1999-2000 Season

Highlights for the 1999-2000 Season

8th Gwinnett County Title in the past 11 years

8th Area/Region Title in the past 13 years

1st at the Gwinnett County Dual Tournament, third consecutive year

1st at the Gwinnett County Tournament

2nd at the AAAA State Tournament

Gwinnett County: Team of the Year

Gwinnett County: Coach of the Year

1st Team All County Taylor Gifford Stephen Ardman Beau Risley Jon Boncek Matt Book Scholar Athlete Chad Wright

2nd Team All County Jon Huff Kevin Godleski Andy McCarthy Honorable Mention Omar Rogel Michael Gruber Beau Risley Jon Boncek

Below are the highlights of our schedule for the 1999 - 2000 season, and following that is the tentative schedule for the 2000 - 2001 season.

December, 2000 - As you will see, we traveled throughout the southeast to compete against the toughest competition we could find.

Knoxville Invitational - Karns High School, Tennessee

Our Panther wrestlers returned to Karns for the first time in several years and won our opening tournament of the year. The biggest surprise for us was unseeded 103 lb. Taylor Gifford. Taylor upset the #5,4,1 and 2 seeds in route to his first individual varsity championship. Other champions were Michael Gruber and Stephen Ardman. Four Panther wrestlers took runner-up honors: Jon Huff, Beau Risley, Jon Boncek & Matt Book. Chad Wright, Omar Rogel Andy McCarthy took third place while Kevin Godleski took fourth. Matt Martin finished in fifth place. This was a great tournament to open the season with as most of our wrestlers got at least four matches and saw a variety of opponents from GA, TN, SC & NC.

Palmetto Classic - Irmo High School, South Carolina

The Panther wrestlers made it two in a row with another tournament victory in Irmo, S.C. We had three champions in Omar Rogel (125), Stephen Ardman (135) and Matt Book (189). Finishing as runner-up was Kevin Godleski (140), Beau Risley (152) and Andy McCarthy (160). Taylor Gifford (103), Jon Huff (130) and Jon Boncek each took third with Michael Gruber finishing fourth. The balance of the team is what won this tournament. With ten of our wrestlers placing in the top four, Summerville, SC finished a distant second.

Houston County Invitational - Perry, GA

Our Panther wrestlers rolled into another invitational tournament and pounded their way through the south Georgia competition finishing way ahead of the field of 28 teams. Once again our team placed an incredible 11 wrestlers in the top four and, once again, it seemed that it was someone different every week. This time Michael Gruber (119) won the championship along with weekly favorites Stephen Ardman (135) and Matt Book (189). Four wrestlers finished with second place honors - Taylor Gifford (103), Omar Rogel (125), Jon Huff (130) and Matt Martin (145). Bobby Boggan (275) entered his first competition of the year and did a great job in placing third. Chad Wright (112), Kevin Godleski (140) and Andy McCarthy (160) all finished fourth to help the team move away from the competition. We've now won three tournaments in a row and we're getting pretty confident. However, we got banged up a lot at this competition and, as a result, we'll have to hold some guys out of our next tournament.

Tiger Holiday Classic - Chapel Hill High School, North Carolina

Our team came into the Tiger Classic beat up and not at full strength. State place winners Jon Huff & Jon Boncek were out of the lineup with injuries. Even with two starters out we finished a respectable fifth at the always tough Chapel Hill Invitational. The team placed four wrestlers with Stephen Ardman (135) leading the way. Stephen lost in the finals of this tournament. It would be the only loss for Ardman the entire season. Taylor Gifford (103) and Matt Book (189) both finished fourth and a beat up Andy McCarthy finished sixth. It was obvious that the fourth consecutive tournament, and the travel that goes with it, is starting to wear on the team. But that's okay, our whole purpose with the tough travel schedule is to push this team to the limit to better prepare them for the later part of the season.

Central Florida Duals - Lyman High School, Orlando, Florida

The last week of our month long grinder was a trip to Orlando, FL with a dual tournament at Lyman High School. The dual meet format was a welcomed change for the team. We defeated six teams over the two days with the biggest victory coming in the finals over nationally ranked Aztec High School, NM 28-26. The victory was a total team effort with everyone wrestling their hearts out. It was probably the biggest win in school history. The dual format proved to be a very popular format with both parents, coaches & wrestlers talking about the easy-to-follow tournament. Host Lyman High did a great job organizing the tournament and we look forward to returning next year. Now the team actually gets a couple of days off. But they can't rest for long as the Gwinnett County Tournament is fast on the horizon.

Gwinnett County Dual Tournament

The team had a tremendous amount of mat time in the month of December and they're ready for the local competition to begin. Our wrestlers defended their county dual meet championship with wins over four county opponents. The win in the finals over Collins Hill gave us the dual meet trophy for the third consecutive year. Although it was a good weekend on the mat, we lost one of our starters off the mat to joint enrollment grades. This is a tough blow to the our chances of winning the state championship. It will be interesting to see how the team reacts next week with the county championship on the line.

