Meet the Ogden State Wrestlers 2026

With this on Meet the State Wrestlers on KWBG, you're going to talk to Ogden's 157 pounder, Lucas Pellemount, as he is heading to state. And first off, Lucas, congratulations. What an accomplishment. And Saturday had to be a blast last weekend.

Oh yeah, there was a lot of emotions. It was a roller coaster.

Well, and I was going to say the roller coaster was you get a beautiful pin in your quarterfinal round match and then semi-finals you get stuck and then it's, how are you going to come back and boy, you came back pretty darn well.

Take me to the third place match, Lucas, because apparently you weren't too down on yourself, huh? No, no. Yeah, I, well, you know, I woke up in the morning and I honestly, I was hit with this wave of sickness that really made me discourage myself.

But, you know, I picked myself up, I dug deep and I had to come, had to come back from the backside and it was believing myself really. I couldn't do it without my coaches and my teammates, honestly.

Well, you got to take me through the third place match, Lucas, because that's one that is always, I think, listen, the second place match we'll talk about in a second, which is obviously difficult. That third place match, so you just got beat.

Now you got to pick yourself up again. You come out and get a pin though. Apparently you were feeling good. Yeah, going against, um, Pete Smith in the second round, you know, it's tough.

I know he's a really good wrestler, but I didn't let it get me down because, you know, I still had a chance, obviously, and I didn't let it affect me too much. So I went in there with a lot of confidence and just believing myself that I can pin the guy. All right.

So you get the pin in the third place match, which sets you up for a chance to go to state. What were the coaches telling you and what were you telling yourself? You know, I wasn't letting myself get psyched out. I wasn't letting myself get too excited.

I know that I still had to work hard and, you know, not, but I get to be glad to keep my mind out of, you know, food. I know it's so easy to quit at the end of the season, but I just had to keep my focus and, you know, really focus on the match.

10-5 victory, Lucas, that isn't like scoring a, you know, a late takedown or an late escape or something. That was a pretty dominant effort. What'd you feel like out on the mat during the match?

You know, I was obviously really tired, but I know the other guy was just as tired as me. So I, I tried harder, tried harder and harder and pushed hard and I got it. All right. So you hear the whistle for the last time, you know, you're heading to state.

Give me this thoughts going through your head. Oh man. It was, it was crazy. I, first I didn't believe it. And I was like, I can't believe you can't believe I'm here. And then I get my hand raised. I turned to my team and everyone's clapping and cheering.

And then I realized, wow, I did, I did just make it. I didn't make it pretty amazing feeling. Yep. Was this, was this something that you thought could happen during the season?

You know, our coaches are told the whole season that every one of us had a good opportunity, but you know, I never really, like I always told myself, I think I could make it. And you know, people around me said, yeah, you're a good wrestler. You can make it.

But I've always had a hard time believing myself. And now this just kind of gave me the confidence boost I needed. All right. So take me to Sunday morning when you, when you hear that the brackets are out and you see your name on the line, what was that like then?

Oh, I immediately went to, uh, like how I can make the best out of it from my spot. And I actually really like where I'm at. I think I can do a lot of damage. What's it going to be like down there? Not up in the stands watching, but actually on the, on the mats. Oh yeah.

I remember last year looking down on the mat and like, you know, guys, I just wanted to know the feeling of looking up into the lights and seeing all the people around me. I can't wait to find out how that feels. Well, uh, just congratulations, Lucas, a heck of an accomplishment.

Best of luck down in Des Moines. Yep. Thank you. You bet Lucas Pellemaner again joining us. August 157 pound qualifier on KWBG.

With us on the Meet the State Wrestlers program on KWBG, we're going to start with 132 pounds for Ogden. Qualifier is Ryder Eklund. The sophomore gets a chance to head back to state. And first off, Ryder, congratulations. A heck of a district weekend.

You got to be pretty happy with yourself. Oh yeah, I'm happy with it, with how it went. How did you feel going into the weekend?

What, like the mindset kind of takes me back because that can be a little nerve-wracking when I know you've been there before and kind of feeling that pressure a little bit.

Oh, I was just trying to take it one match at a time, not overlook anyone and just, you know, be on my offense and keep, push the pace and have the match go how I want it to go. Well, I'll tell you what, you definitely did that. Quarterfinals, you get a pin in 40 seconds.

Your semis, you get one in 122. Then your championship match, boy, Ryder, you must have opened up 16 to 5 major decisions. Tell me about the points and why they were flowing so well.

Oh, well, you know, I was getting takedowns, getting it on his legs and it was just a good scrap, you know, just going at it and just working my offense, doing what I can do. Well, I'll tell you what, on paper, the the Janesville kid looked pretty solid.

