Last Saturday at Jeffersonville High School, Ricky Bogard started to have flashbacks.

The Seymour sophomore thought back to his freshman season, where he was at regionals with a chance to get to semistate, but he fell just short.

Bogard didn’t want that to happen again. He threw on some headphones, listened to some Lil Baby and NBA YoungBoy, and got locked in prior to his first match in the regional.

Charlestown’s Noah Phillips was his first opponent in the 126-pound weight class, and Bogard admits he was losing the match during the opening minutes.

But Bogard turned it around, putting Phillips in a headlock and getting him to the ground for a pinfall at the 3:37 mark.

“I caught him in a headlock and got really hyped about it,” Bogard said. “He was beating me at first, but I got him with the headlock and pinned him.”

With the win, Bogard punched his ticket to semistate for the first time in his young Owl career.

“I thought it was pretty cool because it’s my first time getting to semistate since I fell short last year,” he said. “It was hard to get there, but I pushed through and got there.”

Bogard placed fourth overall at the regional, and just the week prior he placed second overall in sectionals.

His success this season is a testament to the dedication Bogard has put in this season. The sophomore has been wrestling since he was little, but he admits he didn’t get as committed to wrestling until the last couple years.

Bogard played football the fall of his freshman year, but he didn’t play football his sophomore year, focusing primarily on wrestling.

He went from wrestling at 113 pounds as a freshman to jumping up two weight classes as a sophomore at 126.

“I wanted to get a lot bigger and stronger for this year,” Bogard said.

Bogard watched one of his teammates, Dane Botkin, who is also a sophomore, qualify for semistate one season ago.

Botkin got injured right before regionals last week, but Bogard was motivated to get to where his teammate did.

“I was really trying to push through since one of my teammates made it last year, I thought I could make it since he can,” Bogard said.

Bogard won’t be going down to Evansville alone this Saturday, either. Senior Sam Chandler also made it to semistate at 152.

“I think it’s great because I can communicate with him and talk about the matches before we wrestle,” Bogard said.

Bogard is one of many underclassmen that made up this year’s Seymour roster.

He feels like he and Botkin can help carry the program and make it stronger as they get older.

“I feel like we can really make the young guys really good,” Bogard said. “I feel like the next couple years will be some of our best teams yet.”

This Saturday, Bogard’s first opponent will be a tough one. He will be wrestling Evan Seng of Evansville Mater Dei, who has a record of 30-3 this season.

Bogard, 23-12 this season, has never wrestled Seng.

“Mainly on top and staying patient, using my strength to overpower guys,” Bogard said of his strategy. “I feel like it’s a really valuable experience because I’m just a sophomore and everyone I’m going against is a senior.”

Matches will begin at the Ford Center in Evansville at 9 a.m. eastern time (8 a.m. local time). Bogard and Chandler will be heading down today after school for the Owls and staying the night in a hotel in Evansville.

Bogard has never been in the Ford Center, but he’s excited for this opportunity.

Since committing himself fully to wrestling, Bogard has seen himself grow a lot. To advance to the state finals, Bogard will need to win two matches on Saturday, and each match is single elimination.

Win or lose, Bogard knows this will only help him continue to grow as a wrestler.

“This weekend, I just plan on going out to experience and having fun and trying my best, trying to at least make past the first round,” he said.