Dick Messier - DeMatha Catholic High (Md.), Wrestling

Dick Messier is proud of the wrestling program he started in 1979 at DeMatha Catholic High (Md.).

The Stags have become one of the most consistently dominant teams in the country, winning 15 consecutive conference titles and five national prep crowns in a row. In the past 10 years, 20 wrestlers have gone on to wrestle in college.

The 50-year-old coach handed out T-shirts this season that bore the school's name with a single word underneath: Pride.

"I think the kids look at it like there were wrestlers before them and there will be wrestlers after them," says Messier. "The kids realize they are part of something successful, and they want to work at that."

Success didn't come immediately at DeMatha. The Stags tied twice and lost the rest of the matches in their inaugural season. It wasn't until 1985 that things truly started looking up. That's when DeMatha won its first league title and four Stags were crowned state champs.

According to Messier, there was a different mindset back then.

"We didn't have a mat to wrestle on at the start," says Messier. "We finally got a mat, but we were practicing in classrooms, moving chairs and desks. Now we have a facility, but we're still moving chairs because it's used as a study hall during the day. We have maintained that low-key approach to our program."

Messier is preaching caution with regard to this year's team, saying the squad "should be ready to roll by mid-January." The team's best wrestler, senior Kevin Gabrielson, wrapped up the prestigious "Beast of the East" title this past weekend at 152 pounds.

But even if this year's team doesn't fare as well as those in the past, the foundation for success has already been laid.

"We have so many kids interested in the program," says Messier. "The key to our success is that the kids have all gotten involved. It's not about individuals. The team concept is still prevalent."

-- Jeffrey Martin