GelaaTEwT
Kings Moumnta
Kings Mountain teams didn't
dominate the area sports scene in
1991 as they had in the past, but it
was still a good year for individu-
als involved in athletics.
Kings Mountain High School,
which had won eight conference
championships the year before,
slacked off to just three in 1991 -
and all of those were in the so-
called "minor" sports.
The Mountaineer wrestlers won
the SWC and the Western
Regionals for the second year in a
row; the boys tennis team shared
the SWC crown with arch rival
Shelby; and the Mountaineer soc-
cer team won its first-ever SWC
championship.
Perhaps the sports highlight of
the year was the fourth annual
Sports Hall of Fame Banquet.
Three former KMHS players and a
beloved coach were inducted.
Inductees were the late Coach John
Gamble and former Mountaineer
athletes Ken Baity, Jim Kimmell
and Toby Williams. Terry Holland,
former basketball coach at the
University of Virginia and now
athletic director at Davidson
College, was the guest speaker.
A brief review of '91 sports:
WRESTLING
Steve Moffitt's KMHS
Mountaineers won the SWC with a
perfect record. They also won the
SWC tournament and the Western
Regionals for the second year in a
Tow.
Timmy McClain was MVP in
the conference tournament and was
named Wrestler of the Year. Eleven
of the 13 KM grapplers made the
all-conference team. They were
McClain, Bill Foard, Mike Byers,
Robbie Ruff, Bo Phongsa, D.J.
Williams, Andy Hollifield, Victor
Bell, Brandon White, Jeramine
Grier and Tony Young.
The Mountaineers finished 14-3
overall and won their eighth title in
14 years. Moffitt was SWC Coach
of the Year.
Five of the grapplers finished in
the top six in the state and Bell, a
160-pound senior, became the first
KM wrestler to win the state cham-
pionship since Chuck Gordon in
1979. -
Bo TENNIS bps
' KMHS band director Chris Cole.
took over as tennis coach and led
the Mountaineers to a share of the
SWC title. He was named Coach of
the Year.
Kevin Bess, Eric Hanks and
Johnathan Jones were named to the
All-Conference team and Bess
earned a tennis scholarship to
Gardner-Webb College.
Kings Mountain's girls saw their
three-year domination of SWC ten-
nis end in the fall when they fin-
ished second to Shelby.
Many tennis players had banner
years as individuals. Twelve-year-
old Jackie Houston won eight sum-
mer tournaments to qualify for the
national tournament in Michigan;
Steven Bell won the 16-year-old
division in the Hickory
Open/Novice Tournament; and
Bryan Jones held down the #2 sin-
gles position for the North Carolina
Tar Heels. :
SOCCER
In just their third year of soccer,
the KMHS Mountaineers ran
roughshod over the Southwest
Conference. Dan Potter's booters
were unbeaten in the conference
and finished 13-4-1 overall. They
broke all the school records in the
process.
Sirimaha Rithiphong, a junior,
was voted SWC Player of the Year
and also became the first KM play-
er to make the All-Region team.
He was joined on the All-SWC
team by Binh Davis, Thong
Chanthaphang, Damon Putnam,
Kevin Blalock, Ott Phonephet, and
Stephen Fisher. Potter was coach
of the year.
BASKETBALL
Larry Sipe's Mountaineers fin-
ished second in the SWC after go-
ing to the state championship game
a year earlier. The Mountaineers
finished 18-6 and won a state play-
off game over Lincolnton before
bowing to Western N.C. champion
T.C. Roberson in the second round.
Sophomore Marquiz Williamson
led the club in scoring with 17.5
points per game and was named to
the All-Conference team along
with teammates Darius Ross and
Mark Byers. Byers, a 6-5 scnior,
. earned a scholarship to Pembroke
State.
The girls finished 10-11 but
failed to make the state playoffs by
one game. Suzette Feemster led the
tcam in scoring and rcbounding
and was All-Conference along with
Nicole Bames.
Kings Mountain Boys Club en-
joyed another banner season by
having a record number of players
compete in regular season action at
the Central Gym. All of the all-star
teams fared well in district and
state play and the 14-year-old team
finished second in the State
Tournament at Wilkesboro to earn
a trip to the National AAU
Tournament in Hampton, Va.
Former Mountaineer coach Bob
Hussey moved from Clemson to
Virginia Tech as an assistant coach
under Bill Foster.
Butch Blalock, former scoring
whiz for the Mountaineers, as-
sumed the head coaching duties at
Hunter Huss High School in
Gastonia.
BASEBALL
Bruce Clark's KMHS baseball
team slipped to a second place fin-
ish in the SWC after winning a
state championship in '89 and a
conference crown in '90.
The Mountaineers finished 13-
11 overall but were bumped from
the state playoffs because a team
which finished lower than second
(South Point) won the SWC tour-
nament.
Only one player - designated hit-
ter David Jenkins - was chosen for
the All-Conference team.
Most of the same players made
up the American Legion team in
the summer. Post 155 finished sev-
enth in the nine-team Western
Division of Area IV to earn a play-
off spot; however, the
Mountaineers were disqualified
from playoff competition because
their birth certificates had not been
turned into the commissioner's of-
fice by the deadline.
Pitcher Tommy Payne earned a
scholarship to Warren Wilson
College.
All of the local Dixie Youth
teams fared well in district play.
The 13-14 year old team won the
district and competed in the state
tournament in Whiteville.
