TOP AREA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS: noah hartsock
By Mike Tupa
Aug. 29, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.
This is an ongoing series highlighting each few days one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.
TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
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NOAH HARTSOCK
Boys basketball (mid-2000s)
The 6-foot-8 Noah was a composite of a lion and a teddy bear — a ferocious competitor armed with superior hardwood skills but a personality defined by a calm, kind demeanor. Blessed with God-given size, quickness, uncanny coordination and micro-spatial awareness, Noah honed his considerable talents on the old worn-out rim that sanctified the Hartsock driveway. Noah and his five brothers fought veritable wars against each other during countless hours on that standard. Those scraps helped Noah develop the toughness that would be the final ingredient to make him one of the outstanding basketball players to come out of Bartlesville.
Bartlesville qualified for state three times during his high school career — his sophomore through senior years — and finished as state runner-up when he was a junior (2004-05).
During his senior season, Hartsock averaged around 26 points per game and close to or at double-digit rebounds. He went on to star at Brigham Young University — but not before he put faith above his basketball career and after high school served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Following his religious service, Hartsock played four years for BYU men's basketball — which qualified each of those seasons for the NCAA men's tournament. His senior season he averaged 16.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.6 blocks per game and hit 57 percent of his field goals.
In the 2012 NCAA tourney, Hartsock was part of BYU's record-setting comeback from a 25-point deficit to beat Iona, 78-72. Hartsock scored a team-high 23 points.
Not many people knew Hartsock played hurt part of his senior season.
Following college, he played pro ball one year in Europe and then returned home to focus on education and coaching.
In 2025 the Bartlesville Sports Commission announced Hartsock would be inducted into the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame.
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This series has included the following athletes, who are listed in no particular order.
-Jena’ Williams, Bartlesville
-Eric Rolfs, Bartlesville
-Chris Smith, Caney Valley
-Jill Bryan, Copan
-Barron Tanner Jr, Bartlesville
-Hailey Tucker, Bartlesville
-Jeremy Dunkle, Dewey
-Whitney Metcalf, Bartlesville
-Tim Hamilton, Bartlesville
-Danielle Koster, Bartlesville
-Carson LaRue, Dewey
-John Hamman, Wesleyan Christian
-Jamie Elam, Caney Valley
-Sam Mitchell, Bartlesville
-Karissa Jones, Dewey
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Footsteps back to 1967
Even-up
That was where the College-Sooner high schools’ football series stood after its first two years.
The Col Hi Wildcats speared the Spartans in the 1967 inaugural, 28-6.
Sooner snapped back to lap up the second meeting, 20-14, in 1968.
Bill Patterson scored on an 18-yard rumble for Col Hi in the 1967 game while the Sooner’s lone TD came on quarterback Bruce Puckett’s five-yard keeper.
Dale Bishop bounced off Wildcat tacklers for 133 yards rushing in the 1968 tilt to pull the Sooners to victory. Bishop scored one touchdown on a one-yard plunge.
Meanwhile, Dewey High could brag of a former player laboring for a big-time college program at Miami (Florida).
Jim Wahnee was a full-time starting defensive back for the Hurricanes. The 5-10, 180-pound full-blooded Comanche Indian had been an All-Conference quarterback and defensive back at Dewey.
An article in the Examiner-Enterprise on Oct. 6, 1966, featured Wahnee’s success at Miami.
In a game against Florida State, he had nine unassisted tackles and an interception.
He also was one of the reasons LSU completed just three passes against Miami.
Meanwhile in the fall of 1966, the record album “The One And Only John Gary,” was on sale at the L.A. McKinney Music Company on 200 E. Frank Phillips.
Other hot discs were “In the Garden,” by Stuart Hamblen, “A Lover’s Concerto,” by the Living Jazz (no relation to Karl Malone and John Stockton) and “What Now My Love,” by the Living Brass.
For those local residents who wanted to do more than just listen, there were open tryouts in Oct. 1966 for “The Music Man.” The musical play was being put on by the Bartlesville Little Theater Guild. This was its third annual musical production.
Noah Hartsock