By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It’d be all too easy to assume that Tod Sundlie was moping around this summer, especially after seeing six state qualifiers walk across the graduation stage.
However, the coach of the Ozark High School wrestling team looked at this way: A season that featured a ton of positives — a district championship, runner-up finish in the Central Ozark Conference and four individual state medalists – showed this year’s group what could be.
“It required everyone in our room to buy in, to work, and to push their teammates to create a mentality that everyone needs to take ownership of the team’s success,” Sundlie said. “This year we are much younger and inexperienced, but hopefully that experience and approach will help them grow much quicker this season. We have a lot of work to do.”
Ozark has long had one of the more competitive programs in the Springfield area, and the Tigers likely will enter this year with 30 wrestlers in the room, including six returning starters.
Two earned state medals, and two others who competed at the state tournament.
Projected roster
The projected roster looks like this:
In the lighter weights – 106, 113, 120 and 126 pounds – it’ll be a combination of freshmen and sophomores. That includes returning sophomores Eian McCracken, Jovanni Balsamo and Daniel Laney. Add in four freshmen — Damien Moseley, Caden Harrington, Dayton Moison and Keaton Hurst – and Ozark has some nice depth.
At 132 and 138, look for senior Nolan Moeller, juniors Mason Highley and Levi Maskrod, and sophomore Karson Johnson. At 145, 152 and 160, it’ll be juniors Braxton Strick, Brock Sundlie and Lucas Campbell along with Kody Shephard and Eric Sehpard. That’s a pretty strong core, but more on them in a minute.
The 170- and 182-pound weight classes could be sophomore Johnny Williams and junior Jason Burge, followed by juniors Payton Greer, Sean Collins, Caleb Hays and senior Luke Hulse competing at 195, 220 and 285.
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Strick and Sundlie are the two returning state medalists. Strick was 44-1 as a sophomore and was the state runner-up in Class 4 at 138 pounds.
“Braxton loves to compete, and looks to constantly improve,” Coach Sundlie said. “He seeks out competition in the offseason, as well as in season. He also finished as an All-American in Greco at Fargo this past summer. He should be fun to watch this year.”
Brock Sundlie placed sixth in the 145-pound weight class last year and, “turned a corner” as a sophomore, the coach said.
“Brock really responded to some team goals we had last year, and really matured during the second half of the season,” Coach Sundlie said. “Brock has had a very good offseason, and understands what he needs to address to continue his improvement. His expectations are very high for this upcoming season.”
Hulse and Greer could be fun to watch, too, as they surged at the end of last season before putting in the work this past summer.
“These guys will provide great leadership for our upper weights and look to continue their growth and improvement,” Coach Sundlie said. “They are extremely hard workers.”
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Sleepers?
Because of last year’s roster, several of the junior varsity guys gained valuable experience as practice partners. Among them were Lucas Campbell, a state qualifier in 2020, along with Levi Maskrod, Nolan Moeller and Johnny Williams.
Goals
Everybody will be challenged, as Ozark’s schedule includes the highly respected KC Stampede and Winnetonka tournaments, plus will compete against several top teams that finished among the top four in various classifications.
“Our goals will essentially be to really continue to grow and mature throughout the season,” Coach Sundlie said. “We need to build on our strengths, but really need to address our deficiencies honestly and directly to reach the level we desire. We are looking forward to working through this process.”
Ozark has not yet had much interest from girls wanting to wrestle the past two seasons, but Coach Sundlie said a few have expressed interest this year.
