wrestling in that, "You go in every day, no matter how you feel, you could be sick or hurting and just want to take a nap. You still have to go in, push as hard as you can and do your best."

Rasmussen, his current director in the play said, "What can't Alex Morf do?"

During my interview with him I started to ask myself that very same question. Why does he do it all and keep so busy?

In response he gave the only answer I could have expected. He can't imagine giving up either. "Wrestling has been lifelong and acting is the place I want to push my future towards. I love both too much to even think about giving one up, I've lots invested in each one."

Alex Morf is indeed on his way, and if the past has suggested anything, his future looks to be something to keep your eye on.