Marshall Radio’s Ryan Rohlik honored with major sports broadcasting award
Ryan Rohlik never once pretended he could replace his golden-voiced broadcasting predecessor, Jerry Marquardt, but 26 years after being called to on-air duty, the 1997 Wabasso High School graduate has done pretty well in carving out his own spot in local sports radio history.
Last week, Rohlik, the sports director for Marshall Radio, humbly received the Minnesota Broadcasters Association Award of Excellence for Sports Coverage (Non-Metro) at the MBA’s annual conference in Hastings.
Rohlik said the finished product — the college and high school games listeners hear on the radio — has always been part of a team effort.
RYAN ROHLIK, Marshall Radio Sports Director, is the latest recipient of the (nonmetro) Minnesota Broadcasters Association Award of Excellence for Sports Coverage. Submitted photo
“We did 548 games last year, so you just have to have a group that you trust and know that they’re going to put in the work,” he said. “It is a whole team thing. There’s just so much prep that goes into it. I’m humbled and honored. Many things go on behind the scenes, so this is a group award.”
Rohlik began calling games for Marshall High School in 2000 after Marquardt died unexpectedly. Emotions get in the way when Rohlik tells the story of how his mentor got him started in the business in 1999. Rohlik took stats for Marquardt at his first game, then a week later accompanied him to a MHS girls’ basketball game at the old middle school in Marshall.
“We start the second half and he goes, ‘Welcome back to Marshall High School, I’m Jerry Marquardt and Ryan Rohlik is next to me and he’ll be calling the second half,” Rohlik recalls. “He turned off his mic, took off his head set and left. That is how I was baptized.”
From there, it was Rohlik’s call, as Marquardt’s break lasted for an entire quarter of basketball.
“He just stood up on top and waited to see if I panicked,” Rohlik said. “He was listening on I think a cassette player on headphones to see how I would do. He came back down, put the head set and let me finish the game.”
The following day, Marquardt gave Rohlik his critque — what he liked, what he needed to change — “all these things that were just constructive criticism,” said Rohlik.
About a month later, Marquardt suffered a heart attack, putting the radio station in a predicament. Rohlik was then tasked with filling the hole Marquardt left.
“I truly was very green,” he said. “I never looked at it as filling Jerry’s shoes; all I wanted to do was make him proud. I just respected him that much from listening to him call games — his cadence of calling a game.”
Since then, Rohlik has molded his craft using what he learned during his short time with Marquardt. He stays positive on the air, staying away from negativity against a player or team, even when his Tigers or Mustangs aren’t performing particularly well.
“If you think about the whole picture, it’s more than wins and losses — it’s relationships,” Rohlik said. “It’s kids that have sacrificed so much to play a game. When parents come up and thank you for covering the games … you never know where people are listening, but they’re listening because they have someone associated with the team. You never know whose family is listening.”
Rohlik began calling play-by-play for Southwest Minnesota State University in 2013 and now oversees a sports department that broadcasts more than 500 local sports events each year that covers student-athletes in Marshall, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, Minneota, Lakeview, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Springfield, Redwood Falls, Wabasso and SMSU. He hosts daily sports casts on the stations of Marshall Radio, and calls football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball games for Southwest Minnesota State University and Marshall High School. He also hosts the weekly Saturday Morning Mustang program on KMHL.
