Forest "Butch" Ross, Jr. is a native of Lincolnton, North Carolina. He attended West Lincoln High School, where he wrestled from 1972 to 1975. Later, from 1976 to 1978, he attended Appalachian State University and was a member of Coach Paul Mance's first Mountaineer team. He earned a varsity letter for ASU and finished third in the Southern Conference Tournament in 1978.

Ross started his coaching career at West Lincoln Junior High, where he spent the first 18 years. Between 1979 and 1996, he coached the junior high wrestling team and worked as an official. In 1996, he assumed the position of head wrestling coach at West Lincoln High School. Under his leadership, West Lincoln has consistently been one of the strongest and most successful wrestling programs in North Carolina. They secured NCHSAA state dual team championships in 2000, 2015, 2018, and 2019. Throughout his career, Ross has amassed 713 career dual wins and has been named Conference Coach of the Year 17 times. His teams have produced 145 state qualifiers, 53 state medalists, and 11 state individual champions. Furthermore, 26 of his wrestlers have followed his footsteps by becoming coaches themselves.

In addition to his coaching role, Ross has been actively involved in various service and leadership roles within the wrestling community. In 1997, he founded the Top Dawg Wrestling Club in Lincoln County. Over the years, he dedicated more than 40 years to working with the Appalachian State wrestling camps. He has served on the North Carolina Wrestling Coaches Association Board of Directors since 2010, holding the position of Board President from 2010 to 2012. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors for both the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Lincoln County Sports Hall of Fame.

Throughout his career, Coach Ross has received widespread recognition for his contributions to wrestling. He was honored as the NC Mat News Coach of the Year and as the Lincoln County Sportsman of the Year (2001). He was inducted into the Lincoln County Sports Hall of Fame (2008) and the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (2012). In 2023, Coach Ross received the "Bill Mayhew Legacy in Wrestling Award" from the North Carolina Coaches Association.

Retiring from teaching in 2019, Ross remains the head coach at West Lincoln and is currently serving as an Associate Pastor at Leonard’s Fork Baptist Church in Lincolnton. The Ross family continues to play an instrumental role in supporting the West Lincoln wrestling program. Ross's sister, Mary Ross Reynolds, and his daughters, Heather Willis, Angie Drewery, Elizabeth Shelton, Mia Cooke, and Sarah Ross, all share strong connections to the program. Additionally, Ross takes pride in his 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, with six of them having followed in his footsteps by wrestling in the West Lincoln program.