[ Technically, the high school wrestling season ended... ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 2, 2002 by Capital-Journal

Technically, the high school wrestling season ended in late February and starts again in November.

For Shawnee Heights junior Tanner Gardner, the season never ends.

Gardner, who won the Class 5A 112-pound state title for Bob Gonzales' T-Birds on Feb. 23 in Wichita, kicked off his so called off- season with a tournament the following weekend and hasn't stopped since.

Gardner won his third USA Kansas Kids title in March and on April 19-20 Gardner placed second in freestyle and third in the Greco- American division at the Southern Plains USA Wrestling regional in Oklahoma. Last week he placed second in the Greco-American class and sixth in freestyle at the Far West regional in Las Vegas.

Wednesday, Gardner left for Chicago, where he will compete in the FILA Cadet Nationals. Also on his agenda are the Elite 80 Wrestling Camp at the USA Wrestling headquarters in Colorado Springs July 7-12 and the USA Wrestling Jr. Nationals at Fargo, N.D., July 21-25.

"I'm training all year around," said Gardner, who was 41-0 during his high school season. "The slogan they (USA Wrestling) have is 'summer wrestling makes winter champions.' You continually improve as you keep wrestling. "

Gardner's two losses (one in each division) at Oklahoma came against a wrestler who has been a three-time all-American in both divisions.

At Vegas, Gardner wrestled 17 matches in four days, going 13-4. It's a grueling schedule, but one that Gardner says he's happy to accept.

"I got home Saturday and I went to sleep for a long time," said Gardner, who skipped Shawnee Heights' prom Saturday night to recover.

"Going to the bigger level tournaments you get the better competition and that's what you want."

Because of his tournament and camp schedule Gardner is forced to miss a significant amount of class time during the spring, but that's been no problem for the 4.0 student, who is currently ranked No. 1 in his junior class.

"I miss a good fair share of it (school), but the teachers are pretty nice about it as long as I make up my work," he said. "I'm an 'A' student, so it's a lot easier for me to miss school and I usually get my stuff made up."

If his wrestling did interfere with his academics, Gardner said he would cut back his schedule. But he won't let that happen.

"Grades and wrestling are just as important as each other," he said.

There also is the financial aspect of traveling all over the country to compete. Gardner, who helps operate a concession stand at Heartland Park Topeka whenever possible, admits that he gets a bunch of help from his parents.

Gardner will compete a little closer to home June 1-2 at Baldwin High School before he heads off to the Elite 80 camp.

"They only accept the 80 best wrestlers in America and it's invitation only," Gonzales said. "The coaches that are there are our Olympic coaches, our national coaches and only the nation's best high school coaches."

That camp will be a tune-up for Gardner's biggest competition of the summer --- the national meet at Fargo.

In last year's national meet, Gardner was off to a 4-0 start when he suffered a fractured elbow. He's planning a much happier ending this time around.

"I want to keep getting better technique-wise, and my ultimate goal is to come out on top at Fargo come July," Gardner said.

"I feel I'm steadily getting better and I have a pretty good chance of achieving my goal. I just have to keep training hard."

Gonzales doesn't worry about that part. He says a big part of Gardner's success stems from the fact that he continues to stay on an even keel despite his accomplishments.

"He's never gotten the big head or anything," Gonzales said. "He's still normal."