SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 1-17-10
Ian Harper of Chesterfield ties all time
South Carolina career victory mark at 232!
Chesterfield's Ian Harper earning 6 points
Chesterfield's Ian Harper works for a pin
For the FIFTH year in a row the State record for all time career wins will change hands.
Ian Harper of Chesterfield tied the mark of 232 wins, set last year by Eric Rholetter of West-Oak,
during a dual match this past week. With 5 dual matches expected from Ian on Monday at the MLK Duals,
we should have a new record holder next week. You can expect Ian to remain at the top of the
All Time Win list for quite a while, as he entered the season at 198-2 and will shatter the
record book if he stays injury free.
Ian has has had a fabulous career with three State titles and a career record of 232-4 (so far).
A break down of his year by year Stats go like this ---
2007 - Freshman season - 60-1
112 lbs. - Ian Harper would pin Ethan Lecroy of Walhalla (a Junior) in the 2A-1A State Finals.
2008 - Sophomore season - 68-1
119 lbs. - Ian Harper would pin Raffeal Burkette of Cheraw (a Senior) in the 2A-1A State Finals.
2009 - Junior season - 70-0
125 lbs. - Ian Harper would win a 10-3 contest with Rashad Cunningham of Buford (a Junior) in the 2A-1A State Finals.
2010 - Senior season - 34-2 (so far)
135 lbs. - Ian has been ranked #1 all season long
There is plenty to still accomplish this season, even after Ian breaks the all time win record this week.
In 2008, SCMAT published an article on brothers and we had a list of "Most Family State Titles".
With the update to this list below, you can see Ian Harper is looking to put the Harper brothers
in a tie with the Corbins with 8 career state titles. If Ian wins another individual state title
this year, the brother duo of Ian and Dalton will become the first set of brothers to each win
four state titles.
8 - Martin (Jordan '05, Bryce '05, 07-'08, Corbin '05-08) Eastside (3A)
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7 - Harper (Dalton '05-08, Ian '07-00**) Chesterfield (2A-1A)
7 - McClester (Ryan '99-01, Lance '04-06, Justin '09) Lugoff-Elgin (3A)
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6 - Connell (Ben '97-00, Campbell '07 and Will '09**) Lugoff-Elgin (3A)
6 - Mack (Barnell '78-'81, Larry '80-81) Swansea (2A-1A)
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5 - Bell (Robby '95-98, Tommy '96) Hillcrest (4A)
5 - Brockington (Doug '81 '83 and Pernell '82'84) St. Andrews (3A, 3A-2A-1A)
5 - Dotter (Floyd '78-80, Leo '79, Danny '83 Bonds-Wilson, Hanahan (3A)
5 - Rumble (David '84, Joey '86-88, Danny '91) Hanahan (3A-2A-1A)
5 - Selke (T.J. '02-03, Corneilius '04-06 Dutch Fork (4A)
5 - Shelble (Pat '80, Joe '80-81, Mike '80-81) Chapin (2A-1A)
5 - Smith (David '79-81 and Tommy '85-86) Swansea (2A-1A)
5 - Smith (Taris '89 '91, Terrance '94-95) Swansea (2A-1A)
5 - Stephenson (Craig '93-95, Chad '94-95) Summerville, Mauldin (4A)
5 - Wirnsberger (Dave '87, Dan '87-00) Greer (3A-2A-1A)
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4 - Brockington (Franklin '02, Richard '02-03, Watch '02) Lake City (3A)
4 - Cherry (Kendrick '96, Marcus '98-00) Rock Hill (4A)
4 - Creech (Corey '86 '88, James '87-88) Dreher (3A-2A-1A)
4 - Duncan (Adam '94-96, Jarrod '00) West-Oak (2A-1A)
4 - Fowler (Chris '78-79, Calvin '79-80) Greer (3A)
4 - LaFond (Johnny '83, Benjy '86-88) Summerville (4A)
4 - Moseley (John '95, Jeremy '97-'98 '00) Chapin (2A-1A)
4 - Reeve (Mark '74-76, David '78) Greer (4A-3A-2A-1A, 3A)
4 - Walker (Andrew '81, Roslin '86, Dennis '92-93) Swansea (2A-1A, 3A-2A-1A)
** - denotes active wrestler
With most wrestlers gaining 50+ or 60+ matches a season now, the chances of
a wrestler achieving 200+ wins in a season has become a reality. First
though, an outstanding freshman year will help. Most wrestlers begin peaking
in their junior and senior seasons, so finding the ability to achieve early
success as a freshman and sophomore is the only way to reach 200 wins.
Last season Ian Harper reached a milestone that no other S.C. wrestler had reached before.
Ian had 70 wins in a season, a perfect 70-0 in fact, so there was no room for a loss in
order to reach 70 wins. Let's check out the progression of "season wins" over the years.
Wrestling became sanctioned in S.C. with the 1968-1969 and 20-28 matches a year was normal.
By the late 1970's, we had our first S.C. wrestler break 30 wins. By the mid 1990's, we had
our first S.C. wrestler break 40 wins. In 1999, we finally had wrestlers getting in over
50 matches and wins per year. 110 times since 1999 we have had a S.C. wrestler reach 50 or
more wins in a season.
Here is the list with the greatest number of wins logged each season when results
were submitted to the media or SCMAT (send updates/additions to scmat@hotmail.com):
Year Wrestler Team Record Milestone
---- --------------- ------------------- ------ --------------------------------
1999 Dale Phillips Berkeley 53-4 First year 50+ wins was achieved &
1999 Clayton Buckner Berkeley 50-7 three wrestlers surpassed the mark
1999 Myron Drayton Berkeley 50-5
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2007 T.T. Prayther North Myrtle Beach 63-1 First year 60+ wins was achieved &
2007 Eric Rholetter West-Oak 62-2 four wrestlers surpassed the mark
2007 Ian Harper Chesterfield 60-1
2007 Chip Hester North Myrtle Beach 60-3
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2009 Ian Harper Chesterfield 70-0 First year 70+ wins was achieved
We will wrap this article up and leave you with a couple of links that may be of interest.
Congratualtions to Ian Harper of Chesterfield for being set to break the State record for
career wins on Monday!
Check out our updated Career Win list below:
South Carolina High School Wrestling Records - Career Wins
Almost two years ago we ran this article on Ian's brother Dalton:
Dalton Harper of Chesterfield, Ian's brother, breaks record in 2008
Hopefully in this SCMAT exclusive article, 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