Wrestling: 'Cats put Gardner on spot with No. 400

John Gardner loves to win as much as the next person. But the veteran High Point coach wants nothing to do with being recognized for personal milestones.

Well, Gardner reached another lofty mark as his Wildcats rolled to a 42-18 win over Morris Knolls in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference cross-divisional match on Tuesday night in Wantage. The victory was No. 400 for Gardner, who improved to 400-118-2 overall in 25 seasons (average of 16 per year) at the helm of his alma mater. Sophomore Colton Jaust's technical fall in the 12th bout at 120 pounds sealed the deal.

HP celebrates No. 400 (courtesy of Rhonda Gaccione)

Gardner, a four-time region and 1990 state champion at 189 pounds for the 'Cats who ranks seventh on the school's all-time wins list as a wrestler (131-8-1 from 1986-90), joins Kittatinny's John Gill (629), Hunterdon Central's Russ Riegel (533 with the Red Devils and another 305 with Harrison County High School in Kentucky) and Phillipsburg Hall of Famer Rick Thompson (477 overall and 347 in New Jersey with P'burg, Hackettstown, Voorhees, Franklin and Mountain now West Orange) as the only Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex coaches to log 400-plus wins.

"I've been very lucky. I really enjoy what I do," Gardner said late Tuesday night during a phone interview.

High Point (6-5), which is in a rebuilding mode and stands at 774 wins overall in 57 seasons, still rates as the favorite to claim the program's sixth straight North 1, Group 2 sectional title (and a county-best 30th sectional championship overall) when the postseason team tournaments begin on Monday, Feb. 6.

The 'Cats celebrated another NJAC Freedom Division title with Friday's 39-23 win over archrival Kittatinny -- the program's 27th league or division crown. Gardner's teams have won 17 of those league or conference championships (five in the old Sussex County Interscholastic League) as he improved to 13-11 all-time against the Cougars.

Gardner, Soldano and Francavilla are HP's only four-time region champs

Aside from all of his tremendous accomplishments on the mat, Gardner is one of the most humble men you will ever meet. It's never about him. Truth be told, he never has any idea where his coaching record stands unless someone else brings it up.

Gardner's wrestlers comes first. You will never see him at the front of a team championship photo holding the trophy like many coaches do, and in fact, he is usually prodded into joining those celebrations. 

True to form on Tuesday, Gardner sheepishly took part in a postmatch celebration of his 400th win. I was in attendance when he was recognized for No. 300 prior to a home match, and he literally had to be pushed toward the center of the mat to accept a commemorative plaque and hearty round of applause from diehard and loyal High Point fans. 

Gardner's mother, Joyce, and many former wrestlers were on hand for No. 400, including his nephews, Joe and Jason Gaccione, both state placewinners and 100-plus match winners, and who together were part of six sectional and four state title teams from 2008-15. Joe went 132-31 from 2007-11 and Jason ranks second on the school's wins list at 143-23 from 2011-15. Their mother, Rhonda, works tirelessly to support the wrestling program and his her brother's biggest fan.

It's impossible not to think of High Point wrestling without Gardner first coming to mind, along with longtime assistant Mickey Thomas (the school's first district champion in 1968) and Gardner's father, Ralph, who always sat front and center at all home matches before passing away last April. A red chair that reads, "Ralph Gardner. Wildcats' #1 fan" is stationed in the front row near the scorer's table for every home match. 

But it wasn't all sunshine and roses when John succeeded longtime head coach Jeff Hull, who coached Gardner and put the program on the statewide map, prior to the 1998-99 season. The 'Cats were barely above .500 those first two campaigns and didn't win their first SCIL title during Gardner's reign until 2005-06, the first of nine titles in a row, including five NJAC championships.

"It was really cool to have the support ... even when we are not very good, people support us," said Gardner, who was taking the tape off the mat following the Morris Knolls match and hoping to sneak away without any fanfare. "They've been very supportive of me. I don't know if it's justified, but I've been very blessed." 

Hull and Jan Michaels, who guided the program to a 47-12 mark, with three SCIL and sectional titles in three seasons from 1993-96 between Hull's two stints (288-104-4 and eight sectional titles from 1970-73 and 1996-98). The pair has had a hand in 335 of the program's wins and were on hand for Gardner's milestone moment. Gardner also credited Mark Veltri, who has served 22 seasons as an assistant and also wrestled for High Point.

"Not everyone walking into [a head coaching job] sees a coach who was there as a wrestler still be there," Gardner said of Thomas, who has been an assistant at the school since the mid-1970s. "But the program is bigger than any of us."

High Point celebrates the Group 2 title in 2020.

Gardner's teams were consistently among the best in New Jersey from 2006-11, and the 2007-08 club, arguably the best of them all. That team finished No. 1 in the state with a school-record 30 victories against one loss and captured the Group 3 title -- the program's first state team championship. The 'Cats have won six overall (the last in Group 2 in 2020) and 17 sectional titles under Gardner. He also has coached 11 of the Sussex County program's 13 individual state champions since winning his own, including the only three-time winners in Brian Soldano (2020-22), now a starter at Rutgers University and Nick Francavilla (2009-11).

Francavilla, who now runs the successful Iron Horse wrestling club in Sparta, was one of a program-best four winners for the 'Cats, along with current assistant and Rutgers alum Billy Smith, two-timer Ethan Orr and Drew Wagenhoffer, in that magical 2011 state tournament in Atlantic City. All will be inducted into the High Point Athletic Hall of Fame later this year.  

HIGH POINT 42, MORRIS KNOLLS 18

138 -- Fr. Jayden Ruplall (9-12), HP, d. Jr. Brian Crossan (0-7), 4-0.
144 -- Jr. Ty Woods (11-8), HP, d. Fr. Luke Shivas (9-12), 11-5.
150 -- Sr. Dominic DelleMonache (18-4), MK, md. Jr. Eli Nosal (5-4), 9-0. 
157 -- Sr. Thomas Castello (11-9), MK, d. So. Nick Marangi (3-13), 8-2.
165 -- Sr. Shane Woolf (14-8), HP, d. Jr. Gavin Gomes (15-4), 3-1.
175 -- Sr. Anthony Forte (20-2), MK, tf. Fr. Jack Kithcart (3-10), 15-0, 4:26.
190 -- Jr. Mason Mericle (10-11), HP, d. Sr. Nicholas Forgione (10-9), 3-1 SV.
215 -- Sr. Cole Newton (15-3), MK, forfeit.
285 -- Sr. Arik Hums (14-8), HP, p. Sr. Charles Young (8-10), 1:53.
106 -- Fr. John Barron (12-10), HP, d. Fr. Nate Gomes (10-8), 6-0.
113 -- Jr. Carson Citro (13-8), HP, p. Sr. Niccolas D'Asti (7-12), 4:52.
120 -- So. Colton Jaust (10-7), HP, tf. So. Justin Werner (1-7), 17-2, 5:40.
126 -- So. Nick Clayton (14-8), HP, forfeit.
132 -- Sr. Roman Citro (17-3), HP, md. Sr. Eamon Kinney (11-7), 9-0.
Records -- Morris Knolls 8-7; High Point 6-5.
Official -- Barry Jackson.