Hoosier Energy recently announced the 2023 recipients of the second annual W. Eugene Roberts and Daniel L. Schuckman Memorial Scholarships.
Ryan Wilson and Morgan Sutton, both of Osgood, Indiana, were named the winners of the $5,000 scholarships, given in memory of two longtime Hoosier Energy directors and board officers.
Wilson and Sutton are cousins who grew up across the pasture from each other with a close, almost brother-like relationship. They didn’t expect to choose a career together, though.
Sutton was a year ahead of Wilson in school and graduated from Jac-Cen-Del Junior-Senior High School in 2021. After graduation, he started with Long Electric in Indianapolis, working on the Franciscan Health Orthopedic Center in Carmel and another hospital in Mooresville.
However, interior wiring wasn’t where Sutton saw his future.
He’d already looked into becoming a lineman, and when Wilson invited him to visit the North American Lineman Training Center (NALTC) in McEwen, Tennessee, it was a no-brainer.
“We really liked what they had to say, what they had to offer and how they shot us straight,” Sutton said. “We both applied and got in at the same time, and we’re pretty pleased with where we came out.”
Wilson’s course changed midway through his senior year at Jac-Cen-Del, where he graduated in 2022.
“I was always focused on construction management, moving up the ladder as a carpenter like my dad,” he said. “A guy my dad worked with, his son was a lineman and loved it, so he suggested it would be a good career if I didn’t go into carpentry.”
The idea of traveling to help with storms, as well as the work itself, grabbed Wilson’s attention.
“Working with tools and on poles, I was fascinated,” Wilson said. “I didn’t have any idea what (being a lineman) was — it was brand new to me, but it interested me.”
Starting lineman school together helped calm both of their nerves, and by the time Sutton and Wilson were done in December 2022, both had secured jobs.
Sutton is back home working as a groundsman for Southeastern Indiana REMC, while Wilson has a contract job with MasTech running fiber lines
in Virginia.
“For me and my cousin to be the ones receiving the scholarships, that’s quite a big deal,” Sutton said.