Gwinnett County Tournament

The team came out strong in their attempt to win the county championship for the fourth consecutive year. The Panthers placed eight wrestlers in the finals - winning six individual titles. Champions were: Taylor Gifford (103), Stephen Ardman (135), Beau Risley (152), Andy McCarthy (160), Jon Boncek (171) and Matt Book (215). Jon Huff (130) and Kevin Godleski (140) both lost a thrillers to a state place winners and took runner-up honors. Chad Wright (112) and Michael Gruber (119) finished third and Omar Rogel (125) and Matt Martin finished fourth. All in all, a great tournament for the Panthers. We've now won seven out of eight tournaments and the confidence is growing. Most importantly, we're healthy.

Wildcat Classic - Valdosta, GA

We drove to Valdosta to get a look at some of the south Georgia teams and be better prepared for who we might draw at the state meet. We won a close tournament over perennial AAA power Troup County - but ran away with the tournament with a great showing in the finals. We had an incredible seven champions: Taylor Gifford (103), Michael Gruber (119), Omar Rogel (125), Stephen Ardman (135), Beau Risley (152), Jon Boncek (171), and Matt Book (189). Jon Huff (130) lost another thriller in overtime, Chad Wright (112) and Matt Martin (145) took third place and Karl Peterson (215) surprised everyone with a fourth place finish.

Gwinnett - Cobb Challenge

Out Panthers, ranked #2 in the state, defeated the #1 Harrison Hoyas by a score of 28-26. The win over Harrison helped Gwinnett County defeat Cobb County in a battle of the metro area powerhouses. The dual meet with Harrison was a "classic". With a dramatic overtime win by Beau Risley (152) and a decisive pin by Matt Book (189), our Panthers gained the number one spot in the state. It's obvious that our wrestlers drew on their experience in our "other classic" dual meet earlier in the year (Aztec, NM).

State Qualifier / Area 8AAAA Tournament

The Panther wrestling team won their eighth region tournament in the last thirteen years. We had four individual region champions: Taylor Gifford (103), Stephen Ardman (135), Jon Boncek (171) and Matt Book (189). Michael Gruber (119), Jon Huff (130), Kevin Godleski (135) and Andy McCarthy (160) placed second at their respective weights. Beau Risley (152) and Bobby Boggan (275) took third place and Chad Wright (112), Omar Rogel (125) & Karl Peterson (215) all finished in fourth place to qualify for the state tournament. Overall, a good tournament showing for our team but we won't know until the state tournament brackets are put together tomorrow.

AAAA State Tournament

The Panther wrestling squad took state runner-up honors for the third time in school history. Congratulations to Coach Brian Hage and his Harrison Hoyas as they wrestled a tremendous tournament and won their first state wrestling championship. The Parkview wrestling team placed more individuals and scored more points at this state tournament than ever before. Senior Stephen Ardman (135) won his first state championship and finished with a 46-1 season record. He'll be wrestling for Pembroke next year. Junior Matt Book (189) took runner-up honors and completed his season with a 44-5 record. Sophomores Taylor Gifford (103) and Michael Gruber (119) took third place honors and Senior Beau Risley (152) dazzled the crowd match after match with his four overtime victories and also took third place. Senior captain Jon Boncek turned in a strong performance finishing fourth and ending his senior season with a 36-5 record. Andy McCarthy (160) turned in a gutty performance and finished in sixth place.

We were very disappointed with the second place finish at the state tournament but also very proud of the most successful season in school history:

16-0 dual meet record - victories over Harrison (GA), Starr's Mill (GA), Aztec (NM), Collins Hill (GA), Astronaut (FL), Woodward Academy (GA), McEachern (GA Our team won seven tournaments in four different states during the season Panther wrestlers claimed 27 individual championships at these tournaments Gwinnett County Champions for the fourth consecutive year Gwinnett County Dual Meet Champions for the fourth consecutive year Gwinnett / Cobb Challenge Champions

A look at the upcoming 2000 - 2001 season:

The Panther wrestlers graduate ten senior starters from the lineup and look to reload next season. Perhaps the biggest question mark for next years lineup will be the 103lb. weight class once again. Here is a look at the tentative schedule:

Nov. 24 - 25 Parkview Thanksgiving Tournament Dec 1 - 2 Karns Inv., Tennessee Dec 8 - 9 Palmetto Classic, Irmo, S.C. Dec 15-16 Perry Inv., GA National Fairgrounds Dec 22-23 WRAL Tournament, Raleigh, NC Dec 28 - 29 Central Florida Duals, Orlando, FL Jan. 5 - 6 Gwinnett County Tournament Jan. 19 - 20 Valdosta Tournament Jan. 24 Gwinnett / Cobb Challenge Feb. 2 - 3 State Qualifier / Area Tournament Feb. 9 - 10 AAAA State Tournament