Horace Blankenship, originally from Beckley, began his love affair with wrestling during his sophomore season at Livonia Bentley High School in Livonia, Michigan. After graduating from Concord College he and his wife settled in the Eastern Panhandle as teachers. Blankenship began his career at Berkeley Springs High School in 1976, taking over as head coach in 1980. He left briefly after the 1988 season, but returned in 1991 to assist Rick Hendrickson, before taking over the head coaching duties once more in the fall of 1993. Horace retired from coaching at the conclusion of the 2000 season. During his sixteen years as head coach at Berkeley Springs, Horace guided the Indians to six top five finishes in Class AA/A State Tournament, including a state title in 1995, a second place finish in 1994 and third place finish in 1997. He was named conference and regional coach of the year on several occasions, and the WV AA/A Coach of the Year in 1995. Horace's teams compiled a dual meet record of 210-97-7. He coached numerous state place winners and nine individual state champions, including his oldest son Chris. Also he coached track at Berkeley Springs and guided them to the 1987 Class AA/A state title. Horace and his wife Barbara still reside in Berkeley Spring and are the proud parents of Chris, Leah Ann and A.J.