WAGONER'S MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ WAS A DANDY 'DOG

The photo shoot said it perfectly. Hovering over him on a ladder in the middle of the W at Wagoner High School’s Odom Field, the photographer shooting Malcolm Rodriguez’s second straight Male Athlete of the Year award story photo asked if we wanted to shoot something cheesy, like one of Rodriguez standing on the turf he quarterbacked three state champions on, spreading his arms, as to say this was HIS place. It was his field, but to flaunt it? He dodged that like a rushing linebacker, or leg-whipped it as if he would on a wrestling mat. That’s who he is. “My impression of him, and I’ve told pretty much anyone who asks, is he’s one of the most athletic and competitive kids I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around. Quite humble, not boisterous,” said Robert Martin of Oologah. You might not recognize him locally, but Martin has had a front-row seat where Rodriguez is concerned on multiple occasions, from youth wrestling to watching him defeat his son Brock’s team in three consecutive state championship football games. The last of those came in December, when Rodriguez rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns while completing 11 of 17 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown in a 28-13 outcome. The year before, the Wagoner senior guided a final-minute drive, hitting Nikia Jones on two big passes, one in triple coverage at midfield and the other on a fourth-down fade to take a 15-14 decision. Wagoner and Oologah were, clearly, part of the two best teams in Class 4A the past three seasons, both from the same district where Rodriguez also got the upper end three times in 4A-3 play, the first via forfeiture due to an ineligible player. “Even when they beat us over and over, he doesn’t rub it in. He takes his win and he goes back to the office,” Martin said. Not that Rodriguez hasn’t had his chances. Less than 24 hours before completing a three-peat on the football field, he gave his verbal commitment to play defensive back at Oklahoma State, where Martin, a defensive lineman, had been committed to for months. The two appear headed for the same quad living quarters this fall, according to Malcolm’s mother, Shanna Rodriguez. They were also two of the best wrestlers in the state. Rodriguez, a runner-up at 152 pounds as a sophomore, capped a 29-3 year as a junior by winning the 182 title and went 27-0 en route to gold at 195 in February, repeating as the Phoenix’s Wrestler of the Year. Martin, meanwhile, won at 195 in 2015 and 2016 and was unbeaten at 220 as a senior. It didn’t always come this easy. Rodriguez started his sophomore football year 1-4 before the Oologah forfeit was awarded to them. Quarterback coach Nick Humphries recalled that time period last week. “There’s always growing pains when you’re just a sophomore,” Humphries said. “His mistakes were easily correctible. But the number-one thing I’ll always remember about him, his poise, was evident even then. There was never a time I looked into his eyes and felt like the moment was ever too big for him. To see that in a sophomore’s eyes, I knew we were on to something special.” After his sophomore year, Rodriguez was given a regimen by head coach Dale Condict to assist him in becoming a stronger, more accurate passer, and he was. Heading into his senior season, it was about building himself up to absorb the blows of a player whose role would expand as a running quarterback, and he did. Rodriguez led the team in rushing (1,691 yards) and passing (1.976). He just won’t play there in college. “I’m fine with that,” said Rodriguez, matter-of-factly. “I like hitting people.” Condict wondered aloud about why, even if he knew, his best-ever quarterback didn’t get some Division 1 love as a signal-caller. After Rodriguez won his second All-Phoenix football MVP, Condict said: “They all want him 6-3 or 6-4, but he’s bigger now (6-0, 200) than Baker Mayfield was in high school.” Well, close. Mayfield, according to Mayfield’s Lake Travis (Texas) High roster his senior year, was listed at 6-1, 210. But it’s all a moot point anyway, since Oklahoma State’s desire trumped anyone else’s. He’ll play safety, where he had 78 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and seven pass breakups as a senior. OSU coach Mike Gundy was not only a standout quarterback at Midwest City but he was also a successful wrestler and baseball player. Rodriguez capped this spring by making All-Phoenix as a reliever, with 10 saves in 11 relief appearances and a 2.19 ERA while hitting a team-leading .438. “I’ve always been infatuated with football players who wrestle, but his success as a quarterback, baseball player and state championship wrestler speaks for itself,” Gundy said.

WAGONER'S MALCOLM RODRIGUEZ WAS A DANDY 'DOG

Photo Credit: Mandy Lundy

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