In any sport, the best an athlete or coach can hope for is to be included among the roll call of the best ever, long after his career has ended.

For Dennis Stromie, that honor is on its way — and he doesn’t even have to wait for retirement to see it.

Later this year, Stromie will be inducted into the Georgia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, honoring a 26-year coaching career that’s still a work in progress.

Stromie, who currently serves as head wrestling coach and athletic director at West Forsyth, said his first thought upon hearing he was being inducted was that it might be time to pack it in.

“Does this mean I’m supposed to retire or what?” Stromie quipped in discussing his initial reaction.

Stromie, 50, has seen several of his coaching colleagues inducted during the chapter’s annual banquet in the past.
Now it’s his turn, and the honor is still sinking in.

“Now I’m going to be one of those guys up there being inducted and I’m like ‘Wow ... am I up to that standard?’ It’s a weird feeling, because I’m still coaching. I’m very humbled,” he said.

Stromie has only been in Forsyth County for two years, but he made a name for himself long before arriving here, primarily during a 22-year tenure at Parkview in which he coached the Panthers to four team state championships, sweeping both the dual and traditional team titles in 2004 and again in 2006.

He was also part of a 1984 state title run as an assistant coach at Redan, and even climbed the mountain as a wrestler himself, taking the 1976 championship at 155 pounds while at DeKalb County’s Columbia High, which also won the team title that year.

All of those accomplishments stick out, but they’re not the only reason Stromie is being awarded a piece of wrestling immortality, according to Tracy Sanford.

“What we looked at is lifetime achievement through wrestling, so that’s not only to say his record, but his overall lifetime commitment to wrestling,” said Sanford, who serves on the board of directors overseeing the Hall’s selection process in Georgia.

“Obviously he’s had a great career, winning some state championships as a coach, but ... he’s a good steward for the sport of wrestling,” Sanford added, citing Stromie’s commitment to integrity and running top-notch athletic programs.

Some of Stromie’s most lasting achievements have come through his lobbying work away from the mat.

The state added a light-heavyweight championship division in 1994 (initially 220 pounds, later changed to 215 pounds) and the duals format state championship in 2002, after Stromie pushed long and hard for both changes.

Richard Gill, principal at West Forsyth, is happy to have Stromie on his team. He said he worked hard to lure the coach to West once Stromie expressed interest in being a part of the new school ahead of its 2007 opening. Part of the enticement was offering Stromie the athletic director’s job in addition to a coaching spot, the first AD position Stromie has held in his career.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have some outstanding teachers and coaches. He’s in the top two percent of all the professionals I’ve ever worked with,” Gill said.

Gill thinks that having Stromie as part of the county wrestling fraternity has boosted the sport as a whole.

“I think in Forsyth County we’ve done pretty well with wrestling, but having him has really added to the competitiveness, to the interest in getting better, and I don’t just mean at West Forsyth, I mean in the county.”

Having won state titles as a student-athlete and at every rung of the coaching ladder, and with his name now being inscribed on a Hall of Fame plaque, what else is left for Stromie to shoot for?

“I kind of look at my role as athletic director at West Forsyth and that’s a big motivation for me because that’s not just ... one sport, that’s all the programs for the school, and I kind of feel like that’s my baby,” he said.

“I’d just love to see us win a Directors Cup [as the best overall athletic program in the state] ... Needless to say we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

In addition, Stromie has at least one other goal still to achieve.

Although he’s been to Stillwater, Okla., for wrestling tournaments, he’s never paid a visit to the Hall of Fame, located on the Oklahoma State University campus.

“I guess I’m going to have to get there, just to see my name,” he said.

E-mail BJ Corbitt at bjcorbitt@forsythnews.com.