Announcements 2002

Announcements 2002
This page was last update 01/06/16 10:19 AM
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Maps to Schools Motel Reservation Information Announcements of 2001
2002 Southwestern Foothills Conference Regular Season Champions
2002 Southwestern Foothills Conference Tournament Champions
2002 3A Regional Dual Team Champions
2002 3A State Dual Team Runner Up
2002 3A Western Regional Individual Team Champions

It was the close a long and successful season for the final eight Tribe members that battled the state's best at the State Championships this past weekend.

Drew Forshey set a school record of individual state championships by winning his third straight state title. This one was at 121 pounds. The other two were at 105 and 114. The only other wrestling state champion at St. Stephens was Robbie Lail in 1995 and 1996. Drew now has the opportunity to equal the state record of four straight titles which has only been accomplished by two previous wrestlers.

Finishing tied for Fifth Place was:
Adam Hosterman, Nathen Sefcik, Josh Triplett, and Matt White, Derek Crump

Finishing tired for Seventh Place was:
Vanna Lao

Finishing tied for Ninth Place was:
Jonathan Troutman

After the heartbreaking loss to Morehead in the state dual finals, it was at question as to how much heart and pride was still in the 14 wrestlers that went to Enka for the Western Regional - Individual Championships. That question was quickly answered as all 14 battled twenty-three schools for the individual honors and another team tournament title. All but four made it through the first round on Friday night, but all four battled to the end with maximum effort and dignity. By the end of Saturday night the team brought home eight placers to go to the State Finals in Charlotte next weekend and the Western Regional Team Championship with 159.5 points. East Gaston placed second finishing with 147 points.

Vanna Lao - 4th 114
Drew Forshey - 1st 121
Jonathan Troutman - 3rd 127
Derek Crump - 4th 137
Adam Hosterman - 2nd 142
Nathan Sefcik - 1st 147
Josh Triplett - 2nd 191
Matt White - 2nd 277

Historical Note: This was the first return to the Western Region for the Tribe since this year's realignment. It was the third consecutive championship in the West for the Tribe Wrestlers. The teams of 1996 & 1997 also won the Western Regional which were led by Darel Reese.

We Didn't Win It All
But We Earned the Right to Be There
We Accomplished Much
While Gaining Genuine Repect from Others Along the Way
THE COMMUNITY AND ALUMNI OF ST. STEPHENS ARE PROUD OF US

There are only a few things to say about our lost to Morehead
We were one of the two to be the Last Two Standing
I am grateful, that if we had to lose,
It was to a high school with a rich tradition of wrestling, a class program, a class coaching staff.

I hope to get the seeding of the Western Regional at Enka list on this page by Thursday of this week.

LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR
TRIBE TAKES SECOND WESTERN REGION DUAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

In front of a packed house the Tribe showed the crowd that they had to believe in this team. With a controlled win of 37-25 over Tuscola, the Tribe slammed the door right off the whistle with a stunning 48-24 win over Southwestern Randolph. The Student Body was great and the cheerleaders did their best to understand what a physical brawl was all about. Thanks to all the students that came out to cheer on the Tribe.

Vanna Lao set the coaching staff, teammates, and crowd on fire with a stirring come from behind victory in the first match of the finals with Southwestern Randolph. Down 9-1 against J. Junter from SW Randolph (a two time state qualifier) Vanna turned up the power in the second period and pinned his opponent to start off the championship match. It was no looking back a that point as Forhsey quickly pinned in the second match, and Jonathan Troutman fought to a 10-6 win in the 127 division. Derek Crump mauled his opponent with a 19-2 victory and pushed an early 20-0 lead in the championship match. Nathan Sefcik and Matt Helton pinned to streach the lead to 32-6. By the time Brandon Sisk, Josh Triplett, and Matt White had finished the score was out of reach at 48-18.

Moorehead HS is next on Saturday at SSHS for the STATE DUAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. Time will be announced after 10:00 AM on Friday. This is the biggest sporting event since the Baseball Championships of 1971, 1972, and 1973 lead by Harry Frye (who incidently was the second wrestling coach in the history of St. Stephens.)

WE EXPECT EVERYONE TO BE AT THE MATCH ON SATURDAY.
BE A PART OF SCHOOL HISTORY
BE THERE ON SATURDAY

Senior Vanna Lao
Leads the Indian attack with the perfect tournament scoring the maximum 24 points. He pinned all his opponents on his way to the 114 individual title.