What was, what was working so well for you? I know you said the takedowns were working, but I mean, did you just feel like you were more confident going in? Yeah, I was a little nervous for the match.

And then once we got in, I was just, I was just trying to push the pace and get it on his legs. What is it? Not letting him get on his offense. What does it feel like when the offense is working like that, Ryder?

I mean, that's got to put, I know you wrestlers aren't supposed to smile on the map, but you got to get a little bit of a smile on your face, don't you? Oh yeah, it's, it's a good feeling. It's a real confidence booster.

And like, it kind of just makes the match feel better when you can get it on legs and finish your shots. Yeah, I bet so. What was it like having the hand raised and then knowing you were heading back to Des Moines? Oh man, I was so happy.

I was just like, it felt good to know that I was going to go back and be able to go try and make a name.

Well, I know when I talked to Coach Sundell about you, he said that you had kind of a bad taste in your mouth last year and you were kind of already talking to him once you know you were done and the tournament was over for you.

You were already kind of talking about this sophomore season, huh? Yeah, just kind of looking back on it and how much I've improved since last year. What's the season been like for your Ryder? I mean, you're a couple of wins shy of 40 on the season.

That's got to be at least a little bit of a goal, but man, it has been a tremendous season. You've been pretty happy? Oh yeah, I've been really happy with it.

I've seen a lot of improvements since last year and just, you know, trying to stay out there with the top guys and hang in. What's your strength, Ryder? If I had to, you had to pick one thing, what's something that you feel like that you do really well on the mat?

Oh, neutral for sure on my feet. Okay, what are you working on? What are you working on? What are some things that we need to kind of get better at? Oh, the bottom for sure.

Just getting out or staying, stay moving, you know, not being content with being on the bottom, not taking a break. Well, I tell you what, you got a nice little honor, Ryder, with getting a first round by.

What was that like when you first saw your bracket and you didn't, you knew you didn't have to wrestle that first round? I was pretty happy. I was, I wasn't surprised, but I was like, that's nice to see that I got that first round by. Yeah, very, very exciting.

All right, so tell me some goals, Ryder. Obviously, you've been thinking about this for a year, so I got to imagine that these goals have been on the mind for a little bit. What are some goals? What would be a good state tournament for you, Ryder?

Oh, placing for sure, but winning a match, not getting a win last year, I just, I want to know what it's like to have my hand raised in the well, so. Give me, give me a win is what we're looking for. Oh yeah. That would be great. Ryder, congratulations on such a great season.

Thanks for some time here on Meet the State wrestlers. Thank you, sir. You bet. Ryder Eklund again joining us. Ogden's qualifier at 132.

With this on Meet the State Wrestlers on KWBG we're gonna go Ogden's 138 pounder as Kinnick Munson joining us the senior it's an opportunity to head back to Des Moines and Kinnick this is something I was I joked with you a little bit off air you know I wasn't serious but I've been waiting to talk with you again sir it's been I know a rough couple of years here for you right yeah how we feeling now though?

Good and healthy yeah ready to get back down there well and that was one thing that I wanted to talk about last season I know injuries were just not your best friend what did it feel like to start a season and actually feel kind of healthy?

Felt good getting having an actual record and not resting 12 matches this season or like last season. Yeah what's it been like in the room? Good good energy yeah everyone's collides good.

Sounds like you've been a little bit more vocal a bit more of a leader this year Kinnick that senior in front of you finally got you kind of wanted to do that or tell me about that a little bit? Yeah I mean just wanting to do my part and be a leader.

Alright so let's go back to districts a little bit what was the mindset like before districts got started I mean one you get a chance to wrestle in your home gym and you knew it was gonna be your last opportunity so tell me how'd you feel going in?

I felt good I mean all my matches were pretty easy up to the finals and then I got caught but that's whatever now. So we let that go pretty quick huh? Yep. How many times we watched it? About four or five. Okay cuz it sounded like offense was okay to start with was it not?

Yeah it was I took him down first and then went in got another shot and just got caught there. What do you got to do to be to be better now and be at your best down in Des Moines? I'm gonna get my shots and just finish quick not wait there on my knees.

I know obviously you know states have been a big part of you and family for a long time gonna be a little bit bittersweet to go down there for the last time? Yeah it's gonna be sad but glad to be back down there.

Yeah what what are the goals now Kinnick I mean obviously at the beginning of the season it had to be I want to get back and now that you're back we got to change them a little bit so what's a good what would be a good state tournament if you and I talked afterward?

