By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

The Starr's Mill and McIntosh high school wrestling teams each competed in one final meet before the end of the 20th century.

Starr's Mill participated in the St. Pius Duals, while McIntosh wrestled in the Fitzgerald Invitational. Both coaches are encouraged by their teams' performance and look forward to the rest of the season.

Starr's Mill wrestled against five high schools at St. Pius and out-scored their opponents 334-27. The Panthers beat Redan High School 72-0 and North Springs 60-7, walked over East Side 71-0, and won over St. Pius 59-8 before beating Woodstock in the finals 62-12. The Panthers have been performing at this level all season long.

Three Panther wrestlers are still undefeated on the season; Gary James (103) is 19-0, Christopher Coleman (145) is 19-0, and Drew Cofty (152) is 15-0. The great records don't stop there, though. Jason Kiefer (130) is 19-1, Ariston Bowers (140) is 17-1, Tony Tofanelli (215) is 13-3, Matt Fuhrman (160) is 12-3, Rusty Lyle (171) is 14-4 and Danny Davidson (135) is 14-5.

Starr's Mill also has received another boost with the return of Clint Barbour from an injury. He has already started competing with the team and will wrestle at Henry County Wednesday and at the Hoover Invitational Saturday. Starr's Mill will wrestle against Henry County and Columbia Wednesday, both of which are top 10 teams in the state.

The Hoover Invitational is in Birmingham, Ala. and will feature some top wrestling programs from Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.

McIntosh wrestlers are feeling good about their final meet of 1999 and their prospects for 2000. They competed in the Fitzgerald Invitational last week and placed second overall. Lowndes High School won the meet and Cook County, ranked second in AA, placed third. The Chiefs had three first place finishers: Ricky Smith (112), Eddie Smith (130) and Carlos Dinkins (119). Jerry Fochtmann placed second overall at 125, Michael Lee took third place at 160, and Brad Luce finished in fourth place at 140.

Coach Marty Hutsell was pleased with his team's performance and is happy that the holiday grind is over. “We grind them until December,” Coach Hutsell said. “They face a lot of tough competition and they wrestle a lot. It gives them good mental toughness and really prepares them.”

The biggest problem facing both teams is the added weight that some of the wrestlers gained over the holidays. Both teams have done a lot of running recently to make sure that they will make weight for their upcoming meets.

McIntosh will wrestle next at the War Eagle Invitational at Woodward Academy Friday and Saturday.

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