‘Villain’ role doesn’t keep Kapaun’s Michael Spangler from his third state title

Michael Spangler’s freshman year, he changed a classmate’s life.

The boy struggled in class. He couldn’t take notes because he couldn’t see the board at the front of class.

He went to the nurse’s office. She said glasses would fix the problem. He pulled a pair out of his pocket. The nurse was stunned.

He didn’t want to be the “nerd” in class, so he didn’t wear his glasses at the cost of his grades.

Spangler stepped in.

“Dude, chicks love guys in glasses,” he said.

After what Spangler said, that boy didn’t go a day without wearing his glasses, but that’s a story few knew at the Class 5A wrestling tournament.

Spangler won his third straight title with a 9-5 decision over Blue Valley Southwest’s Brandon Madden, but few wanted him to.

Chants of “Mad-den, Mad-den, Mad-den” rung throughout Hartman Arena, not just in the Southwest section of fans.

Much like the glasses story, few knew each chant against him only fueled him more.

Spangler got out to a five-point lead in the third period. He was clinical as always when shots presented themselves.

But then his defense broke.

With under 30 seconds left, Madden got Spangler on his back. A pin was possible. Hartman got about as loud as it had been all day Saturday.

“I wanted to be that good to where everyone roots against me,” Spangler said. “I want to be that guy. I want to be the villain. I want everyone to hate me.

“That’s how you know you’re successful.”

Kansas wrestling fans’ rooting interest against Spangler is understandable. He is the first City League wrestler since Heights’ Sean Deshazer to win three straight state championships. Deshazer went on to wrestle at Oklahoma.

Deshazer is a legendary name in wrestling, but Spangler had family in his corner too. His uncle is Kapaun coach Tim Dryden, and his dad is assistant coach Louis Spangler.

After Spangler’s final high school victory, he sprinted to his dad and jumped in his arms.

They cried.

“When you wrestle for someone for 15 years of your life, you can’t help but run and jump into their arms,” Michael said. “I dont’ care if it’s your dad or somebody that you picked up off the street.

“All my success goes to him.”

Louis has been in Michael’s corner all but three matches. Louis doesn’t sit alongside Dryden for Michael’s state championship matches. He doesn’t want his emotion to be a distraction.

Dryden has been coach at Kapaun for 20 years. He has coached a four-time state champion and another three-time title-winner.

Spangler will be remembered as one of the most accomplished wrestlers to come through Wichita; this third title solidifies that, but he said just to recognized is special enough, even if it comes with the hate.

“This is so hard,” he said. “And it’s a great feeling knowing that I wrestled my last high school match in finals and come out as a three-timer.

“I have no complaints. I’m happy with how I performed and that I’m gonna be able to be talked about like that.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 7:56 PM with the headline "‘Villain’ role doesn’t keep Kapaun’s Michael Spangler from his third state title."