photo by Stephanie Croston: Matt Mueller of Malcolm, left, tries to break the hold of Tyler Maxwell of Tekamah-Herman during the Class C 160-pound championship match. Mueller won 9-3.

by Robert Stewart

    A torn ACL last year kept Malcolm senior Matt Mueller watching from the floor during most of wrestling season. It was an experience he did not enjoy.
     "It wasn't very fun watching last year at state," he said. "It just drove me to get back to 100 percent and come back and win state this year."
     And he came back. And he won state, becoming the first Malcolm wrestler ever to bring home a state championship.
     Getting back to 100 percent, however, required five months of physical therapy.
     "Once that got over I started back working onto the mats and getting in mat shape and everything," Mueller said.
     Helping him to get back in fighting trim for the season was staying active on the mat throughout the summer. He competed in a summer league in York, wrestled with a club in Lincoln, attended a camp at Dana College in Blair and wrestled at a national tournament in Omaha.
     Coming into his senior year he worked with a new head coach at Malcolm, Dusty Rieck.
     "It had its ups and downs," Mueller said. "It turned out alright."
     Mostly that just meant some adjustments to the differences in coaching style and practice techniques that Rieck brought to the team, he said.
     Rieck was big on setting goals for the year and Mueller set some tough ones-get more than 200 takedowns, don't get outworked by anyone and win state.
     Having those goals and the hard work of recovery and summer training paid off as he wrestled his senior year with only two losses, to the same wrestler, Cole Meyer of Friend.
     On his way to reaching the goal of winning state he was able to compete against a wrestler, Matt Nielson of Creighton who had defeated Meyer, but Mueller was not able to face Meyer again following a defeat at the conference tournament. Although he said the win did feel good.
     "It gave me a little bit of satisfaction, but I would have rather have it been (Meyer)," he said.
     But beating Nielsen in the semi-finals at state moved him into the finals where he faced Tyler Maxwell of Tekamah/Herman. Just one match away from achieving his goal of winning state Mueller buckled down and set to work.
     The match against Maxwell lasted three periods, but when it was over Mueller came out with a 9-3 decision over his opponent and a state championship under his belt.
     That was not the only goal met and landmark reached at the tournament however, Mueller also earned 210 takedowns for the year, surpassing his goal and setting a school record, and the four wins at state put him over the century mark for career wins with 102.
     He said the experience of being state champion cannot be compared to anything else.
     "It was an incredible experience walking in the parade of champions," he said. "It was a once in a lifetime experience and it was amazing."
     Following graduation from Malcolm in the spring, Mueller will continue to wrestle, having signed to compete for Dana College. He plans to study sports management and possibly mathematics.