Former Gwinnett Wrestler Excelling at Stanford

Back in 2005 at the Macon Colosseum in Macon, GA, Tyler Parker, a Senior wrestler at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, GA, did something that had never been done in the history of Georgia High School Wrestling. He won the state championship in his weight class for the fourth straight year, making Parker the first to win the individual State Title four years in a row. The match that won him the championship capped off an incredible record of 54-0 his Senior year.

Parker has since taken his skills on the mat to the West Coast, to Stanford University, where he is beginning his Senior year and serves as one of four team co-captains on the Stanford Wrestling Team. His Freshman year in 2005-06 saw him earn a starting spot at 141 lbs. That year, he took second at the Central Missouri Open and won 7 of his first 9 collegiate matches. He also competed in the FILA Junior Nationals in April of that year.

During his Sophomore season, Parker competed in the PAC-10 Championships and finished with a 1-2 record. The competition got tougher as Parker would face three ranked wrestlers in his first nine matches of the year. Parker performed so well that he made it into the PAC-10 rankings at #6. Also during his Sophomore season, Parker earned Second Team All-Academic honors and competed in the NCAA Div. l National Championships.

After a red shirt season in which Parker didn't compete on the mat for the Cardinal, Parker returned to the mat in January 2009 after sitting out much of the season due to injury. He finished the year with an overall record of 4-3. One of those wins was a key come from behind win against Arizona State's Vincente Varela. That win helped Stanford beat ASU for only the second time in school history. A Management Science major, Parker was named to the First Team PAC-10 All-Academic Team during the 2008-09 season.

Tyler Parker has achieved a tremendous amount of success both on and off the mat during his high school and college careers. He is another of the many student-athletes from Gwinnett County, GA who have excelled in college both academically and athletically. It will be exciting to watch and see what he will do during his final year wrestling for the Stanford Cardinal.