TOP AREA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS: TIFFANY PAPER
By Mike Tupa
Aug. 31, 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
TIFFANY PAPER (Copan)
Softball/girls basketball (late 1990s)
She was the ultimate Paper tiger.
Measuring at 6-foot-1 on lean athletic form and crowned by flowing blond hair, Paper loomed gigantic in the pitching circle.
But it was her sonic boom fastball — timed at near 70 miles-per-hour — that made her a Brobdingnagian nightmare for opponents and a monumental difference maker for Copan.
Her achievements are framed by mythical proportions — double-digit no-hitters, more than 20 strikeouts in multiple games and a contemporary observation of the ultimate gold standard among coaches by Barnsdall legend Joe Gilbert: "Boy, she's tough."
And she was.
In just three seasons (she sat out her freshman season after transferring from Dewey to Copan), she came within 50 strikeouts of the all-time career strikeout record in Oklahoma high school softball.
In the 1999 Class A regional opener against Garber, Paper struck out all 15 batters she faced — and allowed only two foul balls — in the 14-0 run-rule victory.
During a tournament in 1998, Paper pitched three complete games in one day — a total of 32 innings — with 51 strikeouts.
During those three campaigns (1997-99) Copan won three-straight Class A state championships. The school hasn't won another in the 26 years since she graduated.
Of course Copan had an incredibly strong cast of players that complemented Paper — Tamera Wohlschlegel, Amanda Brown, Jackie Jo Chaney, Shannon Waits, Dene Anderson, Lisa Martinez and many others.
The blending of all these special talents and personalities resulted in symbiotic magic.
In addition to softball, Paper also could bring it on the basketball court. During her junior season she pumped in 25 points and pulled down seven boards in a rout of Foyil.
After high school, Paper went on to pitch for Oklahoma State. She excelled early, including tossing a shutout against Butler Community College near the opening of her freshman season. But injury would derail her promising career.
Paper's contributions to the area sports tradition didn't end with her playing days.
She married former Copan fellow star athlete Marshall Foreman and their sons Cannon and Kane went on to contribute to Copan's sports success for a new generation.
___
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
-Noah Hartsock, Bartlesville
Tiffany Paper