Former Fairmont State wrestler to be inducted into Ohio Chapter National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Sep. 23—FAIRMONT — A native of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, John Stephenson wrestled at Fairmont State College from 1969 to 1973, earning National Association of Interscholastic Athletics All-American honors his freshman year. He went on to coach wrestling at Cadiz High School in Ohio and will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Ohio chapter next month.

Born in 1951 to James and Barbara Stephenson in Waynesburg, John Stephenson grew up in a wrestling family. As many as 13 of his cousins were wrestlers, and his father ran a wrestling program in Waynesburg for children, which allowed Stephenson to begin wrestling in kindergarten.

Stephenson wrestled all the way from kindergarten through high school at Waynesburg High where wrestling held the top spot for most beloved winter sport when he was a student.

"Wrestling in Waynesburg was the major sport in most places," Stephenson said. "On Friday nights there's basketball games, on Saturday night there's basketball games. In Waynesburg and Western Pennsylvania, wrestling took over Friday night and Saturday night."

Stephenson didn't crack varsity until junior year of high school, mainly because he sat behind a "state caliber wrestler." After two years of high school varsity wrestling and graduating in 1969, Stephenson nearly went to Robert Morris University (then Robert Morris Junior College) and become an accountant before his guidance counselor led him a different direction.

"I probably would have never went to Fairmont State if it hadn't been for my guidance counselor," Stephenson said. "My guidance counselor was a guy by the name of Bucky Murdock, and he coached Waynesburg College [wrestling] at the time, and he ended up being a guidance counselor at our high school."

Murdock led Stephenson to go to Fairmont State after the college's wrestling coach, Bill Kerr, recruited Stephenson. According to Stephenson, he started his wrestling career at Fairmont State two weeks after graduating high school.

Wrestling at 126 pounds, Stephenson competed for Kerr for three years and then under Sam Church his senior year for the Falcons. His greatest achievement was being named an NAIA All-American as a freshman.

His junior year, Stephenson's parents moved down to Mannington as his father took a job as a superintendent for Carnegie Natural Gas. According to Stephenson, his father stayed active in teaching wrestling.

"He helped Roy Michael start wrestling at Mannington [High School]," Stephenson said.

Stephenson's parents then moved back to Waynesburg after his father retired.

Also in his junior year at Fairmont State, Stephenson met a wrestler from Fairmont Senior High named Joseph Naternicola.

"I met [Stephenson] at wrestling practice, first day we started in the fall," Naternicola said. "I met him in the old Colebank Gym Fieldhouse when the team met for the first time."

Naternicola, who now serves as the athletic director for Fairmont Senior, started his wrestling career as a junior in high school. He wrestled in a higher weight class than Stephenson, but Stephenson helped Naternicola improve on the wrestling mat.

"He helped me get to be a better wrestler because he had some techniques and things I didn't do," Naternicola said. "For instance, he was a leg wrestler, and he helped me somewhat with that. I was just learning that when I entered my freshman year. He was able to help me develop some of the techniques and skills I later used to wrestle with."

And it wasn't just his teammates Stephenson helped develop into better wrestlers; he also assisted Bob Brookover establish East Fairmont High's wrestling team.

"When I was in college, I helped East Fairmont start their program with Brookover," Stephenson said. "I went over [on the weekends] and helped him some when I was still in college because they were just starting."

Graduating from Fairmont State in 1973 with a bachelor of arts in industrial arts and physical education, Stephenson accepted the position to be the head wrestling coach at Cadiz High in Cadiz, Ohio, located up northwest of Wheeling along US 250.

Stephenson had his work cut out for him at Cadiz. The wrestling team formed the year prior with one of the football coaches coaching it, meaning he nearly had to start from scratch. He had to make do with the resources available and be creative.

"It would have been a heck of a lot easier to go to a school that already had a wrestling room and already had a program on one side, but then the other side of it, you've got everything set the way you wanted it," Stephenson said. "We practiced on the stage my first year, and the stage wasn't big enough for the mat. So we made platforms to have the whole mat, but you had the danger of somebody falling off the platform into the stands in practice."

Fortunately for Stephenson and the wrestling team, the school turned a loft above a classroom at the high school into a wrestling room big enough to accompany the needs of the team.

Stephenson turned Cadiz's wrestling team into a powerhouse in Ohio high school athletics. As the head coach, Stephenson's wrestlers compiled a 142-18-2 record in dual meets, won 12 Ohio Valley Athletic Conference meet titles, 12 OVAC AA tournament titles, eight sectional titles, seven district titles and the 1981 OVAC overall tournament title.

Perhaps his greatest achievement as coach came in the 1986-87 season, when Cadiz won the Ohio State Class A wrestling championship, and Stephenson was named State Class A Coach of the Year.

"My fondest memory is probably winning the state title in 1987," Stephenson said. "And we beat a team, Bridgeport, right down the river from Wheeling, and that team got second. We were in a battle with them for several years, and we won it in '87."

Stephenson retired from coaching a year later in 1988. He accepted an administrative position after coaching and became part time assistant principal at Cadiz in 1990, becoming the full time principal in 1997. In 2000, he took charge in consolidating Cadiz with Lakeland High and Jewett-Scio High into Harrison Central High , where he worked as principal until 2003. He officially retired from administrative work in 2007 and continued to involve himself in Ohio high school wrestling.

Reflecting on his career and accomplishment, Stephenson said he enjoyed everything he did and wouldn't change a thing. But if he had to change something, he'd coach wrestling for a few more years.

"If I had to do one thing over, I probably would have coached more years," Stephenson said. "I love the sport of wrestling. I've got two grandsons, one in third grade and one in sixth grade, and they're very accomplished wrestlers. And I went for several years to help them get started and help them get a good foundation for wrestling."

And for all his life's work dedicated to the sport of wrestling, the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will induct Stephenson and six others into its ranks Oct. 15 in Columbus, Ohio.

While he is the one receiving the honor, Stephenson believes it's all thanks to everyone around him from his time as a coach that got him into the Hall of Fame.

"A coach can't do much of anything unless he has good dedicated athletes, dedicated parents, dedicated community and fans and a dedicated administration and school district to help you," Stephenson said. "This award might be in my name, but the award has really been earned and possessed by the kids that worked hard and won what we won."

Still, Stephenson won't forget his time as a Falcon at Fairmont State.

"I loved my time at Fairmont State," Stephenson said. "And if I had to do it again, I'd go there again."

Reach Colin C. Rhodes at 304-367-2548