Podliska hired to be new Red Oak wrestling head coach
RED OAK — The Red Oak School Board approved Podliska’s hiring at their board meeting, last Monday night.
Podliska was originally hired in the school district as a social studies teacher for the middle school.
More than 20 applicants pursued the position, with the Superintendent narrowing it down to four candidates, ranging from plenty to little experience.
Podliska recently graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in History/Secondary Education, with endorsements in all social sciences.
Podliska is familiar to the area as he has family, including his grandparents, in Red Oak.
“I’d spend like a week every summer there,” he said. “Every once in a while, I’d go into the wrestling room, just because I was looking to get a workout.”
Podliska initially applied for the assistant coach’s job, but immediately applied for the head coach job when it opened up.
“I was definitely interested in the program as far as knowing where they come from, as far as they’re not at the top of their game right now” he said.
Podliska used an example of his senior season at Loras, when they weren’t at the top of their game and brought in a new assistant.
“We had a really tough first preseason practice and that kind of set the tone for the whole season,” he said.
Loras sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and finished fourth at the Iowa Conference Wrestling Tournament.
The assistant was similar to Podliska in that he too was young.
Podliska was a two-year starter for the Loras Duhawks wrestling team.
As a member of the Duhawks team, Podliska was a three-year letterwinner, wrestling in the 165-pound weight class his senior season.
"He was never, as I heard him describe himself and looked at his record, he was never a superstar. He got to be good by doing hard work and listening to his coaches," Superintendent Terry Schmidt said.
"Because he didn't have the status of the very top wrestler, he had to work his way up. He did that in high school, he did that in college."
Podliska said coaching is something he’s always wanted to do.
“I feel prepared, especially from the wrestling standpoint,” he said.
Podliska wishes to bring in a fresh perspective, as well as bring in a freestyle and Greco-Roman style, which the new coach has experience in.
Podliska was a three-time qualifier for Team Iowa of Greco-Roman National Wrestling.
He won the 2006 Junior Greco-Roman State Championship and was thrd in the same event in 2005. In 2005, Podliska finished fourth at Junior Freestyle State Wrestling.
“I want to kind of create that atmosphere in the wrestling room, where everybody is a hundred percent committed,” he said.
Podliska is originally from Ottumwa, in Southeast Iowa.
At Ottumwa, Podliska won a district and conference title at 145 pounds. He finished sixth at the state tournament the same year.
“My high school coach was ecstatic when he found out about it because he knows how passionate I am about the sport,” Podliska said.
Additionally, Podliska has worked as a volunteer coach for the Loras and Ottumwa Wrestling Clubs.
He also volunteered as a referee for USA Wrestling and the Iowa Wrestling Federation.
Joining Podliska as an assistant on the staff will be Mitchell Rice.
Rice will also be a physical education teacher and an assistant football coach.
Rice received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education at Central Missouri State University in 2005.
He is working on receiving his Masters in Physical Education at the University of Central Missouri.
Rice has worked at Lone Jack C6 School District since 2006, teaching physical education, health and weights and conditioning.
He was the head coach for girls basketball and was defensive coordinator for the football team.
Rice managed the summer weight training program and was also a huddle coach for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.
Some of the other positions Rice has held during his time at Lone Jack include head girls track coach, assistant girls basketball and assistant girls track.
“The key thing is, he has a strong defensive background,” Schmidt said. “That's what we need because our coach really has a strong offensive background."
Rice will also work with a new coach for football.
Billy Bob Orsagh was hired to be the new head coach for Red Oak football in May.
Orsagh is taking over for Andy Yost, who resigned in April to accept a position with Creighton Prep in Omaha.
Current wrestling coach Tom VanDyke resigned in June to accept the elementary physical education instructor and high school wrestling coach position at Griswold.