Every year on Thanksgiving morning, Lost Boyz Wrestling in Stanley hosts a practice session. Club members who are students at area high schools attend, along with several current and former members of East Gaston High School’s wrestling teams. “After warming up we will typically pair current wrestlers with one of the alumni for some one-on-one time and then wrap practice up with some live wrestling and games,” says Lost Boyz head coach Cody Edge, who wrestled at East Gaston beginning in 2003. His dad, Terry Edge, was an assistant coach in 2002. The club, started in January 2019, is a non-profit 501(c) (3) charter club with USA Wrestling. “The club provides breakfast, and some alumni choose to just come hang out and see everyone.” For East Gaston’s 2002 team, those Thursday mornings are part of an unbreakable bond. “We had a different mentality, that’s for sure,” says Joe Pacheco, 2002 state champ at 189 pounds. “In order to succeed, we had to be tough with each other. That way, in a match there were no surprises. We had to make sure our brothers had the best practice partners so they were ready. We were unique in that we were selfless enough to be there for each other.”

This year, the brothers of 2002 are being inducted into the Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame. The team won the NCHSAA State 3A Championship at Cricket Arena and added three individual titles with Pacheco, Dusty McKinney at 112 pounds and Jared “Boo” Hogan at 152. McKinney also was NCHSAA Sophomore of the Year. Tripp Rogers was state runner-up at 125 pounds. “We spent so much time around each other that we were like brothers,” Rogers says. “Our blood wasn’t the same, but we still look after each other and help each other when we can. We get together and laugh about all the dumb things we did and some things we would still do.” The teens weren’t just wrestlers together, Rogers says. “We were a bunch of goofballs.” “Like in the movie Hook, an offshoot of Peter Pan. We loved that movie. That’s where Lost Boyz comes from,” he says. “That’s the kind of things we did – fun, silly things, big personalities. You’re constantly competing against each other like who can get the most points, the most pins, but we hung out all the time and you have a deep relationship with those people.

That’s why we still talk to each other.” “Wrestling is different from almost any other sport because of how hard it is,” McKinney says. “You suffer together every day. You get pushed by your teammates, challenged by your teammates, and honestly, sometimes beat up by your teammates in practice just to become better. That kind of environment builds a bond that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it. “Some of my favorite memories were the bus rides to and from matches. Everybody joking around, cutting up, messing with each other. There were no phones, no social media, no internet distractions. We were fully present in the moment with each other. Looking back, that was probably a gift. We were just kids enjoying life together, growing into men together, and creating memories that have stayed with us for more than 20 years.” The championship at Cricket Arena, McKinney says, was monumental in that East Gaston had moved from 4A to 3A and Eastern Randolph had moved up, “which meant another state champion, Kane Long, and I were suddenly in the same weight class. “I remember feeling incredibly focused during that tournament. Kane and I had wrestled tough matches for years, but that night I felt completely in control.

Walking off that mat as a state champion was special. But honestly, one of my strongest memories from that tournament wasn’t even my own match.” It was Hogan’s. “After I finished wrestling, I went into the stands to watch Jared Hogan, who we all called Boo, wrestle in the finals. A lot of people counted him out. I remember hearing people in the crowd saying there was no way he was going to win,” McKinney says. “But we knew how hard he had worked to get there. When Boo won, he threw his arms in the air, and I did the exact same thing standing in the crowd behind him.

Somebody captured that moment in a picture, with both of us celebrating at the same time. That’s still one of my favorite memories from wrestling. “Watching Boo and Joe Pacheco win state titles alongside me made that tournament bigger than just my own accomplishment. It felt like our entire team had climbed that mountain together.” “Winning a team title is incredibly hard, and being able to be down there and get that trophy that only three teams got in the state…I just remember that it made my losing in the finals seem better,” Rogers says. “We only put four kids in the state finals, and we got to celebrate like brothers. “We fought together, and we also loved each other and looked out for each other. To be able to share that is something you never forget.” Lost Boyz’ mission, Edge says, is “to create a positive environment for youth to learn and practice the sport of wrestling.” Part of that positivity is drawn from another member of East Gaston’s 2002 team.

“Whenever I decided to start a wrestling club, I knew I would need some help and reached out to Charles Mauldin who was a member of the 2001 and 2002 state championship teams and is like a brother to me,” Edge says. “He has been by my side the whole way, and we run it together.” Unlike Peter Pan, EG’s wrestlers grew up. Rogers has been the wrestling coach at Hough High School in Cornelius for 16 years. Pacheco competed professionally for Bellator MMA and coached 19 years at the youth, middle school and high school levels before becoming owner/ head coach at Modern Warrior Wrestling in Rock Hill, S.C. McKinney is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and wrestled one year at George Mason University before a 20-year career with the United States Navy. He’s retiring from the Navy this summer. “We always took care of each other,” Rogers says. “If we all went to Taco Bell or Subway and someone came up short, we’d always take care of each other. We’d have that extra $5. We see each other now and everybody gets a hug. Everybody.” McKinney explains that longevity.

“We weren’t some superstar team on paper. We were just a bunch of tough kids willing to outwork people, challenge each other and grow together,” he says. “We beat each other up in practice so we could be stronger in competition, and then afterward we’d laugh together in the locker room or on the bus rides home. That balance of toughness and brotherhood is what made us special. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame with this team means a lot because those memories and relationships have stayed with me my entire life. I’m incredibly thankful for the experiences we shared together and the impact those years had on who I became as a person. “Life moves fast, and we only get so much time. Looking back, I’m just grateful to God for the opportunity to have been part of something so meaningful with a group of people I’ll always love like brothers.”