Wrestling is a word that in Logan Searle’s dictionary belongs on the front page of any dictionary in circulation. He breathes wrestling, bleeds wrestling, and sleeps wrestling, and for those that know him well, know that he demands respect for the sport that he loves deeply.
Searle, who after four years as ‘the master builder” of Liberty North High School’s wrestling program in the suburbs of Kansas City, MO, along with his wife, Kami made the decision that it was time to get out of the city and get back to their roots, and support small town America. This past summer they returned home, moving back to Edgar, where Searle took over the Industrial Arts program at Sandy Creek High School, and oh, by the way, stepped into the role of head wrestling program, which beginning this program, will no longer be under the South Central Unified District umbrella, and will in fact be the first Cougar Wrestling team since the late 1990s.
Coming home with Logan and Kami is their daughter Cleo.
“It’s awesome to be a Cougar, and I’m thrilled that we’ll be the Sandy Creek wrestling team, not South Central. When I was wrestling a lot of people couldn’t figure out who South Central even was, so being Sandy Creek, our staff and our wrestlers will have fun showing the wrestling world exactly who Sandy Creek is,” Searle said.
Searle’s genes are deep with wrestling tradition. He’s a three time state qualifier, and placed third for the Red Raider program his senior year, while finishing his high school career with 141 wins.
He went on to wrestle three years for the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The Loper program is one of the premier Division-2 wrestling programs in the United States.
But there’s one thing about his seven year career, from his four years with the Red Raiders, and three at UNK that made his competitive run tough, and the fact that Searle had six different head coaches in those seven years, making it hard to have consistency, and stability.
“I just remember that it was so hard to be consistent in my career, because I dealt with six different styles and mindsets during my career. My whole direction as the head coach now at Sandy Creek is to build stability and culture, along with consistency.”
Searle added, “We have some fantastic athletes at Sandy Creek now, and I truly believe that we have some guys that can be state champions, and state medalists. But best of all, we have some young men that work their tails off, and they already know what it takes to build a culture, thanks to our phenomenal success on the football field.”
Two of those kids, in Searle’s mindset, are returning state qualifiers Connor Rempe and Rowan Jarosik. “Those two are such competitors, and will be great leaders to help me, and our coaches infuse that culture from the football program into the wrestling program at Sandy Creek,” Searle exclaimed.
To say that Searle is salivating over the start of the 2023-24 wrestling season might just be one of the biggest understatements of the year so far. “My motor is running, and the Dec. 1, quadrangular at Thayer Central and the Harvard Invite Dec. 2 can’t get here soon enough.”
Searle does, however, realize that the month of December may have a slower start with how deep the football team went into the playoffs.
“We’ll be without Rowan until January, who is still nursing a hamstring injury suffered at the state track and field meet last May.”
“I just look forward to getting started, and seeing where we go. My true goal is to eventually field a full team. When I started at Liberty North, my first year I had 100 kids out for junior varsity and varsity wrestling. That was way too much, but Liberty North is also a Class 4A school, the largest class in Missouri. My expectations are that this program, even if we’re wrestling in Nebraska’s smallest class, Class D, that we’ll be competitive with schools in bigger classes.”
Searle added, “it just feels so good to be home, be around my parents, who are loving having Cleo around, but as wonderful as that feels getting home, it’s just great to get support for what we’re aiming to do with the Sandy Creek wrestling program.”
“Liberty North, when I got there, was kind of the laughing stock of the Kansas City Metro wrestling circle, and in the four years I was there, we went from the so-called laughing stock to finishing as a top-10 wrestling program in Class 4A. I’m pretty proud of that.”
Searle smiled and added, “That’s exactly what I want to have happen for the Sandy Creek program. We’re competitors here, and as long as these kids work like I expect them to work on the mats, this program is going to get there. We have the potential to be really good, but it all takes hard work, dedication, and mental toughness. This isn’t a sport for the faint of heart.”
It’s been since 1993 that a Sandy Creek wrestler has claimed a state meet medal as a Cougar, as Brian Buesche placed fifth in the 130-pound class that year.
Sandy Creek, in all, has four state champions. Jerry Horst, in 1976 was the first in the 155-pound weight class. Ron Soucie was a state champ in 1979 in the 185-pound class, while Delaine Soucie claimed the 167-pound state title in 1982.
The only two-time state champion as a Cougar was Dale Fike, as Fike won a state title in the 98-pound class in 1986, and the 105-pound state title in 1987.
The Sandy Creek Cougars of new will hit the mats for the first time this year at Thayer Central this Friday at 5:30 p.m., and at Harvard’s home meet this Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.
