Familiar Face Takes Over Lakeville South Wrestling Program

Nate Moudry spent part of the afternoon on Friday excitedly cleaning and organizing the wrestling room at . During his time in the room, wrestlers dropped by to see a familiar face they now call head coach. It’s his familiar face and established relationships with the wrestlers that may have helped land him the new head coaching position.

Moudry, with 11 years under his belt as a wrestling coach in the Lakeville School District, is now finally getting the opportunity he has always wanted: to lead a wrestling program.  

“Nate Moudry is a known commodity,” Lakeville South Activities Director Neil Strader said. “The kids and their parents know exactly what they are getting.”

Moudry was born and raised in Willmar, MN, where he worked his way up the wrestling food chain until he became a three-time state tournament participant and a two-time state tournament place winner for Willmar High School.

Then, after earning a wrestling scholarship, he wrestled for four years at Augustana College, a division-two school located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  He graduated from Augustana with a teaching and coaching degree.

After marrying his wife, the couple decided to move back to Minnesota. Moudry would then spend one year teaching third grade and assistant coaching at Watertown-Mayer High School before being hired into the Lakeville School District in the year 2000.

He was hired as a teacher at —a post he still occupies—and immediately got involved in the Lakeville High School wrestling program. Although it’s been a long time coming, the last 11 years have let Moudry gain a new perspective on heading a wrestling program.

“Now that I’m older I feel I have more to offer. I see a bigger picture than I did five to ten years ago,” Moudry said. ““It’s not just about teaching wrestling; it’s about putting a framework in place for a program that can sustain itself after I’m gone. It’s also about building young men knowing that they are going to be entering the real world.”

Moudry would be the first one to tell you that things may be a little different now that he is head coach. As an assistant coach, he had the opportunity to take a few wrestlers at a time aside to instruct, but now he will be speaking to the entire squad. He said that it may take a little bit of time for the wrestlers to get to know him in his new position.

“They are going to get to know the real coach Moudry,” Moudry said. “Not as an assistant, but as a facilitator and architect in building a program.”

And he doesn’t plan on wasting any time in taking his first steps as a head coach. He plans on putting a coaching staff together, meeting with the captains of the varsity squad and is already becoming familiar with booster and fundraising programs.  He also said that he plans on implementing a team-first attitude early on.

But ultimately, Moudry is getting ready for the first practice of the season—during the week of Thanksgiving—and the competitions to come soon after.

While preparing for the upcoming season, Moudry has set aside some goals for the program during his first year as head coach. His first goal is to make sure he is moving the program forward, not just in wins and losses, but in sheer numbers. He hopes to sustain a number of 30 to 40 wrestlers in the wrestling room.

He also said Friday that he hopes to have eight or nine place winners out of 14 weight classes at sections. He would also like to see four to six wrestlers wrestling in the state tournament at the end of the season. In the near future, he also explained how he would like to see the squad make it to the state tournament for the first time.

With goals in place, Moudry can now work at achieving them. But he knows isn’t going to be able to do it all by himself.

“I’m looking forward to building something special,” Moudry said. “There are a lot of good people in the wrestling community that are willing to step up and play a role in all of this.”