Bryant Blanton (Summerville/Newberry College) ------ JC Oddo (Eastside/The Citadel) ------- Brantley Hooks (Byrnes/Bucknell University)
The S.C. North/South All-Star Wrestling Classic is getting ready to hold our 23rd year for the event from March 3-5 at North Myrtle Beach High School. Many wrestling greats have been through the grassroots of wrestling in South Carolina and continue to compete on the collegiate level. Bryant Blanton, JC Oddo and Brantley Hooks are highlighted above from their high school days. They were each honored with a "Wrestler of the Year" award at the North/South All-Star banquet. The S.C. All-Star match is rich in history and we are fortunate to have a Coaches Association that has made this event such a tremendous success. To take you back in time 20-something years ago ... before every current senior All-Star was born ... The first All-Star match was held in 1989 at Brookland Cayce High School. It was a one-day event held on Saturday. The event would run for three years as just an All-Star match before converting in 1992 to the team format with North versus South. The idea for the All-Star match came out the SC Wrestling Coaches Association with Coach Jim Barnes (Rock Hill) getting primary credit from his peers. The Coaches would often get together to talk about ways to improve wrestling in the State of S.C. and the idea for the All-Star match came out of one of those get togethers. As Coach John Checkovich recalled it was probably over a bucket of chicken in Columbia. Coach Checkovich, who started the wrestling team at Brookland Cayce in 1968-1969 when S.C. wrestling first began, would become the leader and organizer of our All-Star event for many years. All of the coaches were involved pulling meals together, donating T-shirts, giving money to the event ... what ever it took, they found a way to make it succeed! The event has grown from a one day event on a shoe string budget to a 4-day event with Coaches arriving on Wednesday, Wrestlers arriving on Thursday, the North-South All-Star match on Friday night and the Featured All-Star matches on Saturday afternoon. The coaches have done an amazing job with organizing hotel accomodations, exceptional meals, warm-ups for the wrestlers, etc. Coach Charlie Clay of North Myrtle Beach H.S. was the cornerstone for this event moving to NMB and gaining stature. He has been largely responsible for taking the event to the next level and making it a career highlight moment for 70-80 seniors every year. Coach Clay announced his retirement from coaching wrestling at the end of the 2008 season and though he remains involved in the North/South All-Star event, Coach Brian Neal at NMB continues the great tradition on The Strand. Here are links to the North/South All-Star Classic Classic from the past years: 2010 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2009 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2008 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2007 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2006 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2005 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results 2004 North/South Wrestling All-Star Classic results Here is a history of the All-Star event from 1989-2010: 1989, 1990, 1991 - top 4 seniors, all classes, known as the All-Star Classic In 1992 the format changed to a team concept with North versus South 1992 4A North 36, South 18 3A-2A-1A South 29, North 26 1993 4A South 31, North 23 3A-2A-1A South 31, North 27 1994 4A North 40, South 18 3A-2A-1A South 38, North 18 1995 4A South 35, North 15 (validating if South had 32) 3A-2A-1A South 21, North 15 1996 4A North 34, South 24 (validating if North had 31) 3A-2A-1A North 38, South 23 1997 4A South 38, North 31 (validating if South had 39) 3A-2A-1A South 62, North 18 (validating if South had 65 and North had 15) 1998 4A South 36, North 33 3A-2A-1A North 43, South 32 1999 (Rulon Gardner speaks at the Banquet one year before winning Olympic Gold) 4A North 38, South 32 3A North 34, South 24 2A-1A North 32, South 24 2000 4A South 32, North 32 (South wins by criteria, most individual wins 9-8) 3A North 51, South 21 2A-1A South 30, North 21 2001 4A South 49, North 12 3A South 55, North 10 2A-1A North 31, South 23 2002 South 120, North 37 2003 North 97, South 82 Feature Matches began in 2003 1st Dream Match - 140-TJ Selke - Dutch Fork [S] dec. 145-Alex Piper - Hilton Head [N], 3-2 2004 South 84, North 76 2005 South 87, North 69 2006 North 77, South 70 2007 South 81, North 68 2008 North 80, South 56 2009 South 53, North 46 2010 South 87, North 69 South leads the all time series 19-13 Locations for the All-Star event over the years: Brookland Cayce - 1989-1993, 1995-2001 Lexington - 1994 Spring Valley - 2002, 2003 North Myrtle Beach - 2004 to present And, for a little Flowrestling video flashback, check out this great 2008 match with future NJCAA All-American TT Prayther: 2008 S.C. North-South All Star Match TT Prayther vs Jared Williams
One of the great traditions that came out of the North/South All-Star event was the "Wrestler of the Year" awards given out by the SC Wrestling Coaches Association. Here is a history of this annual award given out at the North/South All-Star banquet: 2009-2010 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ian Harper - Chesterfield 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Seiji Borja - Fort Dorchester 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - John Hunnicutt - West-Oak 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Akkerian Gilliam - Woodruff 2008-2009 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Eddie Coles - Eastside 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Brandon Feix - Fort Mill 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Eric Rholetter - West Oak 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Zane Newton - Emerald 2007-2008 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - T.T. Prayther - North Myrtle Beach 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Robert Quinn - Fort Dorchester 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Corbin Martin - Eastside 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Dalton Harper - Chesterfield 2006-2007 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - J.C. Oddo, Eastside 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Christain Johnson, Summerville 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Winfred McMoore, Berea 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Pat Stanley, Bishop England 2005-2006 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Brantley Hooks, Byrnes 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Bryant Blanton, Summerville 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Matt Leach, Eastside 