Athlete Spotlight: Rick Stahman

Greenbrier High School's Rick Stahman has a plan for his high school wrestling career.

The junior is a starter on the Wolfpack wrestling team and earned a region championship this year in the 215-pound weight class.

That's only part of the plan.

"Personally, I want to leave as the first wrestling state champion out of Greenbrier," Stahman said.

Jay Adkins took a third-place finish at state competition last season for the Wolfpack. This year, Stahman took the spotlight in Macon, Ga., by going further into the state tournament than any other Columbia County wrestler.

In Thursday's opening round, Stahman pinned Mike Faison from Mt. Zion, in less than 90 seconds.

"The first round I was kind of nervous because there were a lot of people there," Stahman said. "I had a first-round pin that knocked the butterflies out."

Stahman went on to win his second-round match by a 10-8 decision before losing 13-10 to Henry County's Jonathan Parker in the third round.

Stahman shook off the loss and came back to win his first loser's bracket match over Carl Fincher from East Paul by a 1-0 decision. His final match was a 12-7 loss to Stockbridge's Jose Paz. The defeat knocked Stahman out of the tournament only one match shy of a medal.

"It was by far the toughest competition I've ever faced. I saw the best wrestlers in the state of Georgia," Stahman said.

Despite leaving Macon without a medal, Stahman's performance was a vast improvement on last year's state tournament trip. As a sophomore, the leading Wolfpack wrestler took an early first-round exit.

Stahman, however, credited the experience from last year's state tournament as a main reason for his success this season. On a team with only one senior, Stahman said, the Greenbrier squad benefited from this state tournament.

"We had a lot of young wrestlers there," he said. "It was important that everyone got experience at the state level for next year."

With two years of state tournament experience under his belt, Stahman is in prime position for a state title bid next season. Greenbrier wrestling head coach Mike Meyer said Stahman might be the man for a first Wolfpack wrestling state championship.

"As far as what we've got on our team, I think he's got the best chance of doing that." Meyer said. "A lot will depend on which weight class he wrestles in. If he stays where he's at, I can only see him getting much better."