I want to be on the stand I want to get on there. Okay what do you got to do to get there? You just gotta believe in yourself you just gotta do what you do best. You feel like you're wrestling your best right now? Yeah I feel like I'm at my best right now.

Okay what's what's been the strength so far for you this year Kinnick? Definitely my mentality a lot better than my last years. Do you feel like just you walk into the matches a little more confident or what's the mentality like when you say that?

Yeah I walk in more confident I feel good feel healthy. Okay what are some things we're still working on? Give me a couple of things we're still working on before we get ready for Des Moines. I gotta work on my bottom. Okay.

Pretty bad not bad but gotta work on exploding just getting out quick. Just getting out and then scoring afterward. Yeah I got you. Working my offense. Yeah working on the offense a little bit. What's it gonna be like to put the singlet on for the last time?

It's gonna be sad again yeah and then but it's gonna feel good to do it at the well and not at districts. Yeah I bet it is. No I totally get it totally get it. Kinnick thank you so much for some time congratulations on making it back and now we'll talk again real soon.

Yeah that's Kinnick Munson. Yeah you bet that's Kinnick Munson and again joining us. August Qualifier at 138.

With this on Meet the State Wrestlers on KWBG we're going to go to Ogden's 150 pounder now. Dillon Moe joining us and Dillon 24 and 12 on the season. Junior gets an opportunity to get down to Des Moines for the first time. First off Dillon congratulations what an accomplishment.

Yeah thank you. What was Saturday like? I mean I got to tell you what I saw was a ton of offense. Tell me what you saw. I just felt like I knew what to do in all my matches and I knew my strategy to win.

Came out in your quarterfinals you get a pin in 145 and then Dillon you scored 26 points in your last two matches and we're talking semi-finals and championship. I mean this isn't just for fun and hey we're going to see what happens here.

I mean a couple of tough matches how are you scoring the points you put up? You know the first guy just I've wrestled him before and I knew I needed to get to his legs. I didn't think I could pin him but get my takedowns and work my shots and I knew I could finish my shots.

Well then we bring championship match and obviously you know the opportunity to get to state. What was working so darn well? Well he kind of was not really doing much on his feet and I got to his legs and I took him down and kept the pressure on him and just didn't let him score.

What's it like to come off the mat hand raised champion knowing you're going to state? It's definitely one of the best feelings yeah for sure. Yeah it's a great feeling. Was this on your radar?

I mean was this something that you thought could happen you know at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, anytime? Yeah after last year was kind of my goal yeah to to make it to state for sure.

So is it so this has been something you've been thinking about for a whole year? Probably yeah. Okay what uh what's been working so well for you this year Dillon?

We were kind of visiting off fair and I said listen you've run into some of the best of the best at 150 and I mean for you to have 24 wins is pretty solid actually. Yeah it's just not getting down on matches and trying to trying to take losses and learn from my losses.

What do you do after a loss? Do you watch back? Do you talk to coaches? Yeah what do you do? Talk to coaches, watch film and see what I could have done better. Yeah. What about seeing your name on the on the bracket for a state tournament? What that feel like?

It's pretty cool and it's great to be kind of seated in the middle try to see what I can do there and try to get a few wins or something. All right that's I was just getting ready to ask is that what the next goal is?

I mean obviously you love to win that opening round match but what would be a good tournament for you Dillon? I mean stand is all obviously the overall goal and I mean might as well make a run for it this year and because never know what happened next year.

You know very very true. Has it been a good season Dillon? You feeling pretty healthy now here as we I know everybody's a little bit beat up this time of year but are you feeling pretty healthy? Yeah I'm feeling pretty good yeah.

I have a good week of practice here and yeah be ready for Thursday. Well Dillon congratulations a fantastic season and a best of luck down in Des Moines. Thank you. You bet Dillon Moe joining us Augens 150 pound qualifier on Meet the State Wrestler.

Joining us on the meet the state wrestler program on KWBG. We're going to talk to Augin head coach Jesse Sundell as the Bulldogs get ready for action on Thursday morning as boy for quality kids heading down for the Bulldogs. I know Jesse super excited.

I tell you what coach, I know when I first saw the districts and I saw you guys host and I knew that well, coach going to have a little extra work, but I was looking at the talent that was going to be there.

I think your district ended up showing out a little bit better than I thought. Jesse, what did you think overall?

Yeah, you know, it was, there's some kids, I think like you said, you know, they ended up being maybe a little tougher in some spots than initially maybe it thought, you know, and then there were, there's some weight classes that that were four or five deep that I think any of those guys could have beat anybody and you know, any of them could have been a been a state qualifier in some of those ways.

No, I thought that was, I think there's some kids that are probably staying home from your district Jesse that definitely could have found themselves with a winner, a couple of wins down in Des Moines.

