CALN — There was that moment between the first and second period when Coatesville’s Chase Stephens weighed the decision all athletes face: fight or flight.
Down 5-1 in the blood round against Erie McDowell’s Dazion Casto in last season’s Class AAA PIAA tournament, Stephens followed his natural instinct: fight.
A takedown, a tight tilt and a referee’s hand slap, and just like that Stephens was a state medalist. Tears rushed his father Bear’s eyes as he sat in the corner as head coach, watching his son etch the Stephens name deeper in Coatesville’s wrestling history.
At the same time, the father-son combo is in the midst of pushing wrestling onto the list of Coatesville’s many renowned sports programs.
As the 2016-17 season begins, Chase has a chance to give the Red Raiders a state medalist for the fifth straight season. Coatesville had just one (Carroll Shuler in 1983) prior to 2013.
“It’s been great,” said Bear Stephens, who took over in 2012. “For kids who haven’t been (to states), it makes everyone feel better knowing there’s state medalists from this school. Going back to ’83, when there was only one, and to have four consecutive medals is awesome. It all starts with the booster club getting what we need for our program and getting the kids to come.”
Chase finished seventh in the state at 152 pounds and is one of two locals along with Avon Grove senior Kevin Edwards (sixth at 145) to return this season with hardware. Downingtown West’s Doug Zapf (106 pounds) and Cole Zapf (182), Oxford’s David Cox (170) and Conestoga’s Kade LaMarre (220) are returning state qualifiers.
As the new season begins, Chase is the flag-bearer for the Ches-Mont League as a two-time state qualifier and a 113-match winner. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commit is well within range to break Mike Boykin’s school record of 142 wins, and his 77 career pins are 27 shy of former Downingtown East state medalist, Wade Cumming’s Ches-Mont record.
Chase knows with big accomplishments comes more pressure, and he’s prepared accordingly.
“It’s been a lot harder training than normal because a lot of people would like to have that ownership of beating a medalist,” Chase said. “This offseason I wrestled a lot of tough competition from a lot of other states.”
Coatesville’s Chase Stephens works against Ryan Dellicompagni in practice while his father, Bear, looks on. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media).
Bear and Chase don’t necessarily have the typical approach, but they are committed to their ways and have found success with them. Bear was a state qualifier for the Red Raiders in 1994 and has had a state medalist every year since inheriting the program. Boykin placed third and then first, followed by an eighth-place finish by Zack Dellicompagni in 2015. The streak of four in a row is currently third longest in District 1, and second to Downingtown’s six in a row in 3A for the Ches-Mont, all time.
Chase was in jeopardy of not continuing the streak multiple times last winter in Hershey, but came from behind twice to climb the podium. There is a flair that Chase wrestles with that can result in a 30-second pin or a quick 5-point deficit, just like that. A style that may make conservative coaches, and especially mom, nervous is a comfort zone for the Stephens men.
“I feel like me and my dad have the same style,” Chase said. “We’re both attackers and knowing he’s in my corner and he knows my style and he grew up with me, he knows what I do best and can coach me through situations.”
Of the eight 3A medalists at 152, only Chase and Nazareth’s Travis Stefanik were underclassmen. Though Chase will start the season at 160, 152 is definitely on the table for the postseason.
Placing as a junior is by no means a guarantee for a repeat feat. Since the seventh-place match was installed in the PIAA tournament in 1999, only 64 percent of the underclassmen who took seventh or eighth medaled again the next season. Chase is the ninth Ches-Mont wrestler to take seventh or eighth, and only three (Downingtown’s Brad Forbes, Kennett’s Kyle Bove and Unionville’s Mason Popham) of the previous eight doubled their hardware.
Bear said he’s not ready to think about Chase’s high school career coming to an end, rather he’s just hoping to enjoy the ride while it’s still going.
“He has goals and I want him fulfill his goals,” Bear said. “Winning a state championship would be great, but he needs to want it. I’m his coach and dad and No.1 supporter and I want him to feel like he did what he could do. He’s got the biggest heart out of any kid I’ve seen.”
