SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 2-5-08
The Greatest Father-Son wrestling combinations
out of South Carolina, a record
about to be broken!
Coach B.D. LaPrad and son Ben LaPrad combine
now as a coaching team at Fort Dorchester.
Before we jump into our latest SCMAT article looking at father and son wrestlers out of SC,
we can first reflect what it may feel like to be a "Manning" right now. As most of you
probably watched, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning became the second Manning son
to be named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player after leading his team to a 17-14 win
and halting New England's bid for a perfect season.
Eli's older brother Peyton was named Super Bowl MVP a year ago after the Indianapolis Colts
beat the Chicago Bears 29-17. They are the first pair of brothers to be MVPs in the
42-year history of the Super Bowl. Peyton was the first selection in the 1998 NFL Draft after
attending the University of Tennessee. Eli was the first selection in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Like his father, he attended Ole Miss.
Their father, Archie Manning, was an NFL quarterback from 1971-84, playing in New Orleans
for 11 years, though he never saw the Saints make it to the playoffs during his career.
Archie may have been more famous as a college quarterback while at Ole Miss. In the first
national prime-time TV broadcast of a college football game, in 1969, Archie Manning threw
3 touchdowns for 436 yards and he also rushed for 104 yards, though losing 33-32 to Alabama.
That 540-yard performance is still tied for the SEC record for most total yards in a game.
Archie's #18 jersey was retired by Ole Miss and he was elected to the College Football
Hall of Fame in 1989. Archie Manning's legacy is honored to this day on the campus of
Ole Miss where the speed limit is eighteen miles per hour in honor of Archie's jersey #.
After the Super Bowl last night, Archie would reflect on the awe of his son's accomplishments.
"I never thought about them even playing college ball, much less pro football, much less
winning Super Bowls or MVPs," Archie Manning told reporters after the game last night.
"It wasn't in the plan. We tried to raise kids. We raised kids just like other parents
raised their kids. I can't explain it."
With SC wrestling only being in its 40th year of the State Tournament, we have not had many
occasions to see success with fathers wrestling in SC and seeing their son(s) wrestle in SC.
It was a thrill to see a family enjoy the spotlight last night at the Super Bowl, but in
South Carolina we may very well find a family up in Westminster enjoying the spotlight in
a few weeks as a recordbook gets updated.
We have had 6 Father-Son State Placer combinations in South Carolina that I am aware of,
so let's see who these families are (if we are missing any send updates to scmat@hotmail.com):
6 State Placements all together
--------------------------------
Rholetter Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
2007 119 2A-1A 1st Eric Rholetter West-Oak
2006 112 2A-1A 1st Eric Rholetter West-Oak
1972 112 4A-3A-2A-1A 2nd Wayne Rholetter Westminster
1971 112 4A-3A-2A-1A 2nd Wayne Rholetter Westminster
1970 112 4A-3A-2A-1A 3rd Wayne Rholetter Westminster
1969 95 4A-3A-2A-1A 2nd Wayne Rholetter Westminster
Davis Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
2005 160 4A 1st J.J. Davis Byrnes
2004 152 4A 2nd J.J. Davis Byrnes
2003 140 4A 2nd J.J. Davis Byrnes
2002 130 4A 4th J.J. Davis Byrnes
1982 132 3A 4th George Davis Byrnes
1981 132 3A 3rd George Davis Byrnes
Gillings Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
1999 125 4A 4th Alex Gillings Airport
1997 112 4A 3rd Alex Gillings Airport
1978 126 4A 1st James Gillings Airport
1977 119 4A-3A-2A-1A 1st James Gillings Airport
1976 105 4A-3A-2A-1A 1st James Gillings Airport
1975 105 4A-3A-2A-1A 2nd James Gillings Airport
5 State Placements all together
--------------------------------
Young Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
2004 125 4A 1st Andrew Young Summerville
2003 119 4A 1st Andrew Young Summerville
2002 103 4A 1st Andrew Young Summerville
1974 126 4A-3A-2A-1A 1st James Young Summerville
1973 119 4A-3A-2A-1A 3rd James Young Summerville
4 State Placements all together
--------------------------------
Devita Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
2007 140 4A 1st Michael Devita Hillcrest
2006 135 4A 2nd Michael DeVita Hillcrest
1981 138 3A 2nd Steve DeVita Walhalla
1980 138 3A 2nd Steve DeVita Walhalla
Young Father-Son(s) wrestling combination with results from SC tournaments:
2006 140 4A 4th Arthur Young Stratford
1976 132 4A-3A-2A-1A 1st Arthur Young Summerville
1975 126 4A-3A-2A-1A 3rd Arthur Young Summerville
1974 112 4A-3A-2A-1A 3rd Arthur Young Summerville
If Eric Rholetter succeeds in placing at State this year, there will be a new record of
Seven (7) State Placements for the father-son combination. They could even stretch the
record to Eight (8) by next season. Though with Nick DeVita of Hillcrest having a great
freshman year there is still plenty to watch over the next few years until more father-son(s)
combinations some along to challenge the recordbooks. And, Michael Young of Fort Dorchester
should add to his father (Arthur) and brother's success for possibly 3 more years.
We have also seen many, many combinations of SC Coaches and their sons wrestling in SC, so
we will try and cover as many as we can, though please send any missing combinations
to scmat@hotmail.com for inclusion on this list. Most of these SC Coaches wrestled out of state,
and many placed in the states where they wrestled growing up. We are fortunate they eventually
moved to South Carolina and brought their coaching talents here as well as seeing their son(s)
succeed at the SC State wrestling tournament.
SC Head Wrestling Coaches (listed first) and son(s) that placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th) in SC State:
John and Greg Abercrombie (Belton-Honea Path and Greg is now coaching at Palmetto)
Jim and Tanner Barnes (Rock Hill)
Mark and Chris Barrett (Pickens)
Joe and Ben and Campbell Connell (Lugoff-Elgin)
John and Alek Checkovich (Brookland Cayce)
Charlie and C.J. Clay (North Myrtle Beach)
Ed and Eddie Coles (Eastside)
Rudy and Clark Cooper (Lower Richland and Lexington)
Tanner and Robert and Brendan Espey (Riverside)
Mike Frye and Chad, Craig and Bobby Stephenson (Mauldin and Summerville)
Dan and Todd Hershberger (Northwestern)
B.D. LaPrad and Ben LaPrad (Dutch Fork and both are now coaching together at Fort Dorchester)
Steve and Brent LaPrad (Summerville)
Paul and Joey Lareau (Chapin)
Todd and Zach and Stephen McCormick (Westside)
Jeff and Jeff Neal (wade Hampton)
Malcolm and Chad Singleton (Blue Ridge and Chad is now coaching at Dorman)
John and John Thompson (Camden)
Since 40 years of wrestling in SC has just started to give us the first combinations of successful
fathers and sons, we should see many names added to this starter list in years to come. Many fathers
are involved in additional capacities, like assistant coaching and volunteering with teams, and we
say thanks to the dads that take the time to be involved!
Hopefully in this SCMAT exclusive article for 2007-2008 the history of SC wrestling is defining itself as
an exciting past with a future awaiting more greatness.
These historical articles at SCMAT will hopefully provide accurate facts though we may always have missed
some data at some point. If you notice a correction, addition or just want to comment please send a reply
to scmat@hotmail.com
thanks,
Mark Buford