Sports Illustrated Spotlights Union County Wrestling Dynasty

Much like universities, high school sports teams develop reputations for sustained success over multiple years. Some schools are known for their football programs, others for basketball. But let's not leave out those high school programs that are also feared opponents in track, soccer, and tennis, among others.

Among those others is wrestling, and here in the tri-state, we have a wrestling program that has become no stranger to success and the coverage that comes with it. That coverage includes a recent feature from no less than Sports Illustrated.

Union County High School Wrestling

Union County has won 17 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) state wrestling championships, including seven in a row from 2016 to 2022. Three more have come in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

That's a mighty impressive run, reminiscent of those legendary UCLA hoops teams that won seven consecutive titles in the 1960s and 1970s.

The accolades don't stop there. UCHS has also racked up several Kentucky Wrestling Coaches Association (KYWCA) titles and Region One championships. There have also been multiple individual championships.

Sports Illustrated Publishes UCHS Wrestling Story

After studying all those extraordinary accomplishments, is it any wonder that Sports Illustrated would cover them? Based on its history, the iconic sports publication was bound to publish a feature on this award-winning program, one that really kicked into high gear in the early 2010s. The SI piece covers the Robert Ervin family's essentially putting this program on the national map. After all, before he arrived in 2012, Union County had "only" won six state titles. Ervin was there for the next eight. In 2023, Jarvis Elam and Brooks Black were named as the program's co-head coaches, and the freight train just kept right on rolling with those 2024 and 2025 titles.

Congratulations to the Union County high school wrestling program and its (long-overdue) national recognition.