Four years ago he came within hours of quitting, throwing in the towel before he even got started. 

“It was wearing me down mentally. The sport is tough enough physically, but it was wearing me down mentally, too,” recalled Powhatan High School’s Stephen Dunbar. “I was ready to give it up.” Stephen’s step dad encouraged him to give Coach Lee Richardson’s first-year wrestling program a bit more time. Dunbar did and his commitment incubated more than athletic achievement, it instigated a life style.

“I can’t live without wrestling. It has made me the person I am today, committed, dedicated and respectful Dunbar stated. That person is far more than an accomplished athlete. He is also a star in the classroom, carrying a 4.4 GPA. Off the mat, “wrestling taught me to dig down into myself, to better myself, to focus better and to be more outgoing” said the normally introverted senior.

Dunbar’s rise to the top of his 135-pound weight class has been more of a saga than a journey. First it was his introduction to the new coach of the first time program at PHS. “I thought he was crazy at first, but he just grows on you. Now I love Coach Richardson to death,” he said. Then it was the struggle to stay with the program and develop along with it.

For the next two years Dunbar used his great conditioning and natural speed to develop into a solid competitor. He anticipated that his junior year would provide the break through; a season that would catapult him into the top tier of area wrestlers. It was and it did, but not at Powhatan High School. A career opportunity required that his family move to Chesterfield County. At the same time, Coach Richardson took a leave of absence to attend to family matters, also out of the County, and that tie was severed. Dunbar enrolled at Midlothian High School where his star rose. He was ranked second in the larger AAA Dominion District and earned Central Regional honors. His career would have continued and ended at Midlothian had it not been for a phone call. “Coach Richardson kept in touch with me while I was at Midlothian, just to see how I was doing” Dunbar recalled but it was the Coach’s call to inform him that he would be returning to Powhatan to coach wrestling for the 2007-08 season that changed the Dunbar family dynamic.

“I liked the Powhatan atmosphere, Coach Richardson was back, I started with him and I wanted to finish my high school career with him” Dunbar stated. The Dunbar family petitioned Chesterfield County for a variance that would allow Dunbar to reside in Chesterfield but attend Powhatan High School. When the variance was denied the family made a major commitment to Dunbar. “My family has made tremendous sacrifices for me,” Dunbar said. The Dunbars moved their family back to Powhatan, but not without some advice for Dunbar. Mom tells him to “be more aggressive” and his step dad (Dunbar lost his natural father when he was eight years old) tells him to “Keep on doing what you’re doing, but don’t get a big head.”

Dunbar has indeed kept on doing, accumulating a 10-1 record so far this season. “Coach says I’m 12-1, but I think its only 10-1” he said modestly. His goals for his senior season are a District Championship, to place in the Regional Finals and ultimately place in the top four in the State Championships. “I think it’s very realistic,” he said.

Dunbar ran on the Cross Country team for the first time this year “just to keep in shape” and placed 6th in the District. He spends his summers traveling to wrestling camps and meets. “My folks have been great about this. I actually spend more time involved in wrestling in the summer than during the season. They have been very supportive both time and money wise.”

Stephen Dunbar’s plans for his future are very concrete. Longwood University will provide a degree in Health and Physical Education. After college he will teach P.E. and be an assistant coach, probably at the middle school level. Ten years after his high school graduation his plan is to be a high school P.E. instructor and varsity wrestling coach; at Powhatan High School.

His game plan for success? “Work hard, keep my grades up, keep friends close; friends are a big part of my life, and never, never quit.”