Fourteen Ban of Brothers fought together to capture a second straight Conference Tounament Campionship Saturday at Hickory High. Specifics of the tournament can be seen on the Latest News page of this web site. The Tribe sealed the tournament early and finished will a 74.5 point lead over second place Burns. Just as in the conference duals, each team member did their best to take on the best wrestlers in the conference to capture another SSHS win. This was the Second Straight Conference Tournament Championship for the Tribe. Last year they won it in the Western Foothills Conference. This year we won the Southwestern Foothills.

Look for a great article in the Observer News Enterprise in the Monday edition. They sent two of their sports writers to the tournament and have covered us on numerours occassions during the year. If you really interested in local area Wrestling look to the Observer News Enterprise. Tell them of your appreciation at onesports@abts.net .

I would also like to ask you to frequent E&W Quik Stop on County Home Road. This locally owned establishment and been a generous supporter of St. Stephens Wrestling and Catawba Rasslin' for years. Stop in a tell them of your appreciation of their efforts on behalf of our wrestling efforts. While others are supportive when asked, E&W Quik Stop is always asking "What can we do for the Team".

Support the Businesses that are Supportive of
Your Student Wrestler, Our Wrestling Efforts, and St. Stephens High School
Catawba Rasslin' thanks all the Parents, Boosters, Faculty, and Admistration that has been there
to support the St. Stephens Wrestlers from Set Up to Clean Up.

I am also posting a comment made about our program by one of our opponents. It can be seen of the North Carolina Form in response to the Best Sportmanship displayed by a high school wrestling team.

burnswrestler
ST STEPHENS
Mon Jan 28 19:01:44 2002
63.36.30.89

Before and after they waxed our tails, they treated us with the most respect that I have ever observed from a team in all of my years of wrestling. Their coaches were very friendly and joked with our teammates as if we were members of their team. They even let us choose what music we wanted to come out to, and the match was at their school. Even after the beat us, I mean beat us, they treated us with respect and praised our efforts. They still respect us, and as a result they have definitely acquired Burns respect for the mark of good sportsmanship that they have left. Good luck St.Stephens, we expect you guys to win the state duals.....you deserve it.

This is the "Real" St. Stephens that you will never read or hear about in the local media. This is what our supportive administration expects from the athletes and program. This is what we do. If a first time conference rival competitor from another high school two counties away can see it an say it, isn't it sad that our efforts are selectively ignored by those that have the power to keep this information from our local community.

Go to the Latest News page for Details of the first round of State Dual Playoffs. We're In and We're Diggin'.
Congratulations can be shared and valuable Autographs can be obtained from the Wrestling Coaching Staff in the "BAKER'S HALL section of SSHS.

Click on the address below. We have some great young wrestlers building for the future as our next conference and state champions. Take a look.

The Tribe won again in a 61-9 score over the Tigers of Fred T. Foard. This completed a third straight undefeated conference season for the Tribe and their third straight conference championship.

Tribe Takes Third Straight Conference Wrestling Title
(Six of the last nine years of wrestling the Indians of St. Stephens have won the regular season Conference Championship.)

What started out this week as Championship Tuesday came to real life by Friday night. Three key events had to take place this week and all three became reality. The Tribe had to beat Burns to stay even in the conference standings and then go on to beat R.S. Central on Friday night. Our wrestlers did that with a 60-6 win over Burns and then a 77-4 win over R.S. Central. The final key was the Friday night out come between Kings Mountain (3-1) and Fred T. Foard (3-1). Kings Mountain won 42-30 over the Tigers and mathematically clinched the title for St. Stephens.

The Tribe will face off against the Fred T. Foard Tigers this Tuesday night 1-29-02 at 6:30 PM at St. Stephens. The Tigers are capable of spoiling the perfect conference season, but can not knock the Tribe out of being the Southwestern Foothills Conference Champion nor out of the first seed play off spot in the 3A State Dual Team Championship. Kings Mountain will travel to Burns. The winner of the KM / Burns match will draw the last available seed for our conference into the State Dual Team Championship.

Go to the Southwestern Foothills Conference Standings on the "Latest News" page to get an overview of the conference.

Little Indian Classic Was A Great Success
Over 230 middle school wrestlers converged on the high school this weekend to battle for a Little Indian Classic Championship. You can see the result on the Little Indian Classic page. Look for the link for Results at the top of the page.

