New Oglethorpe County high school head wrestling coach Steve Mason is determined to build on the success of his predecessor, Tim Stoudenmire.
Mason, an OCHS alum, has ties to the Stoudenmire family dating back to his own high school days, when he wrestled under coach Ken Stoudenmire, Tim’s brother.
“Ken just poured a lot into me and made me love the sport and what coaching could do for young people,” Mason said. “That was a huge influence. Early on, I knew I wanted to be a teacher and a coach, so the Stoudenmire family in general has meant a lot to me.”
Before returning to Oglethorpe County, Mason coached varsity wrestling for 15 years at different schools around the state.
He started the wrestling program at Athens Christian School, where he coached for 11 years. In that time, he turned Athens Christian into “one of the best programs” in Class A.
“In some ways, this is nothing new for me,” Mason said. “I’m used to the expectation and the grind of what it takes to be successful at the high school level.”
Under Tim Stoudenmire, OCHS won state in 2021 and placed second in 2020 and 2022. He retired from coaching at the end of the school year and Mason was promoted to replace him.
Mason said even though he has a different personality from Stoudenmire, he has the same expectations for his team to be “one of the best” in the state in Class A.
“I’m not going to try to be Tim Stoudenmire because I’m not,” Mason said. “I’m going to be Steve Mason, but we want to continue building on the culture that’s already there.”
Mason said his main goal is to develop a youth wrestling program in the county, which he believes would help the high school program for years to come.
“It really starts with the youth,” Mason said. “If we can build our youth program and just get kids to love the sport and have fun, and if they keep coming back year after year, they’re gonna get good.”
Mason had 13 kids attend his youth wrestling camp this summer, a record number. He said he didn’t teach them much at the start, but was more concerned with making sure they had fun.
“I put them in wrestling positions and just had them scrap,” Mason said. “They had a ball, a great time. I gave them a sucker or a Ring Pop at the end of practice. They left with a smile on their face, and I hope they will come back.”
Mason’s goal is to eventually have a youth program with 100 or more kids from kindergarten to fifth grade.
OCHS sophomore Paris Crowder Jr. started wrestling in the fifth grade. Like Mason, he thinks it’s important for kids to learn the basics while they’re young.
“Everybody is good after a certain age,” Crowder said. “It’d be best to learn it young while you can. That’s the best time to get good.”
Crowder wrestled under Mason in middle school. As a freshman at OCHS last season, he said the jump to high school wrestling was “nerve racking,” but having a familiar face on the sideline made that transition easier.
“Sometimes during the match, I’ll have anxiety,” Crowder said. “He’ll calm me down. He’ll tell me the moves from the sideline, anything he can do to help.”
Crowder said he is looking forward to having Mason as his head coach again. He enjoys how Mason prioritizes fun while still coaching his athletes to be their best.
“He’ll still make you work hard,” Crowder said. “He does try to make it fun. He puts in games every now and then just to make sure we have fun.”
Mason said he’ll be more intense with the high schoolers than he was with the middle schoolers, but he’ll still focus on making his wrestlers love the sport.
“In today’s sports culture in America, it’s like we’re taking a pro model and forcing it down,” Mason said. “Parents are taking it so seriously that a lot of kids, by the time they get to where it really matters, they don’t even want to do the sport.”