‘We don’t get pinned here’: The standard Jerry Winterton built at Cary

Jerry Winterton can still remember the message he delivered to a talented new wrestler during a camp years ago.

The wrestler had arrived in Cary from what Winterton called a “wrestling state.” He was pinned during the camp, and he told Winterton that “it happens.”

Winterton couldn’t believe how he casually accepted it.

“We don’t get pinned here,” Winterton told him.

It was a moment that captured the standard Winterton spent decades building at Cary High School.

Winning was expected, but not simply because Cary had won before. Wrestlers were expected to work, compete, and improve. Over time, that approach helped turn Cary into one of the most successful high school wrestling programs in North Carolina history, and Winterton became one of the most decorated coaches in the sport.

But Winterton’s path to Cary began hundreds of miles away.