And so when I start with this first kid with Ryder Eklund, you know, champion at one 32, he gets a pin in his quarterfinal match, gets a pin in the semi finals and then comes out with a major decision. The championship match. I mean, Jesse, that's what you're supposed to do.

You're supposed to come out and dominate, but what a fantastic day for Ryder. Yeah, we, we, you know, going in, we knew the kid, the Jamesville kid in the finals was, was going to be that kind of main competition. I don't, I think I wrestle had him ranked ninth or eighth or 10th.

I can't remember. So we're down that spot. So, you know, we knew he had been a quality kid. He'd been at 138 coming down. So we figured he was going to probably be a little bit bigger 32 pounder as well.

You know, the mentality we kind of approach with all our kids through there, you know, worry about your first match, take care of your first match.

Look at that last guy, you know, and that was kind of the message to Ryder, you know, take care of your business one match at a time or worry about him when we get there, you know, and, and he's, he's one that he it don't matter if it is an O and 30 kid or it's in number one ranked undefeated kid.

You know, he likes the challenge of no matter who's out there, you know, and so he'd been, he was fired up for that match, you know, and stuck to his game plan and just, you know, he's, he's, he's slick on his feet and just controlled, controlled everything out there.

Kind of feels like we're not going to have to worry about with Ryder and maybe I'm wrong here. Jesse, you tell me, I don't feel like stage fright is going to be a problem for Ryder this year. What do you think?

No, especially he's been down there once already, you know, and right after the state tournament last year, you know, he was, he's like, I want more, you know, and I don't want to just be here next year. He's like, you know, I want to be on that stand.

So, you know, it's kind of been what's drove in this whole year, you know, is that fire, you know, just wanting more, but he's also one he's, yeah, you can tell he's, he's appreciative of everything, you know, every win, every opportunity, you know, and that's, that's just a recipe for success when you approach it like that.

Well, and we've got a great kind of a great road and an interesting story here for this next kid at 138 with Kenneth Munson, and he ends up getting a tech fall in his quarterfinal match, semi-finals, he gets a pin, gets caught in his championship match.

So then it's like, okay, what's he going to do in his wrestle back? Well, he didn't have to have a wrestle back. He got the no contest runner up spot at 138. And of course, Kenneke has been there before, but it's been a minute since he's been down in Des Moines before. Yeah.

He qualified as a freshman, sophomore year, he was similar position that he was just in here, you know, he'd made to the finals, got, got beat in the finals.

I can't remember if he was pinned or whatnot there, you know, but then had a wrestle back and ended up getting beat in the wrestle back, you know, I think that was a match where he was winning.

And then we had the guy pinned, rolled through, and then we're up on our back and then got pinned, you know, so after his match, we kind of talked and he's like, you know, he's like, dang, he's like the same thing kind of as, as my sophomore year.

And it's like, well, you know, the difference is you're going on this year, you stay home then.

So, you know, the first, first thing is, you know, we got to just take care of business, make sure you get there, you know, get to the state tournament, you know, and then we, then we'll focus on that.

And once they're there, you know, last year, kind of just dealing with some injuries and just out of the, you know, not a lot of mad time last year. So, you know, a great way to kind of start his career and a great way to finish it.

And you know, with his attitude is just this whole demeanor this year has kind of been a 180.

You know, I've probably been the, the happiest with kind of the turnaround and just the improvement of kind of the mental side of, of wrestling, you know, and that's, that's the key thing at this point of the game.

It's, it's if you can control your mental side of the game, you know, you're going to have some success and that's where he's kind of been going. You know, the fun thing is we get a rematch against that guy, the first round of the state tournament.

So right away he was one, he's like, I want him again, you know, and, you know, he's got his wish. And so I know he'll have these next two days, three days, he'll be fired in the room and, and working on making sure we clean a few things up and try to get that win.

Well, and a neat story, these next two as well with Dylan Moe at 150. And here's a kid who gets a pin in his quarterfinal match. He gets a major decision in the semi-finals, comes out in the championship, another major decision win.

I mean, here's a kid at 24 and 12 on the year that I think people sometimes when you see double digit losses, Jesse, you go, well, he's been beat 12 times. I think Dylan might be maybe wrestling at his best here of the four coming in.

Yeah, you know, and he's really wrestled well all year. You know, like I tell guys, you know, some years there's, there's weights where you catch a lot of easy matches, you know, and the wins look really well.

