KARSON KLINGER

WAGONER HIGH SCHOOL

For sophomore Karson Klinger, coming to Wagoner High School last year was a whole new adventure in his young life.

“I grew up going to school in (K-8) Woodall where we had like 32 kids in our eighth grade graduating class and didn’t have a baseball team and then we moved to Wagoner my freshman year. My dad started me out in on a T-ball team when I was little and then I got into travel ball,” said Karson.

At WHS, Karson plays third base, shortstop and pitches for the baseball team and is a quarterback and linebacker on the football team.

“Moving to a larger school was different but I’ve really enjoyed it. The people here are so nice and laid back and they support most of their school sports pretty well.”

Karson has drawn a lot of his inspiration from the guys on his football team that have been good role models.

“Guys like Kale (Charboneau), Alex (Shieldnight) and Bryce Steel showed me what it takes to be successful and how hard you need to work in the weight room.”

Though he’s just a sophomore, Karson has one baseball memory from his first baseball season at Wagoner.

“Last year in our first game, I hit a walk-off double against Inola as we run-ruled them,” Klinger said.

A good part of his drive to succeed comes from his mother according to Karson.

“My mom is a cancer survivor, and it was inspiring to watch the way she handled it. She was really tough and didn’t ever really show too much emotion about it, but I know she worked hard to beat it.”

For the upcoming season, Karson is focused on a couple of goals.

“I’d like to hit with more power this year and eat up some innings on the mound. I didn’t pitch a lot last year, but I know I’ll need to pitch more this year for us to be successful. We’ve got several guys back who started as freshmen last year and though we don’t have a lot of depth, I think we’ve got a chance to have the best season we’ve had in a few years here at Wagoner.”