ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Eagle Radio in St. Joseph in conjunction with Missouri Western Athletics has announced that KFEQ sports director Tommy Rezac will become the next voice of Missouri Western State University Athletics on the Griffon Sports Network (680 AM, 95.3 FM).
Rezac succeeds longtime voice of the Griffons Dave Riggert, who recently became the radio voice of James Madison University Athletics in Harrisonburg, Va. Riggert had previously served as the Eagle Radio sports director for 10 years, and most recently as the Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing for Missouri Western.
"I'm extremely thrilled and honored to be taking over as the radio voice of Missouri Western Athletics," Rezac said. "It has long been my career goal to become the radio voice of an NCAA program, and I am blessed to be working with so many amazing people at Missouri Western and Eagle Radio. That said, I know I have large shoes to fill. Dave is an amazing talent and he gave this role so much passion and dedication over the years. While I'm still fairly new here and am learning some new names and faces, I promise to give this job the amount of excitement, passion, respect and dedication it deserves. I do not take this lightly, and I am humbled to start this journey!"
Rezac has worked as the sports director at 680 KFEQ, St.JosephPost.com and Eagle Radio since December 2020. In that time, he has largely covered area high school sports, but has also covered Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri State, Chiefs Training Camp and other local news and sports stories. He also anchors the morning sportscasts, as well as afternoon news and sports on KFEQ.
He started his radio career in 2017 as the sports director of 1400 KLIN in Lincoln, Neb. Rezac covered Nebraska Athletics for Lincoln's longtime Husker flagship station, doing interviews, articles and several Husker talk shows.
With a desire to get back in a play-by-play booth, Rezac took a job as the news and sports director for KUTT 99.5 FM in Fairbury/Beatrice, Neb. - part of the News Channel Nebraska radio and TV network. While there, he was the radio voice of Doane University football for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. On top of that, he called numerous high school games a week, while also covering local news and sports for both radio and television.
In early March 2020, Rezac accepted a role to become the radio voice of University of Minnesota-Crookston athletics in Crookston, Minn. for KROX Radio. The pandemic took its toll, and the role changed significantly.
"Minnesota-Crookston cut its football program after the 2019 season, and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference postponed its entire 2020 season," Rezac said. "On top of that, the station made the decision to focus more on area high school sports in an effort to generate more revenue due to the pandemic. By that point, the role I accepted was quite different than what I thought it would be, and I ultimately wanted to be closer to home, which for me, is southeast Nebraska."
In December 2020, Tommy came to Eagle Radio in St. Joseph.
"I've loved it here in St. Joseph," Rezac said. "The people have been very welcoming, and this community has a lot to offer. It's nice being only two hours from where I grew up, but in less than nine months of living in St. Joseph, it absolutely feels like home, and it's the people who have made it that way for me. I've already met so many great people at Missouri Western, and I'm thrilled that this role will give me the opportunity to get to know many more coaches, athletes, administrators, alums and fans!"
Rezac has won multiple awards for his sports reporting, including first place in radio sports reporting from the Missouri Broadcasters Association (2021). He has also won first place for play-by-play and sports reporting from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), National Broadcasting Society (2016) and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists' Association (2016, 2017, 2018).
He is a 2017 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he majored in broadcast journalism with an emphasis in sports communications. It was there Rezac discovered his love for sports journalism and play-by-play, calling numerous Nebraska games on KRNU Radio and BTN Plus, while also hosting a few sports shows and working at KLIN parttime.
The youngest of four siblings, Rezac is a native of Valparaiso, Neb. His parents, Dave and Barb, reside in Wahoo, Neb. Rezac lives in St. Joseph with his dog, Milo.