Forest Park Boys Basketball
2005 2A State Champions
Front Row: Shay Wendholt, Aubrey James, Paige Luebbehusen, Abbey Fleck, Whitney Nord, Emily Hildenbrand, Lindsay Hoffman, Brooke Hessig
Middle Row: Tim James, Matt Atkins, Nathan Allen, David Welp, Jace Hasenour, Mike Foerster, Curt Bromm
Back Row: Superintendent Bob Johnson, Head Coach Tom Beach, JV Coach Matt Sisley, Brett Schlachter, Brandon Hopf, Brad Weyer, Clint Hopf, Kyle Schroering, Assistant Coach Phil Winkler, Athletic Director Doug Louden, Freshman Coach Nate Hawkins, Vice Principal Jim Mehling, Principal Jeff Jessee
Coaches: Tom Beach, Josh Sussott, Matt Sisley, Nate Hawkins
Record: 23-4
Accomplisments: Sectional, Regional, Semi-State, and State Champions
Individual Record during 2005 2A State Championship Game: Brandon Hopf: 16 RB, 27 Points
The Forest Park Rangers had a very successful season during the 2004/05 school year. Their season record was 23-4, a pretty impressive record to uphold. The Rangers were able to win Sectionals over Southridge, Regionals over Austin, Semi-State over Knightstown, and defeated Harding at State during this season. Coach Tom Beach was the coach for 2004/05 season. He explained the state championship game: “Harding has a great team. Coach Gooden does an outstanding job. He has a lot of experience of being down here. But, they are a young team…a lot like us with size, quickness and shooters, but we thought we were better. We just had to prove it.”
We interviewed one of the players over their experience as a team member of the State Champion Team. We were able to interview David Welp, #10, starting shooting guard for the Rangers at that time. We asked Welp, what position did you play, and his response was: “I played the 2 position at shooting guard.” Welp was asked his most memorable moment from that season and why: “Winning state was the most memorable moment because it was a very big accomplishment.” He also talked about his favorite game from the season: “The most memorable game was the Knightstown Semistate game where we only won by three points. It was a very exciting and up-tempo game.” As the Knightstown game was a tight and very near scoring game we asked Welp if there was any time during the game that he thought they were going to lose, his response was: “No, the Knightstown game was scary, but I felt we would still win.”
To become a good team, the players have to work well together. They have to have good chemistry with each other and be able to compete with each other in tough situations. We ask Welp what his team was like and if they had good chemistry. Welp replied with much gratitude: “Great team chemistry, everyone loved playing together. We played together in 5th grade and were always together. Everyone was friends with each other. When we came to high school, we had different classes and saw each other less, but still managed to hang out. My teammates were my friends.” When asked if Welp could go back and change anything from that game his reply was: “I can’t think of anything in specific I would do differently.” As the interview was finished up and came to a close, Welp was asked if there were any stories from the team this year that the coaches didn’t know. Welp replied, “No” with a very mischievous smirk across his face. It was obviously a team secret that he had to keep.
