Two pillars of Gilmer County’s storied wrestling heritage have left the program.
Walt Monroe and Bo Dorsey coached at the middle school level for a combined 36 years as they helped prepare and mold dozens of elite wrestlers.
Dorsey was the first to arrive and started coaching at Gilmer Middle School in 1999. He worked alongside longtime coach Greg Wingo in the early days learning the ropes. At that time, Monroe was still coaching at Dublin High School leading the Irish to state championships.
Monroe arrived on the scene in 2005. He and Dorsey joined forces in Gilmer Middle’s corner and Wingo started another stint on the coaching staff at Gilmer High School.
When Clear Creek Middle School opened its doors in 2008, a new rivalry emerged with GMS. Kyle Barr and Josh Snider coached CCMS in those days and they battled Dorsey’s and Monroe’s GMS.
“Those duals were very intense,” Dorsey recalled. “I remember us both having some really good wrestlers and both teams thinking they may have the advantage over one another. It was really close.”
GMS won the first meeting, and CCMS got revenge the following season.
What made the situation unique was that many of Clear Creek’s wrestlers in the first and second years of the program were originally at GMS under Monroe’s and Dorsey’s tutelage.
“It was frustrating and intense for me, because some of their best wrestlers were guys who had come through us in their sixth- and seventh-grade years and had done USA Wrestling and freestyle with me,” Monroe said.
“So you’re getting beat by your boys ... and that’s not saying they (Barr and Snider) didn’t do a good job of filling some weight classes, because they definitely did. I’m sitting there saying ‘he’s one of ours’ and he’s out there whipping our butt.”
GMS and CCMS were soon restructured and consolidated their athletic programs. By 2011, Monroe and Dorsey were in Clear Creek’s corner where they remained until the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season.
During their time at CCMS, the Bobcats won the league and traditional duals each season aside from two occasions. One runner-up placement came against Lumpkin County. The Indians were coached by Josh Ghobadpoor, who is now Gilmer High’s head coach.
In each season at CCMS, regardless of wrestlers’ initial skill levels, by season’s end, they were poised and ready for the rigors of high school wrestling.
“It’s really pretty simple,” Dorsey said when asked about their prolonged success at Clear Creek. “We did the best job we could to recruit (convince CCMS students to wrestle), be consistent at practice and give kids an expectation. We worked on fundamentals from the first day of practice all the way through until the last day of practice. We drilled those things every day. There was no fancy stuff.”
Camaraderie was also a vital ingredient to their winning formula.
“I’ve been blessed in that the last two places I’ve been, I’ve been able to work with people and not have any issues,” Monroe said. “Bo is like a brother to me, and actually he’s closer than my brother. We’ve been on the same page, just like when Sam Snider was here (at GHS).
“I think the kids saw that. There was never any division and we always had each other’s back and supported each other because we believed in what we were doing.”
Those in the Gilmer wrestling circle recognized the talents of Monroe and Dorsey. People outside of Gilmer took notice as well, but they opted to remain at CCMS even when opportunities to lead high school teams arrived.
“When I first came here, I thought after five years I’d probably move on,” Monroe said. “But after two or three years that didn’t even cross my mind anymore. Even when people were asking to ‘come interview’ and things like that, and there were some temptations, but I just really enjoyed what I was doing here.”
Dorsey noted, “This place is my home. I have no desire and really never had a desire to coach and teach somewhere else except for right here in my hometown. I was born and raised in Jasper, but I have put my stakes in the ground here and made this my home.” Faith also played a part and made their bond and ties to Gilmer even stronger.
“The relationships I’ve built here and that really starts with Bo and Sam ... I’ve not had two adult friends that I’ve been that close with who are Christian men,” Monroe said. “I know that phrase gets thrown around, but our discussions about the word of God has unified us more than even coaching.”
Monroe and Dorsey kept a steady stream of wrestlers flowing to GHS, one of the state’s top wrestling dynasties. Gilmer has won 17 combined dual and traditional state titles with all coming since 2005.
Of Gilmer’s eight traditional championships, four in a row came from 2013 through 2016. On the duals side, Gilmer has nine state titles and captured seven consecutively from 2010 through 2016.
