2007 North/South All-Stars
The North/South All-Star Classic is getting ready to hold the 20th year for the event
this coming weekend (Feb. 29/March 1) in North Myrtle Beach. The All-Star match is rich
in history and we will only cover a portion of the event in this article, though much
more will be covered in future articles.
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
getting primary credit from his peers. The Coaches would often get together to talk about ways to
improve wrestling in the State of SC 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 1969 when SC 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. been the cornerstone for this event over the last 5 years. 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 has announced his retirement from coaching wrestling at the end of this season, though we hope
he remains involved in the North/South All-Star event!!
Here are links to the North/South All-Star Classic from the last 4 years:
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 1989-2007:
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
South leads the all time series 17-13
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
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:
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 are pursuing getting the awards list from the High School Sports Report.
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 South Carolina All-Star event is the longest running state event 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 10 years ahead of everyone else.
Thanks to our Wrestling Coaches Association for the hard work and dedication to making this
event so successful!
Best wishes to all the North/South All-Stars at this weekend's event in North Myrtle Beach!
Wrestlers at the 2008 North/South Wrestling All-Star ClassicHopefully 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