BY EARL VAUGHAN JR. | CityView Sports Columnist
Chris Green was staring at a recipe for disaster when he took the mat this year with his 2023-24 Pine Forest wrestling team.
After winning the All American Conference title in his first season as head coach, he lost nine starters and returned a team dominated by underclassmen.
But with the help of his coaching staff, and senior leadership from Jiwaun “Scooter” Flemming, the Trojans took their second conference title in a row under Green and the school’s third straight.
For his efforts, Green was honored as the All American Conference wrestling Coach of the Year.
“We really honed these young men from being freshmen, sophomores and juniors to being where they are at today,’’ Green said.
It was a group effort for sure as Green has a full-time job beyond his duties as wrestling coach. During the remainder of the school year, Green is occupied as the athletic trainer for Pine Forest. He’s not allowed to be athletic trainer while coaching during wrestling season.
That’s why his assistants play a critical role in the offseason while he focuses on training duties. The staff includes Rogers Williams, Aaron Gunning and Manuel Ramirez. Green’s team does conditioning workouts twice a week in the offseason. At the start of wrestling season, when the football team is still playing, his assistants run the practices.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the assistants,’’ Green said, “and the kids that I have that are young that are willing to put in the time for wrestling. It’s a lot of time.
“Them being in here, coming into the (wrestling) room, buying into the program and what we are teaching, that’s what makes us a championship team.’’
In the recent All American Conference tournament, Pine Forest fielded competitors in 13 of the 14 weight classes, bringing home six individual championships and placing in the top four in the remaining classes they were in.
His mother’s desire to get her family closer to relatives in South Carolina landed senior standout Flemming at Pine Forest.
He took the championship at 215 pounds with a pin of Terry Sanford’s Dillon Cromartie at 1:02. Flemming’s record for the season is 37-7.
“The more we keep our competitive spirit, it drives us to push ourselves to do better,’’ Flemming said.
He added a lot of competitors lose their spirit and he feels it’s his responsibility to keep the team motivated so they fight for what they want.
One of the motivated youngsters on the team is sophomore Sam Gantt who qualified for the state tournament as a freshman.
Gantt took the 144-pound conference title with a pin of Westover’s Cory Cooper at 5:36 of their match. Gantt has a record of 44-3.
“You can have a thousand moves but if you can’t pull it together at the end, you’re not going to win the match,’’ he said. “I just feel every time I step on the mat, I want it more than that other guy. I want to be the best.’’
Gantt feels the key to success for the Trojans is having the same mindset and being on the same page. “Go in there and wrestle hard,’’ he said.
The Trojans, along with the rest of the high school wrestling teams in North Carolina, have a busy stretch of action coming up as the postseason is here.
First and second rounds are Jan. 27, third round and regionals Jan. 31 and state finals Feb. 3.
Individual women’s regionals are Feb. 2 to 3. Individual men’s regionals are Feb. 9 to 10. State championships for all are Feb. 15 to 17.
Pine Forest, a 4-A school, has an 18-2 dual record with a loss to 4-A power Hoke and 3-A power Union Pines. They also have a win over Hoke.
Dual team brackets were scheduled to be announced Thursday morning for this year’s dual team tournament. However due to multiple errors in data used to compile the brackets, the announcement was delayed past CityView Today's deadline.
In the upcoming state individual tournament, Green hopes to qualify from five to seven wrestlers.
“We have a certain culture in our room,’’ he said. “We want to win and expect to win.’’
