Inductees

On late winter afternoons, with rays of sunlight beaming through the west windows of the old junior high gymnasium, you’ll find … wrestlers.

Yes, wrestlers. The main gym? That’s for duals for the varsity teams. See the black and yellow posters of the success hanging nearby? They’re of 100-match winners and state medalists. Beyond is not one but two wrestling rooms so that both the boys and girls teams each have a practice facility. And the place also has hosted youth USA Wrestling tournaments.

Call it the work of Randy Roark, who arrived in Lebanon in 1998 as the high school wrestling coach and built two winning varsity programs, and boosted the youth club.

“Man,” Roark said of the junior high gym now, “it’s all great looking. And you probably have seen those banners, with our 100-match winners. We’ve got so many now.”

Yes, it’s been some success story, and why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Roark with the Class of 2025.

Roark coached the Yellowjackets wrestling program from 1998 to 2022, with three girls teams (2019, 2021, 2022) winning state championships and two boys teams earning top four finishes (2020 state runner-up, 2021 fourth place).

Overall, his teams had a 333-102 dual record, produced 126 state qualifiers and 53 state medalists – including five state champions. Lebanon won 11 conference championships, along with six district titles and 47 tournament titles.

Twice he was named Coach of the Year, with the wrestling room producing 19 100-match winners, 94 individual conference champions, 47 district champions, five sectional champions, 10 national medalists and one national champion.

Additionally, he grew youth club participation numbers to about 180 annually, and jumped at the chance in 2016 to take over the junior high gym.

“When I graduated from (Missouri Valley College), I went to a job fair in Columbia and talked to Dave Plassmeyer,” Roark said of Lebanon’s former baseball coach (MSHOF 2025). “The next day, Lebanon offered me a job.”

The original plan was to go into accounting, but he changed course in college. And once he put some time in Lebanon, he knew it was the place to be.

“I just like the community – a lot of hard-working people,” Roark said. “I felt like we could be something here.”

Roark knew the fun the sport could bring. A 1992 graduate of Columbus (Kan.) High School, he was a three-sport athlete (football, wrestling, baseball) who was a four-time state wrestling medalist – including three state championships – and helped Columbus win two state titles.

He was a four-time college All-American, having wrestled at Labette Community College in Kansas before transferring to Missouri Valley College in Marshall. High school coaches Ken Jones and Todd Napier, and college coaches Jody Thompson and Mike Machholz (MSHOF 2023) were positive influences.

Roark is quick to point out those who helped along the way. They include longtime athletic director Will Christian, as well as assistants Mike Starnes, Shane Rebmann,  Clint Smith, Nathaniel Rogers and Matt Neely.

And then there were the parents who entrusted Roark with their teens.

“The biggest thing has been the friendships,” Roark said. “There were years we’d go to Canada and take a couple of wrestlers with us.”

Word got around town, and in the 2000s, families were signing their kids up.

“You started seeing more and more (youth) USA Wrestlers,” Roark said. “They get going when they’re 5, so they have 10 years of experience when then they get to high school.”

That 2020 season was special, with 11 state qualifiers — six who earned medals.

“It was awesome because it was the first time the boys had ever brought home a trophy,” Roark said. “It made it extra special because my son and all his friends were on the team, and lots of kids that we spent years going to USA tournaments.”

When MSHSAA began offering the sport for girls, Lebanon jumped in immediately. In recent years, its girls program has been one of the most successful in the state.

“We pounded the halls, talking to every girl who would listen and told them we going to win a state championship,” Roark said. “Our girls also talked to everyone to find someone for every weight.”

Even better, he had a supportive wrestling wife, Karie, and their sons, Cole and Canon, were on the team.

“It was nice going to a dual and knowing you were going to win,” Roark said. “When your backups can step in and qualify for state, man. It makes you feel great.”