Kings Mountain's Rusty
Bumgardner made the Wake Forest
baseball team as a walk-on after
~ completing four years of football
eligibility. He hit .250 for the
Deacons after leading the team
with a 400-plus average early in,
the year. He signed a pro contract
as a first baseman with a new
Florida Marlins.
Former North Carolina prep
home run king, Paul Brannon, sat
out his second year of pro ball with
injuries. Brannon was enjoying a
banner spring training but was in-
jured three days before the Seattle
Mariners broke spring training.
Baseball cards paid big divi-
dends for area collectors in "91.
Grover School teacher Steve Wells
found a Nolan Ryan signature card
valued at $900 and Johnny Cogdell
found a Mickey Mantle signature
card valued at $1,500.
GOLF
Kings Mountain High's golfers
had a five-year unbeaten string
broken in '91. The Mountaineers
had won four conference titles, one
state crown and 28 straight match-
es over the past four years. They
won their first two matches in '91
before losing.
Still, they finished 6-1 in the
SWC and third in the Western
VICTOR BELL
State Champion
Regionals, qualifying for the state
tournament for the third time in
five seasons.
At Kings Mountain Country
Club, Ronnie Wilson and Henry
Jones won the Member-Guest and
Stoney Jackson won the Club
Championship.
Janet Tate scored a hole-in-one
on the 17th hole at KMCC.
BOWLING .
Area duckpin bowlers continued
to score big in '91. Two KM teams
were first place winners in the 61st
annual National Duckpin Bowling
Tournament at the Bowlarama in
Norfolk, Va. R.W. Hullender and
John Dilling were members of the
Carolina Killers, which won the
Class A Men's division, and
Hullender and Jack Barrett won the
Men's Doubles.
Several bowlers topped the mag-
ic 400 figure in league bowling
held each Tuesday and Thursday
night at Dilling Heating.
FOOTBALL
1991 was a year of near-misses
for Kings Mountain's
Mountaineers, who finished 4-6
overall and lost five games by a
touchdown or less.
The Mountaineers were only out
in's '9
of one game, a 27-0 loss to
Lincolnton.
They defeated East Lincoln 15-
13 on a last-minute field goal by
Kevin Blalock, and they lost to
South Point 14-12 on a last-second
touchdown by the Red Raiders.
They fell to North Mecklenburg
by 18-13, Burns 9-7 and Shelby
19-14 as the Lions erased a 14-2
deficit in the fourth quarter.
Impressive victories over North
Gaston and East Rutherford in the
last two games of the season made
for a warmer winter for the players
and fans.
Kings Mountain's Aubrey
Hollifield completed his eligibility
at Wake Forest. He started at nose
guard after playing defensive tack-
le his sophomore and junior sea-
sons.
Offensive guard Brent Bagwell
helped lead N.C. State's Wolfpack
to a Peach Bowl bid and Ryan
Hollifield was a back-up quarter-
back at Appalachian State, which
won the Southern Conference and
competed in the Division II play-
offs.
Andy Hollifield was a walk-on
candidate at Appalachian and D.J.
Williams was a walk-on at North
Carolina. Both were red-shirted.
Calvin Stephens, who completed
four years of outstanding play at
South Carolina, was drafted in the
third round by the New England
Patriots. He was slated to start at
offensive guard but was injured
during the exhibition season and
missed the entire season.
Tracy Johnson, who played his
sophomore and junior seasons at
KMHS before transferring to
Kannapolis, helped the Atlanta
Falcons to a division championship
and a playoff berth for the first
time since 1980.
Kevin Mack completed his
eighth season in pro football as the
leading rusher for the Cleveland
Browns. Mack has led the Browns
in rushing seven of his eight sea-
sons.
Former Kings Mountain High
athlete David Bolin coached his
Hunter Huss Huskies to the
Southwestern 4-A Conference
championship. They went two
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Thursday, January 9, 1992 -THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Page 7A
1 sports highlights
rounds in the statc tournament.
Former KMHS football coach
Dan Brooks helped coach North
Carolina's Tar Heels to their second
straight winning season.
Jimmy Littlejohn completed his
33rd year as a Pop Warner coach in
Kings Mountain.
SWIMMING
The high school swim program
continued to improve in the second
season under Coach Gordon
Edwards. Seven Mountaineers
qualified for the state meet in
Chapel Hill. They were Lindsay
Suber, Matthew Bunch, Ty Ross,
Benji Davis, Aaron Allen,
Jonathan Jones, and Todd Bell.
Dave Kienlen took over as coach
of the Mountaineers in the fall.
They were undefeated at the
Christmas break.
VOLLEYBALL
Regina Brown of Western
Carolina University was named
~The Dance Academy
volleyball player of the year in the
Southern Conference and was giv-
en a tryout for the U.S. Pam
American volleyball tcam in
Colorado Springs, Col.
RACING
Kings Mountain's Freddy Smith
had one of his best years ever in
short track racing.
The 26-year veteran of the tracks
won the coveted Short Track World
Championship and the $50,000
check that went with it. He also
won the $12,000 Blue-Gray 100 at
Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney.
WILDLIFE
Kings Mountain's Tony
Crawford, co-owner of Midway
Lakes, caught a state record 61.02
pound Buffalo Carp at Lake Wylie.
Former Kings Mountain resident
Joe Neisler was appointed to a
two-year term on the North
Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission,
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