Joseph Uhorchuk has understood since a young age that success on the mat is not the only thing that matters.
While the Signal Mountain senior is one of Tennessee’s most decorated high school wrestlers of all time with four TSSAA individual state championships and four NHSCA national championships, along with being the first five-time winner of the Gordon Connell-McCallie Invitational, Uhorchuk’s latest honor might be his most meaningful.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced Thursday the state winners of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, with Uhorchuk taking the award for Tennessee. He has a chance to be the Southeast Region winner, which will be revealed next Wednesday, while the national winner will be named April 28.
The Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior male wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship and community service.
Uhorchuk, who is set continue his career in college by wrestling for Army, went 55-0 in his final prep season and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country at his 132-pound weight class by Sports Illustrated. He was voted the most outstanding wrestler at the TSSAA Class A state tournament in February, and FloWrestling ranked him the No. 26 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country for the class of 2026.
The fourth and youngest of the Uhorchuk brothers, who have the most state titles of any siblings in the country with their collective 17, he also has shined in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA.
“I give a lot of credit for who I am today to my parents,” Uhorchuk told the Times Free Press. “My dad has this saying that we try to live by, which is ‘warrior poet.’ It’s not all about being a good wrestler, but it is important to be a good person who is intelligent, compassionate, kind and well-rounded.
“I was so competitive growing up since I had three older brothers. I always wanted to win. They helped shape my character along with my parents. They were all really good role models to me. They were good in school, worked hard, and were all really good young men. They showed me how to act. Just because you have success in a sport, you don’t need to rest all your achievements on that alone.”
(READ MORE: Signal Mountain’s Uhorchuk brothers hope to add three more wrestling state titles)
The Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award was established in 1996 to honor the Olympic and World champion who was murdered in January 1996 at age 36. Schultz was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (located in Stillwater, Oklahoma) as a Distinguished Member in 1997 and as a member of the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.
Uhorchuk had 237 wins compared to only three losses in his high school varsity career with the Eagles, which included going 103-0 over his final two seasons.
“I am excited to go to West Point because I want to serve in the military,” Uhorchuk said. “I know it’s a school that can set me up for life. I am excited to experience all that is ahead. My brother Daniel just graduated from there in 2025 and is now doing officer training in Oklahoma. My brother Caleb will be a senior at West Point this upcoming fall, too.”
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Lady Bucs take title
In the blink of an eye, Boyd Buchanan has become one of the state’s top softball programs.
Second-year head coach Sarah Warren-Bowles’ Lady Buccaneers were downright dominant at home Thursday, when they run-ruled Silverdale Baptist Academy 10-0 in five innings.
Shortly after the victory and regular-season sweep of the Lady Seahawks, Warren-Bowles was given a Gatorade shower by her players as the program celebrated winning its first regular-season league title since 2007.
Boyd Buchanan (25-4, 6-0 Division II-A East District 2) now begins gearing up for the postseason, where the Lady Bucs hope to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2005.
Kinley Bates, Cailyn Butler and Ella Meade all had two hits in the shutout of Silverdale, while Peyton Pryor’s RBI single started the scoring. Meanwhile, Keke Jordan hit her area-leading 13th home run of the season as the Lady Bucs scored in every inning.
Eighth grade phenom Malloree Harr was the winning pitcher, scattering six hits and a walk while striking out three batters in five innings.
Parr does it all for Owls
Ooltewah senior baseball standout Luke Parr produced an epic performance in Tuesday’s 6-5 walk-off home win against Red Bank as the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder hit a grand slam to left field with his team down to its final out.
Parr also slugged a pair of doubles in the victory, and he was excellent on the mound as the winning pitcher, fanning 10 batters in four innings of relief while allowing just one run.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.