Saturday in the South gym the Panther wrestlers completed their run as undefeated NSL champs. They achieved that mark for the second year in a row, the third time over the past four years, and they ran their consecutive NSL dual wins mark to 14 staright over 3 years, but that was not what most people were talking about when they left the gym saturday night.

What most people could not stop talking about was the look that the 8 Panthers brought to their finals match. It was one that brought back memories and left many in the stands wondering if just maybe…?

Saturday night the Panther wrestling team walked away with 7 individual league champions. That mark is the 2nd most in school history only to be overshadowed by the 10 league champions in 1974. What made it that much more special was the throw back uniforms the 8 finalist wore. These were not some new imitation uniforms designed to look like the originals, but rather the origianls themselves! The white singlets with two faded purple lines running across the mid-chest and branded with an equally fadded “W” showed the signs of age, but on this night of history it was a perfect match.

No less than half a dozen spectators sat in awe wondering, “is that the same one I wore some 30 plus years ago?” The answer… YES! It was a special night for all and just a little extra special for some. One spectator said, “It was so great to see something like that. I would have never believed those things still existed! It really did make me feel good, and gave me and a couple of the other guys a chance to talk about old times and some of our experiences in those singlets.” The kids were just as thrilled to be part of the experience. They were begging to wear them all week and refused to let it go until they had one in thier hand.

 This is a new young group of kids, the 2010 version, but on a night when this group of kids achieved what only a team from 1974 could match, and looked like a team from the around the same time period, we are reminded that sometimes new things really are a lot more like the old.

Congratualtions to the Undfeated 2010 NSL League Champions!