Asheboro wrestling coach Cliff Thompson, left, shares a laugh with assistant coach Scott Bainville at a recent meet. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – Cliff Thompson has coached an assortment of area wrestlers in and around Randolph County.
So in his role as first-year Asheboro coach, he’s familiar with just about anyone he comes across on the mats.
He has been questioned by his wrestlers: “Why everybody talk to you?”
It’s because Thompson is well-known in wrestling circles. He said he’s glad he has landed with the Blue Comets.
Thompson, a 1998 Randleman graduate, won a state championship as a junior, was runner-up as a senior and placed third as a sophomore. It’s surprising to many, including Thompson, that he has become the coach of the Blue Comets.
“It’s pretty cool because Asheboro was always a rival,” he said. “I never thought in a million years I would take over at Asheboro. Besides, my family and friends pick on me for being a traitor.”
Thompson, 46, owns Eyes on The Prize wrestling club in Randleman, so his connections have been widespread.
“Going into any wrestling tournament and people who you are,” Thompson said. “Sometimes it’s hard when you run into those guys on another team and you’ve coached them all summer.”
He’s a former coach at Greensboro Page and Northeast Guilford, though it had been 10 years since he was a head coach. The past four seasons, he served as an assistant coach at Thomasville.
At one tournament, even a wrestling referee quizzed Thompson with this inquiry: “Who you coaching today?”
Asheboro athletics director Wes Berrier, a former wrestling coach at the school, said in the spring that Thompson’s hiring was well-received.
“Very positive response,” Berrier said. “He’s going to have plenty of support. His character is unbelievable.”
Randleman senior Braxton Walker has been under Thompson’s tutelage as a club member since he was in eighth grade.
“He has been a great mentor,” Walker said, pointing out the coach’s knack for motivation. “He knows when not to be so nice. He pushes the pace.”
Gavin Hardister, who last February won a Class 2A state championship as a senior for Trinity, had trained under Thompson.
“Kids just listen to him,” Hardister said. “He’s like another dad. He looks out for every single one of his wrestlers.”
Thompson said he’s encouraged by the Blue Comets even though a potential roster of eight seniors was reduced to three. Asheboro has won two of its first three Mid-Piedmont Conference dual meets.
“My team I got out there is young,” he said. “Trying to build your own coaching environment and culture. Not that it wasn’t there before, but everyone has his own style.”
