It would serve Ozark’s Nolan Moeller well for the similarities between himself and Ozark grad Riley Newsom to continue.
Like Newsom a year ago, Moeller is making his senior year his best.
Newsom qualified for State in wrestling for the first time as a senior and the same scenario played out for Moeller this past winter. Newsom surged to great late-season success as a middle-distance runner in track as a senior last spring and Moeller appears to be following the same path.
Moeller lowered his personal record in the 800 from 2:04 to 1:57 while finishing first at the Southwest Baptist Invite last week.
“It was nice to finally run that good,” Moeller said. “I was proud and my coach was happy for me. Hopefully, I can get a little faster before State.”
No senior-itis surfacing here, right?
“Not with sports, no,” Moeller said. “But I feel like everyone gets it a little bit.”
Newsom saved his best for last, picking up a bronze medal at State in the 400.
In addition to Moeller’s PR of 1:57 in the 800, his best in the pole vault is 12-9. He gave the 1,600 a try at the Republic Relays last Thursday and finished runner-up in 4:42.
Suddenly, Moeller is looking like one of Ozark’s top all-around athletes this school year.
“I’m proud how I’m doing,” he said. “It’s been a fun year. I’ve had a blast. My coaches have supported me in my sports and my teammates have always been there for me.
“I definitely like staying busy by doing as many sports as I can,” he added. “I enjoy it. I love meeting a lot of my friends at practice and having a great time.”
Moeller often meets up with Branson’s Kyshin Isringhausen at various wrestling and track meets. They’re both wrestlers and pole-vaulters.
Having Isringhausen around helps Moeller keep a keen competitive edge.
“Every meet that we see each other, we always talk for 30 minutes about something wrestling,” Moeller said. “We did wrestle each other one time and it was fun. We’ve talked about wresting each other again on open mats. We like to talk a little about pole vaulting, too.”