Monroe and Dorsey could often be seen at the Macon Coliseum supporting GHS at state tournaments.
“That run was a lot of fun,” Dorsey said.
“It was fun and special,” Monroe added. “There was a group of kids there in that streak that bought into all of the offseason stuff. They kept feeding off the last group of kids. That was an incredible run. That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever been involved in.”
Snider was awaiting those wrestlers who arrived on Gilmer High’s campus and continued their development. He discussed Monroe and Dorsey and their impact on the program.
“I couldn’t have asked for better friends,” Snider said. “Bo and Greg at GMS helped us get that first state championship. We stole Greg back up to the high school, and then Walt joined Bo. They make up the best combination you can think of. Walt has an incredible amount of knowledge, ability and experience as a head coach. Bo is so incredible with the new guys and helping them learn the basics step by step. They were just perfect.
“Their faith and Christian love for these young men and wanting them to be successful and watching out for them, I can’t think of any combination of two men who have put so much into kids. We would not have the success that we have without wrestlers spending two, three or four years with Walt and Bo.”
While Monroe and Dorsey enjoyed the immense success, there is more to coaching than outcomes. Long hours are required each season and continued dedication is paramount.
“It’s always fun seeing the high-level kids excel and win championships,” Dorsey said. “But one of the most fun things for me is seeing that kid that first day who maybe can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, but stuck with it. They get their tails whipped every day in the practice room and in matches, but they stick with it.
“Eventually, they turn the tide and start to find success. They start to learn. Not just athletic wise, but to see how it helps them socially and mentally has been fun.”
In the 2012, Clear Creek won the traditional and duals state championships over every middle school and wrestling academy in Georgia. The National High School Coaches Association named Monroe “Assistant Coach of the Year” in 2015 for the entire southeastern U.S. The honor normally goes to an assistant at the high school level, but Monroe took home the award while coaching at CCMS.
Neither coach has reached 30 years in education and they will continue to teach in the county. They discussed their reasons for deciding to move on to the next stage of their lives and careers.
“I have two kids,” Dorsey said. “Growing up as the son of a successful coach, there was a lot of time my father spent away from the family, and I missed my dad. Because of that, I was able to get by with a lot of things with mom that I couldn’t get away with when it came to my dad. It put a burden on my mother with my dad away all the time.
“When I got into this 21 years ago, I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to do that. I’ve been able to spend some time with my son more recently because he wrestles (at CCMS), but my little girl has been neglected. She’s never said anything, but this past year when I came home one night there was a look she gave me. It was the look of ‘where have you been?’ That really cut to my heart.”
Monroe has 28 years in education. Dorsey’s decision to step down played into his reasoning as Monroe thinks they bring the best out of one another.
“There’s an assortment things, and not even one reason,” he said. “I need a year to figure out where I’m going from here. I just need to figure some things out. With Bo where he is (stepping down from coaching), I wouldn’t have made it the past 15 years without him doing what he has done (scheduling, practice, organization, etc).”
After spending so much time together in the same setting, Monroe and Dorsey acknowledged that moving on may be difficult after developing a steady daily routine of cultivating wrestlers and young men.
“I’ll miss the everyday grind at practice and building those relationship with each group of kids,” Dorsey said. “It’s going to be real difficult. Not being around Walt and Doug Haynes and some others, I still have some mixed emotions. I hope I don’t go back years from now and say I made a mistake. Right now, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Monroe said, “I’ll miss building those relationships with those kids and parents. I’m going to have to make sure I don’t lose those relationships. It’s going to be difficult.”
Dorsey plans to finish out his time in Gilmer teaching at the Mountain Education Center.
“I think that will give me the opportunity to spend the time with my family that I need to,” he said.
Monroe is looking into possibly furthering his education and exploring his options.
“I’m just floating around trying to find out where I’m going to land,” he said. “Coaching could still be a possibility. I’m not committing to anything yet. I don’t see myself ever getting completely out of coaching. Whether that’s a paid coaching position at a school, I don’t know if that will happen again, but I’m not ruling it out.
“Being involved in helping kids in wrestling, I don’t think there’s any doubt I won’t stop doing it until I physically can’t anymore.”