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Derek Royster, Woodruff 2004-2005 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - J.J. Davis, Byrnes 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Stryker Huffman, Fort Dorchester 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ronnell Harper, Belton-Honea Path 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Damien Pegues, Cheraw 2003-2004 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Gerald Turner, Summerville 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Andrew Young, Summerville 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ian Barker, Summerville 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Kyle Kimrey, Dutch Fork 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Chris Humphries, Riverside 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Donte Isaac, Cheraw 2002-2003 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - T.J. Selke - Dutch Fork 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Nick Leone - Dutch Fork 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Alex Piper - Hilton Head 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Theo Meryanos - Carolina Forest 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Brian McFadden - Lake City 2A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Darius Caldwell - Swansea 1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Harley Lail - Indian Land 2001-2002 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Careef Robertson - Dutch Fork 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Andy King - Fort Mill 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Watch Brockington - Lake City 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Matt Brigman - Swansea 2000-2001 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Rodney Wallace - Bamberg-Ehrhardt 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Steven Kamyk - Fort Dorchester 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ryan McClester - Lugoff-Elgin 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Jeff Courson - Lugoff-Elgin 2A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Marquis Ratliff - Cheraw 1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Matt Gibson - Indian Land 1999-2000 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ben Connell - Lugoff-Elgin 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Marcus Cherry - Rock Hill 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Brent McCorkle - Eastside 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Jeremy Mosely - Chapin 1998-1999 S.C. Senior Wrestler of the Year - Chris Collins - Rock Hill 4A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ben LaPrad - Dutch Fork 3A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Ben Bindewald - Riverside 2A-1A Senior Wrestler of the Year - Kenny James - Swansea Prior to 1998-1999, the Charleston based Magazine "High School Sports Report" covered our annual wrestling awards, starting in 1994. No records are available fom 1994-1998, though we have pursued getting the awards list from the High School Sports Report with no luck. And finally, some interesting trivia from the North/South All-Star event ... Six Wrestling USA Magazine cover shots have been from the S.C. North/South All-Star event.
2005 North/South All-Star Classic
March 1, 2006 - State Champion J.J. Davis (Byrnes High School) works to turn
Corey Dangerfield (Airport High School) in J.J.’s 18-3 victory.
2004 North/South All-Star Classic
December 15, 2004 - Chris Humphries of Riverside rides legs on Gerald Turner of Summerville but gets
whistled for being potentially dangerous. Turner would win this North-South All-Star match 5-4 in an
epic battle of two multi-state champs.
2004 North/South All-Star Classic
Fall 2004 Buyers Guide - Chris Humphries of Riverside vs. Gerald Turner of Summerville
2004 North/South All-Star Classic
Spring 2005 Buyers Guide - Matt Silverberg of North Myrtle Beach vs. Timothy Taylor of Lake City
2003 North/South All-Star Classic
September 15, 2003 - State Champion at 145 lbs. Alex Piper of Hilton Head High School, shoots a single leg
on 2x state champion at 140, T.J. Selke, Dutch Fork. Selke won 3-2 and was honored with the South Carolina
Wrestler of the Year Award. Photo from the North-South All-Star match.
1994 North/South All-Star Classic
February 15, 1994 - At the North/South All-Star Classic, Brian Collier of Summerville secures the leg
of Union's Mike Clowney to prevent an escape. Brian defeated Mike to finish his senior year at 34-0.
We believe the S.C. North/South event is one of the longest running state All-Star events of its kind.
PA All-Stars vs. USA All-Stars is probably the most well known high school All-Star event,
but most states do not have an All-Star event for wrestling and for the states we have found
holding a similar event, South Carolina appeared to be years ahead of everyone else.
The following list is a draft of what we have found across the country.
First Year listed for each All-Star event in these states with some notes (send updates/corrections to scmat@hotmail.com)
1975 - Dapper Dan (PA All-Stars vs. USA All-Stars) - http://www.wrestlingclassic.com
1982 - Nebraska Est-West All-Star Classic (probably started between 1982-1985, can not confirm yet)
1987 - Kansas Senior Wrestling Classic All-Star
1989 - South Carolina Wrestling Coaches Association (SCWCA) North/South All-Star Classic
1991 - Gene Gehl All-Star Wrestling Classic (Wisconsin)
1993 - MSWA Senior All-Star Classic (Maryland vs. Virginia) - (possibly had an All-Star match around 1982)
1994 - Indiana-Illinois All-Star Classic
1996 - South Dakota All-Star meet
1997 - The Wrestling USA/Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic - "Team USA" versus the top wrestlers from a host state
2001 - Utah Amateur Wrestling Foundation All-Star Duals
2002 - N.J. Coaches Association All-Star Invitational
2003 - Utah All-Star Classic
2005 - Oregon A vs. California Semior All-Star Dual - http://www.orcadual.com/
2008 - Illinois vs. Iowa All-Star Classic
2009 - Montana Tournament of Champions All-Star Wrestling Event
2009 - Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance (MAWA) All-Star Tournament (restarted after 10+ years absence)
???? - Colorado Wrestling All-Star Team (one reference seen for a match in 1981, can not confirm history yet)
???? - Rhode Island
???? - Minnesota-Wisconsin Senior All-Star Classic
Thanks to our S.C. Wrestling Coaches Association for the hard work and dedication to making this
event so successful!
Best wishes to all the 2011 North/South All-Stars at this weekend's event in North Myrtle Beach!
Wrestlers at the 2011 North/South All-Star Wrestling ClassicIf you notice a correction, addition or just want to comment please send a reply to scmat@hotmail.com thanks, Mark Buford