Hephner’s legacy lives on

By Eric Hamilton

AUSTINTOWN — At a young age, Mark and Patty Hephner knew wrestling was the sport for their son Josh. His bundle of energy, combined with his competitive nature, made him the perfect candidate.

“He was frisky and needed something to get all that energy out, so we put him in wrestling, and he loved it,” Mrs. Hephner said. “He liked that in wrestling, you are responsible for yourself and in order to be good at it, you had to rely on yourself.

“He was very competitive and he loved how it boosts your morale and made you physically and mentally strong. Josh was outgoing and friendly, but when he got on the mat, he knew what he needed to do.”

Josh started wrestling at age 8 in the youth program. He continued the sport into middle and high school. Wrestling demanded a lot of his attention, as well as listening to music and playing video games.

“He wasn’t much for homework, but he got straight A’s,” Mrs. Hephner said. “He’d have music on, play games and do algebra at the same time.”

Josh found success on the mat during his freshman season, advancing to districts at 103 pounds. If his career had not been cut short, surely he would have been a star.

Wrestling wasn’t Josh’s only passion — he loved people. He was the kind of kid that everyone knew and liked. While he turned his attention to winning on the mat, he also put things into perspective. He knew what was most important.

“He was very serious on the mat, but he’d give his opponents the shirt off his back,” Mrs. Hephner said. “He’d tell them that they can be friends after the match is over, but he had to pin them first. Then, they’d go hang out after the match.”

It was that kind of attitude that was contagious to Josh’s teammates and opponents. It is that type of example that continues to live on through the Joshua Hephner Memorial Tournament each year.

Josh passed away in 1993 after an accident in July. But while he physically left the community, his spirit is still alive and having an impact on others.

In January 1994, John Moritz and Kevin Krieger came up with a way to ensure that Josh’s memory would always live on. With the help of Fitch wrestling coach Brett Powell, they put together a wrestling tournament in Josh’s honor.

What started as an eight-team event has ballooned into a 25-team event. Mrs. Hephner could never have imagined that the tournament would have been such a big deal and mean so much to so many people.

“It’s very humbling,” she admitted. “It makes us so proud to think that our son left us so many people that love us. We see these kids and they talk to us and give us hugs and care about us.

“At first, it was really hard because we had just lost our son. But the tournament and the scholarships given to the kids are the greatest gifts to us. We used to be the ones who sold the tickets and helped run things. But now we’re the ones that have to say thank you. It’s humbling.”

Mrs. Hephner likened the response to the very nature of wrestling.

“Losing Josh was hard on us,” she said. “But just like in wrestling, you stand alone sometimes, but when the match is over, everyone gathers around you and supports you – no matter if it was a good time or a bad time.”

Mrs. Hephner has a pretty good idea of how Josh would feel if he were here to see how the wrestling community is supporting his parents and honoring him.

“At first, he’d say, ‘Why are they doing this for me?’” she said. “But then he’d think it was great. He’d probably want to help run it.”