Owen Erdman and Ezra Beilder-Shenk Senior Spotlight

Ezra, this was your second year with the team. You guys came up short last year. What do you think the difference was?

Ezra: Honestly, it was just more of a complete team this year. Last year we had two really really strong players who did everything for us, especially on the offensive side. This year we had a lot more depth and a lot more players who knew what they were doing. The load was more spread out on the offensive line. We also had a lot of energy coming in and outworked all the teams we played. 

Owen: You know what I think it was? We had two extra coaches.

*former Masterman graduate Jose Dasilva (‘22) helped coach the team to the national title.

Owen, throughout the match you guys had some tough calls. Specifically, there was a moment where you caught the disc in the end zone, but the referee called you out of bounds. How did the team overcome the slight momentum this gave the opposing side?

Owen: Well, it was pretty rough. I think there was definitely a swing. I remember one of my teammates sort of cussed out the referee for making that call. It was definitely a shift in momentum, and we lost a couple points after that. We were able to bring it home because we sort of fell back on eachother, even though we knew it was a bad call. We had to bounce back, move on, and reset. That was our mentality. 

As senior captains for MOFO this year, what do you hope to accomplish?

Ezra: We want to go all the way. We stopped last year at states, but this year our goal is nationals. We have a strong and experienced team coming back.

Owen: Last year was definitely a season filled with a lot of development and I think our players have gotten a lot better. Kids played a lot over the summer. Not only are we hoping to make it to nationals, but before that also make a good run in states. Hopefully bring home the title this year. First time in Masterman history. That would be pretty cool. So we’ve got some big goals this year. 

Favorite pregame song?

Owen: “Maria, Maria” by Santana.

Pregame ritual?

Ezra: Get on the field, take a deep breath, and say “wow, let’s play some frisbee.”

Favorite post game meal?

Ezra: Chipotle, every time. 

Owen: Raising Canes.

Favorite memory at Masterman?

Ezra: Playing spikeball with the temporary spikeball club sophomore year down in the basement. It was really fun bouncing the balls off the walls. 

Owen: This is a nuanced answer but I would say coming back from Covid and coming back to entirely in person school. Before lockdown I was a completely different person than I am now. Now it’s pretty cool to look back on how Masterman used to be versus how it is now. I think over these past two to three years there has been a lot of change both administrative wise and also within the school community and environment. From a general standpoint, I think Masterman is definitely on the up with staffing and policies than it has been in the past. They took away the language program, but we got it back. Sanitation wise I think things are getting better. I think we are getting a more complete staff. There are still problems but I think I’m happy with the way I’ve seen Masterman evolve over my time since sixth grade. 

Which extracurricular club has had the biggest impact on you and how?

Owen: Mine was most assuredly Debate. I didn’t join until tenth grade. I started late but there were two main people who definitely helped my progression: Josh Cohen (class of ‘24) and Henry Anastasia (class of ‘24). I would like to shout both of them out because they helped with my development not only in the debate space but also as a person. Last year me and my partner Sam won a national tournament called Lakeland. This past weekend we placed 3rd out of 337 teams at another national invite. There are a lot of things I am looking forward to. This year I am a captain so I am trying to build the team up, develop our younger generation, and start looking to the future to see Masterman Debate evolve. 

Ezra: My most important is also Debate. I also got into it my sophomore year. Some would say I was more serious about it my sophomore year than Owen. We worked hard and got to Penn. We did really well at a Penn national tournament which was really fun. I may not be quite as serious about it now, but it has shaped me a lot. It changes the way I think about issues we see today and it changes the way I think about classes even. It helps me to think quickly on my feet in classes about answers.

Owen: It sounds cliche but Debate totally helps your critical thinking, especially on the spot.