The wrestlers of St. Stephens went to the mountain top to take on the 4A Pioneers of Watauga. The outcome was not as expected as the Tribe won 12 of the 14 weight divisions. The final outcome was 67-6 in favor of the Tribe.

The Pioneers manage two wins by decision over determined Tribe opponents. Brandon Reitzel lost to Byan Cooke 10-3 in the 135 weight division which gave Watauga their first three points. Matt Helton at 152 of the Indians held off Garrett Atkinson and lost 7-2. Atkinson is the #2 ranked 145 wrestler in the 4A division. This loss was really a great accomplishment against a seasoned polished wrestler as Atkinson. It gave the Pioneers their final three points of the evening.

The highlight match of the evening was the long awaited rematch of St. Stephens' two time state champion Drew Froshey with the #1 ranked 4A 119 pound senior Sheldon Coffey. Their last time these two tangled was four years ago at the St. Stephens Little Indian Classic in the combined 7th & 8th Grade division. Forshey was in the 7th grade and Coffey was in the 8th. They met in the finals and the entire tournament shut down to watch two future champions square off. Drew won in the final minute after fighting off his back from a Coffey pinning combination. Watauga and St. Stephens fans have never forgotten that match and tonight the gym was filled with anticipation by the home crowd and everyone who knew the history of these two great competitors.

The dual meet started at the 130 weight class. By the time the Tribe had built up a 57-6 lead the home crowd was understandably quite. When the announcer called for the 119 class opponents the stands began to rock.

Forshey managed the first take down of the match. Coffey escaped, but the next shot scored by Froshey and the first period ended with Forshey ahead 4-1. Foshey took neutral for the start of the second period. Forshey's next shot got in deep and finished with a lift to a take down and a two point nearfall. Coffey again fought quickly off the back exposure and worked another escape. During the escape Froshey caught a shot to the head and started a nose bleed. The match was halted as the coaching staff hurried to remedy the bleeding. The period ended with Froshey ahead 8-2.

Coffey took down in the third period. He quick escaped and then sent the home crowd into a frenzy with his first takedown of the match. After a few seconds of control by Coffey, Froshey executed an escape which set the match score at 9-5 in Forshey's favor. Both wrestlers spared off physically and repeatedly with each other knowing that the next series of move would determine the match. Coffey shot repeatedly, but Forshey defended and scrambled to fend off the attacks. With precious seconds left on the clock, Foshey found an opening in Coffey's attack and managed another deep shot to a lift. He took Coffey down to his back for the pin, but time expired. Forshey was awarded a takedown and a three point near fall for the maneuver. Forshey finished the match with a major decision 14-5 win.

Both wrestlers were applauded by all the fans. The crowd had just watched the caliber of wrestling that is rarely seen until the last rounds of the state finals. Both wrestlers congratulated each other on a spectacular battle. They will never see each other again in high school wrestling.

It was not expected to turn out like this, but the Tribe bowed its back and wrestled an outstanding "must win" match against Burns. The Tribe won 60-6 and gained a 4-0 conference record. Burns falls to 4-1. Only long time rival Fred T. Foard stands in the way of the Tribe to clinch their third straight wrestling conference title.

The match of the evening was an outstanding performance by Junior Adam Hosterman at 140 who won 5-4 in a tough contested match with the #2 ranked 140 lb Josh Wortman from Burns. The Tribe won 13 out of the 14 matches.

It all comes down to Tuesday night at 6:30 on the mat St. Stephens. The Tribe, 3-0 in conference matches, will take on Burns High School whose conference record is 4-0. The winner will have a firm command on the final outcome of the Southwestern Foothill Conference Wrestling Championship as well as a top regional seeding in the State Dual Team Playoffs. Click on the link below to view the standings in the conference.

We need everybody in the gym that night to pull for the Tribe. This is the match you've been waiting to see. Fourteen young men will put their pride and honor on the line for St. Stephens in an effort to place themselves closer to a third straight conference championship title and their first title in the Southwestern Foothills Conference.

I would also like to extend a very proud congratulations to the students of St. Stephens that just recently won the Catawba County Quiz Bowl. This was an outstanding effort by outstanding students. As a 1970 alumni of SSHS, I am very proud to know that my old high school has the dedicated faculty, supportive staff, and the students to make SSHS shine in our community. Great job by all.

