Liberty junior Rowdy Angst has been a part of a winning culture for the last two years.
He’s been a part of a Blue Jay wrestling program that has won seven consecutive state titles in Missouri, and he was a big part of that most recent one as he finished as a runner up in the Class 4, 113-pound weight class at the Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships.
Angst has emerged as one of the top wrestlers in the lower weight classes in the state, and is not starting to prove himself on the national level.
He competed in both the junior freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions of the U.S. Marines Corps Junior Nationals Tournament in mid-July at the FARGODOME in Fargo, N.D., and accomplished one of the best feats of his wrestling career.
He finished in eighth place in the 113-pound Greco bracket, earning his first All-American honor at the tournament. He was one win away from earning that honor in the freestyle tournament, as well, but fell in the blood round.
That’s what I’ve been working for for the past couple summers,” Angst said of earning an All-American honor, “and so it just feels great to finally be able to stand on the podium and just take it all in.
“I was very confident in myself. I always try to believe in myself no matter what even if it’s stacked against me. I knew that I wanted to be an All-American, and that was my ultimate goal was to win the national championship and obviously that didn’t happen, but even after a couple tough losses, I still pushed forward and didn’t dwell on them.”
The junior got off to a hot start, earning tech fall wins of 8-0 and 14-2. In the third round, he lost to Florida’s Koa DeLoach 9-0, moving him to the consolation bracket. After he pinned South Carolina’s Carter Lirgg in the next match, he set up his blood round bout with Kansas’ Tanner Rhoton.
It was a close one throughout, but he was able to hang on for a 8-5 victory after building a 6-0 cushion in the first period.
“It was coming down to the last couple of seconds and I was like, ‘Oh crap. I am actually going to win this,’” Angst said. “At the end, it felt crazy. I celebrated with my coaches. It was awesome.
“I scored a lot of points. Towards the end, I kept trying to score, but Tanner is a opponent. He’s pretty big. I think he wrestled at 126 some over the summer, so he cut down to 113. I knew he was going to be big, but I knew that I could beat him. I had already beat him once in freestyle. So I just did what I always do, and I came out on top.”
Angst lost by tech fall in his final two matches, but that didn’t take away from the performance he had. He said he hadn’t wrestled the Greco style much before the tournament, but Liberty head coach Dustin Brewer, who Angst said is the only reason he is wrestling in Greco tournaments, helped prepare him for it.
And while Angst said he prefers freestyle wrestling more, Greco fits his skillset well as his technique was sharp at Fargo Nationals.
“I had a lot of success with my two on ones and (arm) drags, especially in Greco,” Angst said, I’m not much into the throws and stuff, especially in Greco. So I just use my upper body strength and move them and wrestle smart.
“I think I’m very strong, and I can move these dudes around, so just using that to my advantage helps a lot. I don’t practice Greco that much, but I know that I can be one of the best because of how I wrestle.”
Angst said he may compete in the big Super 32 Challenge Tournament in Oct. at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C., but hopes to compete in two more freestyle tournaments before the start of the high school folkstyle season.
He’s a wrestler on the rise and hopes to add more accolades to his growing list of accomplishments.
“(Winning a state championship) has been one of my all-time goals,” Angst said, “so I think coming into this season, I should, as long as I work hard and I wrestle to my own ability like I have been. I should be on top of that podium. That’s what I want the most.”