Parkview won the Area 8-AAAAA traditional wrestling championship Saturday at Dacula High School.
The Panthers advanced nine wrestlers to the sectionals and seven of those wrestled for a championship. Three came away with victories.
Taz Torbit defeated Archer's Taylor Brittain 9-0 in the 125-pound weight class. Brian McAraw defeated Archer's Zack Wright 15-1 in the 135-pound weight class and Will Squires pinned Archer's Josh Evans in 40 seconds in the 160-pound weight class.
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Falling in the championship round was Garrett Miller, who was pinned by Archer's in the 103-pound weight class. Millhof is ranked third in the nation as a freshman.
In the 119-pound weight class, Robbie Kane took a forfeit in the championship round to save his injured shoulder, giving the victory to Denzell Harmon of Dacula.
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In the 140-pound weight class Thomas Veal of South Gwinnett defeated Bradley Atkinson 5-3 and in the 145-pound weight class Aaron Reynolds of Dacula pinned Ryan McFall with 31 seconds left in the first period.
Lilburn's other championship-round qualifier was Berkmar's 215-pounder Jaime Cruz, who lost on a controversial reversal in the closing seconds and lost 4-3 to Sam Hunt of Dacula
When Parkview's Keegan Marx pinned Rashad Levels of South Gwinnett for third place in his weight class, Parkview clinched the points needed to win the tournament.
Parkview won the tournament with 187 points followed by Dacula with 181. Archer was third with 177.
"We actually put seven through to the finals and had three champs," said Parkview head coach Chris Hardin. "It was great. Overall a team effort. It was total team effort and everybody scored points. That's what it's about. Everyone scoring points for the team. It was a good tournament."
Parkview dominated with its lower-weight wrestler, but it also received valuable points in the heavier weights.
"Our 171- and 189- [pound wrestlers] both finished third," Hardin explained. "They were both seeded fourth but they finished third so that's the thing you want to finish at or above your seed and they did that."
Sectionals will be at next weekend and Hardin will have his nine grapplers vying for a berth in the state tournament. They will be matched up with Area 7-AAAAA.
"We have several alternates at 112, 130, 152 and heavyweight," Hardin said. "So that's four other alternates that finished fifth. Like I tell the team, it's about advancing and surviving."
