What is expected from last year's wrestling state champions? A second spectacular season! And this year's Panthers have delivered just that. Five tournament championships and an overall season record of 11-1-1 have the Panthers ranked first going into the regional meet next weekend and the state meet the weekend of February 16 and 17.

The Panther's are closely followed by second-ranked Standley Lake, and third-ranked Arvada West. "We have as good of a chance at state as anybody. If we can make eight wrestlers past the regional meet, then we will have very good chances at an outstanding performance," commented Head Coach Tom Beeson on the teams chances at the state tournament.

Last Thursday's dual meet against archrival Standley Lake was a huge victory for the Panthers. It was tied going into the last match, and heavyweight Brian Remmington filled in for regular wrestler Ferdinand Torres. Torres was in a car accident earlier in the day, which prevented him from wrestling in the match.

Remmington won his match to give the Panthers the points that they needed to win; final score 37-34.

Other Pomona wrestlers were strategically moved up a weight class to try and stop the Gators. "We have a strong middle line and by moving Marc Blattner up to 171 [pounds] we won one more match," explained Head Coach Tom Beeson.

The win at the hyped up Standley Lake meet pumped up the Panthers who were competing in last weekend's Lincoln Tournament. Taking third overall, the Panthers had four champions. Senior Tom Clum, three time state champion, bettered his impeccable record to 144-0, 33-0 this season, with a 5-0 victory in 125 pounds. And Gary Dack, defending state champion at 140 pounds, won the championship at 152 pounds.

The Panthers also had an outstanding performance at the Arvada West Invitational, which is considered the biggest regular season tournament in the state. Going into the championship round, the Panthers were behind Standley Lake. Both schools had six wrestlers in the finals, but with five champions Pomona would pull ahead to win the tournament with 171.5 points.

Tom Clum at 125 pounds and his brother, junior, Dan Clum at 140 pounds each took home a championship. With an outstanding performance Dan pinned his opponent in 3:02 in the championship round. Derrick Hendren won the 145 pound title with an escape in the last seconds of the match. Gary Dack took the 152 pound title and Torres won the heavyweight title.

Over winter break the Panther's took sixth place at the Reno Tournament of Champions. This strong finish at the second most competitive tournament in the nation improved Pomona's national ranking from 34th to 22nd.

Tom Clum won the 125 pound title for the second year. Dan Clum also made it to the championship match, taking second at 140 pounds. Gary Dack took fifth at 152, freshmen Paul Dack was sixth at 103. Hendren and Torres both took ninth in 145 and heavyweight, respectively.

The wrestling team will be competing in the Regional competition at Thompson Valley on February 9 and 10. The following weekend is the State competition at the Pepsi Center. Four wrestlers are ranked first in the state: Tom Clum at 125, Dan Clum at 140, Gary Dack at 152, and heavyweight Ferdinand Torres. Ranked second at 145 is Derrick Hendren.