Thomas Klekamp got emotional after he received a phone call from his father, John, in December with some good news.

The Montgomery County senior was one of 86 players selected to the Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 2 all-state team.

“I actually started crying,” Klekamp said. “I couldn’t believe it, honestly. It was pretty cool.”

Klekamp earned third-team linebacker honors after turning in the best season of his high school football career in 2021, recording a team-high 87 tackles with an interception and a fumble recovery and helping the Wildcats finish with their third straight winning season.

Klekamp also became the third Montgomery County player in two years to earn all-state honors. Last year, Kyle Yelton was named second-team linebacker and John Reese was selected third-team offensive lineman. They both graduated in 2021.

Klekamp was part of an all-state team that included Marcus Starks, Devin Rue and Charlie Bowen of Bowling Green and Arlen Harris, Jr. of Lutheran St. Charles, who earned offensive player of the year honors.

“It’s pretty special,” Klekamp said. “It’s hard to believe. It’s crazy. Dad and I were talking about it. If someone would have told me that I was going to get second-team all-conference before the year started, I probably would have laughed.”

Klekamp also earned first-team all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors and was named first-team all-district from the MFCA and the Northeast Missouri Media.

The 5-foot-11 Klekamp credits his father for his outstanding senior season. John Klekamp wrapped up his 12th season as MCHS head football coach this fall.

“From a young age, dad always told me I was going to have to work for everything I got in football,” said Klekamp, who also received the MOCO Wildcat Award and was named on the EMO All-Academic Team. “So in fourth grade, I started coming in every morning with him over the summer and lifted. From fourth grade on, I just tried to outwork everybody. Dad always pushed me to be the best.”

Klekamp was selected as the Wildcats’ linebacker in the second week of the season after his senior classmate, Trenton Clardy, suffered a season-ending injury. He was a safety before switching to linebacker.

“It’s the first time I ever played linebacker,” Klekamp said.

Klekamp’s best performance of the season came against Van-Far on Oct. 15 in a senior night contest. He finished with 12 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery to lift the Wildcats to a 38-8 win.

The senior also finished with 16 tackles against South Callaway on Sept. 17 and 14 against Mark Twain on Oct. 8.
Klekamp, who competes with the MCHS track team in the spring, said he hopes to continue his football career in college next year.

“It will be pretty special,” said Klekamp, who plans to work in physical therapy in the future. “I think it will be a little bit different though because I won’t have dad there. He won’t be coaching me anymore or calling the plays. I won’t have the guys, but it will be fun. Football is football.”

Also, junior Adam Czerniewski and sophomore Conner Finke represented MCHS on the MFCA academic all-state team. They joined Klekamp, senior Evan Abercrombie and sophomore Mason Leu on the MFCA all-district team.

Besides Klekamp, Czerniewski, seniors Ty Leu, Keenan James and Logan Hutcheson, juniors Travis Hill, Matt Clark and Gunner Sexton and sophomore James Pollard were the other MCHS players named to the Northeast Missouri Media all-district team.