St. Stephens wrestling made a big step in the conference standings tonight by defeating conference opponent Kings Mountain 49-18. This gave the Tribe a 3-0 conference record with only 3 matches remaining in the schedule. Kings Mountain dropped to 2-1.

Freshman Jonathan Troutman led off the Tribe with a come from behind 4-3 victory over Brooks Tate in the 125 pound division. Brandon Sisk pulled out a nail bitter at 160 with a 3rd period reversal to clinch the match at 4-2. Other key matches of the evening for the Tribe was a pin by Daniel Eckard at 215 and a pin by Vanna Lao at 112. The Mountaineers captured only four wins in the contest with two pins and two decisions.

The Tribe is now 22-3 overall and will face Lincolnton Wednesday night in Lincolnton for a snow make up match

St. Stephens wrestling shoots for its 3rd straight conference championship with an opening week of two dominating wins. Hickory fell to the Tribe 59-12 and Crest was put away early in a 73-3 win.

Next week the Tribe travels to face off with Kings Mountain. We will need all the support we can get to get by the solid Mountaineer team.

The Tribe cruised throught the first day of competition at the East Burke Duals, but the second day was loaded with stiff competition. The first competitive match up was a rematch with Newton Conover. The Tribe once again prevailed with match clinching pin in the next to last match with Vanna Lao pinning Joe King in the 112 lb division. The Tribe won the rematch 38-31. Our match up with Avery was close as well, but we were not able to seal the match and we suffered our second dual loss of the season 29-36. The last match of the day was not good for the Tribe as they faced off with a excellent and strong team from Pisgah. The Tribe could only win 4 of the 14 weight classes in a third dual loss by a score of 24-45.

The Tribe finished second behind 4A Cary this weekend in the Cary News Invitational. This is the second year in a row that the Tribe have finished in second place. This was a very strong showing for the Tribe as they competed against a field of 29 high schools from across the state.

The tournament medaled the top six wrestlers in each weight class. The Tribe wrestlers medaled six wrestlers.

Drew Froshey took top honors at the tournament by winning the 119 pound division and was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler. Foshey defeated the #1 ranked independent high school wrestler Teddy Clancy from Ravenscroft by a score of 20-9 and clinched the championship with a 14-5 win over #7 4A wrestler Matt Finneran from Cary.

Josh Triplett at 189 and Matt White at 275 placed second in the tournament. Triplett defeated the #5 ranked 4A 189 wrestler Nate Lyash of Hoggard, but lost in the finals to #3 ranked 189 4A Andrew Bost. Matt White lost in the finals 0-2 to Rickey Kinner of Avery County.

Nathan Sefcik at 145 placed third with his only lost coming at the hands of Lucas Riley of Cardinal Gibbons. Riley is the #1 ranked wrestler in the 145 division of independent high schools.

Brandon Sisk at 171 placed fourth losing only two of his six matches. Both matches were close at 1-4 and 2-4.

Matt Helton at 152 place 5th. Jonathan Troutman at 125 placed 6th and Brian Wales at 160 placed 6th.

The Tribe wrestled steady and with the control of a balanced team this past Saturday to gain an impressive championship at the West Lincoln Rebel Duals. The Tribe unexpectedly shut out Southwest Guilford in the opening round with a 75-0 victory.

This pitted the Indians against Alleghany, the 4th ranked NC team in the 2A Division. The team balanced held Alleghany at bay by giving up only two pins in the match and closing the match with a 40-24 victory. The highlight match was the heavyweight division when the Tribe's Matt White won a major decision 11-3 over Matthew Linker, ranked 3rd in the heavyweight 2A division.

The Tribe faced off in the finals with the terror of Lincoln County, the West Lincoln Rebels. Ranked 5th in the 2A division, the Rebels are always a solid and hard nosed opponent. Destiny was with the Tribe this day as they only lost three matches during the finals. The Indians claimed the Championship with a convincing 53-18 win over the Rebels. The upset match in the finals was the Tribe's Chad Stephens with a first period pin over Chris Godfrey who is ranked 4th in the 2A division.

Although this was a solid team performance, there was one individual on the team that won the respect from the supporting SSHS fans and his teammates. Brian Wales won all three of his matches during the tournament. He wrestled for the Tribe in the 152 and 160 slots. This is special in the fact that Brian had just broke into the starting lineup and in now 4-0 in his new Varsity role. He was selected by his teammates as the individual to accepted the championship trophy in the awards presentation.

