jomar132 Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Eyeing title: Scott Runyan stands beside his son Briar, a senior at Martinsville who is 32-0 with 29 pins and ranked No. 1 in the state at 160 pounds heading into today's Mooresville Wrestling Regional. Scott, a sergeant in the National Guard, is expected to leave Feb. 25 for a mission to Afghanistan that could last through December Dad to see son wrestle final time this season before Guard duty By Steve Brooks / Star correspondent February 7, 2009 A One of Martinsville wrestler Briar Runyan's biggest fans will likely watch him wrestle in a high school meet for the final time today. And both Runyan and the fan -- Briar's father Scott -- are OK with that. Scott Runyan, a sergeant in the National Guard, is expected to deploy Feb. 25 for a mission to Afghanistan that could last through December. In the meantime, he is considered Title 10 -- "the regular Army has a hold of me," Scott said -- and is serving out of Camp Atterbury. He can only leave camp with a pass, and this weekend will likely be the last pass Scott gets before he leaves the country. He already has missed most of his son's senior season since being stationed at Camp Atterbury in November. Briar -- 32-0 with 29 pins and ranked first in the state at 160 pounds -- hopes to have a postseason run that could conclude with a spot in the state championship. The next step in that journey is today's Mooresville Regional. "I knew before the season that he was going to miss most of my season because of this," said Briar, who has a 96-10 career record, including a third-place state finals finish at 152 pounds as a sophomore and a runner-up finish at the same weight last season. "It's a little bit tough, but for as long as I can remember, he's been in the military. I deal with it as it goes. Now I really want to win it all just for him." Scott has been in the National Guard for 16 years and also works as a full-time technician for the Department of Defense. In his spare time, he runs a wrestling club and has helped coach Briar since his son was 4 years old. "This is something that Briar's worked for his whole life," Scott said. "He's definitely put in the effort to be a state champion. It's tough not getting to watch him, but my wife has been videotaping his matches, and I've gotten to watch them that way. "And this mission (to Afghanistan) is a feel-good mission. It's an agricultural development team, and we're going to interact with the people there and show them how to correctly raise crops. It's a good mission." Next year, Briar plans to attend the United States Military Academy Preparatory School for a season and wrestle while he's there, before moving on to West Point. While Scott will miss watching and working with his son, he thinks Briar's wrestling will be fine without his presence the rest of the tournament. "He's at a level where he doesn't really need anyone but himself right now," Scott said. "And with (Martinsville coach) Leigh Liden, he's got a pretty good coach in his corner. I think Briar understands he's more than capable of winning a state title." This one hits home for me. I just got back from my 2nd, leave for my 3rd round in july. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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