And then there's some years where you just get every good kid on every team and, you know, and then you have more losses and you probably technically should, but, you know, just the way it rolls, you know, and he's been one like that, you know, every seems like he's been catching, you know, top ranked guys and just hammers every single time, you know, ever, ever do what we have, you know, he's got the toughest guy, it seems like, you know, and he's got had some wins, he's had some losses in there, you know, but he's also one that kind of just keeps that level head and going into districts here, we knew, you know, his was a weight, you know, one guy ended up moving up because it was so deep at 150, you know, at that time there was going to be, what the heck was there five, about five guys that were all kind of about in line that could be that state qualifier.

You know, we knew that semi-finals match was going to be a rematch against the Rodriguez kid from West Central Valley, you know, we'd beaten him, but that kid had beaten a lot of ranked kids, so it's like, you know, it's like, all right, you know, Dylan, he just did the same thing, you know, controlled the stuff on his feet, got on top, tough ride, and then really his finals match was the same way with Abroles who was a state qualifier last year, you know, and we controlled it on our feet, had his tough rides, and you know, that's just, that's his recipe.

If he can get that, you know, get his takedowns and then just work on top, he's usually going to have a lot of success.

Jesse, I don't know how you do it, but you always seem to pull a Cinderella story each year, like I said, I'm not sure, you just get them coached up, or if we get a little, you know, little, I don't know, Ogden wrestling dust that kind of works into the gym, I'm not sure how you do it, but this is what I'm gonna talk about with this next kid, and that's nothing against Lucas Pelleemount, and qualifying at 157, but here's a pin in his quarterfinal match, his semifinals, he loses by a pin, so then it's always the question, okay, how are you gonna come back?

Well, consolation semifinals, he gets a bye, his third place match comes up with a pin, and then that second place match decision went 10 to 5, and Pelleemount is heading to state.

Now, his record doesn't look like somebody that, you know, had something miraculous happen at 17 and 9, but here's a kid who wrestled way above where his seed was on Saturday, Jesse.

Yeah, and, you know, he's kind of this whole year just battled some different sickness, some injuries and whatnot, we've always known, like I look at him, I keep telling him, it's like, you know, you got the talent, you got the skill, you know, just, you know, just start kind of controlling that mental side of it, you know, and you're gonna put stuff together.

We're going in the tournament, you know, I was, you know, it just kept feeding him the stuff, you know, it's like, you got a shot, it's there, it's there, you know, he had a great week of practice, you know, then he shows up on Saturday and kind of started catching a little bit of a bug and was not feeling well, you know, and it's like, all right, you know, it's, you're here, you know, there's nothing else we can do, it's like, you just got to fight through it, you know, so it just, you know, the, the hurt of not going has to hurt more than, than the not feeling well, and, you know, and that's what he ended up doing.

And we knew going in, we set that fall to bracket, you know, it's like I foreseed, we knew the guy that was the one seed, you know, odds beat him, we're going to be tough, and I would tell him that guy's going to win the bracket, no one else is going to beat him, so it's like, get yourself to the third place spot, you're going to get a wrestle back, you know, and that's what he did, he took care of business, won that third place match, got the wrestle back, you know, and, and you could tell at that time, you know, he would start to see, okay, there is that opportunity here, you know, I can make it down there, and, you know, having a little fire in you, and, and he got it done, you know, I was proud of him for kind of sucking it up through the day and, and, and fighting through everything.

Well, now Jess, you get an opportunity, and you and I have talked about this for many years, you know, Christmas Eve was last Saturday, and now it's Christmas because you get a chance to go down in Des Moines, and everybody, everybody gets that chance, now everybody has that chance to be a state champion, everybody has that chance to be on the podium, these four got to be super excited, you got to be pretty excited too to bring these group down.

Yeah, it's kind of a, just a different mixture of, of kids, you know, Ryder being there last year, he's kind of seen that, Kenneks been there as a freshman, it's been a little bit, you know, but it won't be anything quite new for him, Dylan had the opportunity to go down last year to kind of help work out and do some stuff.

So he kind of has seen the back end of it, what goes on, how we kind of approach him stuff, you know, even though he didn't wrestle, he's seen that side of it, you know, Lucas, it'll be kind of a first time down there.

So a little bit different mixture, everybody can kind of work with each other and help each other out, make sure we stay focused, you know, our main talk this week is, you know, don't just don't be satisfied being down there, you know, want a little bit more.

And really, for the most part, all those guys that are there, you know, they've kind of they've seen it, they've kind of had that. All right, it was fun to be here. But you know, let's let's get something a little bit more and something else to remember, since we're down here.

Jesse, as always, thank you so much for some time. Best of luck starting on Thursday morning. Thank you. I appreciate it. You bet. Jesse Sandeligan joining us logged in the head coaches meet the state wrestlers program on KWBG.