Another milestone in SSHS wrestling happened in the finals against West Lincoln at the 189 lb. match. The Tribe's Josh Triplett gained his 100th St. Stephens Career Victory with pin over his West Lincoln opponent.

The Tribe is now 11-1 in dual team action. The next action will take place next weekend at the Cary News Invitational, Cary High School, Cary NC.

The Tribe showed to be overhelming to the Warriors of West Caldwell. While there are many victories to talk about the most important in my mind are two individuals that stepped into the limelight for the first time in a Varsity level match.

Wesley Harmon stepped into the 135 lb slot at the last minute for the Tribe and sealed a big first Varsity win with a pin.

Brian Wales at 160 lbs gets his first start after two years of waiting for his break. He to pinned to seal his first Varsity victory. Brian was with the team last year on its run to the State Dual Championships. It is individuals like him that constantly battle for a starting position that pushes our team to higher abilities. Thanks for hanging in there Brian, we're very happy for you.

Both of these Tribe wrestlers came in under the crunch to assist the team and made the best of the opportunity. Congratulations to both of these true team wrestlers.

12-05-01 Jonathan Troutman Named Co-Wrestler of the Week by Observer News Enterprise
Click for article

There were some very impressive matches that the Tribe battled tonight against some very talented opposition. Matt Helton lost 0-2 against a very seasoned Will Madison at 152. Brandon Sisk held a close match with state champion Jonathan Geisler but lost 2-6. Jonathan Troutman lost to Ben Madison 3-7. Adam Hosterman lost in the final seconds of the match to German Rodriquez 8-14. These wrestlers did their part in taking the best shots that Stateville had to offer and held them to only 12 points. They turned it over to their team mates to close out the match. The rest of the Tribe applauded their effort and then carried the match back home for another Indian victory with a score of 48-12.

Daniel Eckard performed his best comeback match of his high school career. Down by 3 a the start of the third period, Daniel rallied and scored a last second take down to win a 13-12 match over his Statesville opponent. Sophomore Brandon Reitzel wrestled close in his match and gained a last second takedown for a 2-1 win.

Our lights weights Kevin Indenbaum 103 and Vanna Lao 112 struck like lighting tonight with pins in 30 and 35 seconds in the first period. Statesville forfeited to Drew Forshey and Josh Triplett won. Both now have a 10-0 start to the season.

12-03-01 Observer News Enterprise Coverage of the Indian Classic AND
MORE PICS FROM THE CLASSIC (this option will a little time to load)

East Burke pull out a 1/2 point win to take the 2001 Indian Classic. To see details click here.

It was a brawl as usual with East Burke, but the proud Tribe battled to a 38-30 victory. The Cavilers had the upper hand early and they let us know it with their strong crowd supporters. The Tribe was down 0-15 after 3 matches and the Burke crowd was looking for a runaway. But, the Tribe banded together to take back the match with great matches from the Forshey, Troutman, Stephens. Hosterman, Sisk and Triplett.

The match of the night was from Senior Matt Helton. He had a great opponent in Lee Young, a veterian and seasoned wrestler. Both fought to exhaustion and both had to fight out of pinning combinations to stay alive in the seesaw match. Matt was down 7-8 late in the third period when he hit a reversal on Young for the go ahead points and held on for the 9-8 win. This put the Tribe ahead by 5 points in the meet.

Hats off to Matt Helton and also Lee Young of East Burke for a great matchup of strength and courage.

See the details of the match on the Varsity Wrestling Schedule page. Click on the date of the East Burke match to get the pop up screen.

Indians fall 2 points short of defeating 4A powerhouse Davie County. It was a great tournament for the Tribe with wins over Harding 72-9, Chase 70-6, Alexander Central 66-12, and East Mecklenburg 31-17. To see all the tournament scores click here.

11-20-01 St. Stephens 44 - Newton Conover 24 . Wins seson opener. Article from the Observer News Enterprise. Thanks for the media coverage from Josh Grindle and ONE.

The Big Chief wants to welcome you to another year of exciting St. Stephens' Wrestling. This year has the potential for another winning season. Losing only two seniors from last year's BACK to BACK Conference Champions, Western Regional Dual Champions and State Runner Up Dual Team Champions , the Tribe can make a strong showing with the returning lineup.

Indian Nation's Grand Chief

was

Heapum Pleased