Maximilian Mondy serving as example for young Bellefonte wrestling team

At the end of the Bellefonte wrestling team’s practice every day, Daniel Orndorf tells Red Raiders teammate Maximilian Mondy “thank you.”

Orndorf appreciates how Mondy never stops pushing him to improve. When the team works on takedowns, Mondy urges Orndorf to get one more. When the Red Raiders do pull-ups, Orndorf knows he’ll hear words of encouragement from Mondy.

Mondy never stops pushing himself, either.

“I can see how hard I need to push myself to be as great as he is,” Orndorf said. “He has a great legacy in this program.”

Mondy’s legacy is about his work ethic and persistence. He hasn’t been a dominant wrestler contending for championships his entire high school career. The Red Raiders senior didn’t wrestle on the varsity team when he was a freshman. He has never made it past regionals in the postseason. But he stuck with it and turned himself into one of Bellefonte’s top wrestlers this season.

“I honestly probably think he’s the most improved wrestler and you say, ‘Oh, he’s an experienced wrestler and senior. How can he be your most improved?’” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “His overall confidence level and his work ethic has been the best it’s ever been.”

It’s shown in practices and matches — Mondy sets an example for his younger teammates as a captain and leads the team with 19 wins.

Maney has seen the senior become a different wrestler in his final season. In past years, Mondy was undersized while competing at 220 pounds or heavyweight for the Red Raiders. But this year, he arrived lighter and ready to wrestle at 195 pounds. He’s quicker on the mat, wrestling better in the third period and scoring more points this season as a result.

He’s also been consistent with his effort at practice, and he’s embraced his leadership role.

“I just want to get better. The past few years, I haven’t done so well,” Mondy said. “I’ve really just wanted to be the best.”

At the start of his high school career, Mondy faced uncertainty about his ability to compete at the varsity level. Maney has lost freshmen and sophomores who doubted themselves over the years. But Mondy proved to be persistent, battling through tough losses as a sophomore and dedicating himself to the sport as a senior.

After finishing his sophomore season at regionals and his junior season at districts, Mondy has his sights set on reaching the PIAA championships. That’s what’s driving him every day.

“Any time we’re doing something in practice, you got to go harder,” Mondy added.

Mondy has established a standard for his teammates with his work ethic. And he’s pushing everyone, from first-year wrestlers to the Red Raiders’ most talented competitors to get one more takedown or go a little harder at practice. It’s led to team success despite 14 departures after last season. With Mondy serving as a leader on a young team, the Red Raiders own a 9-4 record.

“The example he’s going to set is not only going to play extremely important this year, but it’s also going to play extremely important for the following years and then even further down the road,” Maney said.

That’s what Orndorf sees as Mondy’s “legacy.”

“We all look up to him,” Orndorf said. “We see what he can do, how hard he pushes himself. We’re like, ‘Well, if we want to be as good as him, we all got to push ourselves.’”

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Maximilian Mondy serving as example for young Bellefonte wrestling team."