Ex-Panther / Now Doctor Returns to the Team
R.A. Mattrisch - 4/8/09

Some people always wonder about the mystic of playing for the Panthers. It's not just the game experiences that players take with them. There's more! Just ask any of the Panther alumni. Sure, at first it seems like a game, which gives them something to do during their high school years, but I'm here to tell you, that's not all!

Why such passion?

It's because when a player plays for the Panthers, they are given something besides just the game experiences. They are given positive input in many aspects that they can take with them to use the rest of their life. As they grow older, they realize the positive influences they gained and want to pass that on to others. They want to pass those experiences, that passion to the up and coming players of Greendale. Just ask, Coach Rob Stoltz, Coach Keith Ringelberg, Coach Scott Bond, Coach Jermaine Murry, Coach Mike Weyer, Coach Steve Stoltz, and Coach Greg Koch. These guys all played for the Panthers and they believe in this too.

The Greendale Panthers will now welcome back another former player. His name is Sean Tracy. That would be Dr. Sean Tracy MD. He will be returning not as a coach, but as the team's Orthopedic Physician. No one is more excited than he is for he now has the opportunity to give something back that was given to him too. He is planning on spending serious time working with Chris Mackenzie L.A.T (Team's Athletic Trainer) in making sure the Greendale players have the best medical supervision available. On behalf of the GPTC, the high school, and the community of Greendale, we welcome him back... back to where he once played the game.

Sean C. Tracy, MD
Team Physician

Dr. Tracy is a 1994 graduate of Greendale High School and a former Panther football player who served as a Varsity football captain his senior year. After high school he attended the University of Notre Dame followed by medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed a residency in Orthopaedic surgery in Milwaukee at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Following his residency, Dr. Tracy traveled to San Diego for a year of specialized training in sports medicine. During his fellowship with San Diego Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine, he served as assistant team physician for the San Diego Padres, the San Diego State Aztecs, the Grossmont College Griffins, as well as several San Diego high schools. While in fellowship, Dr. Tracy learned the latest cutting edge techniques in sports medicine from world-renowned surgeons. He uses these techniques to restore athletes to their previous playing level, enabling them to return to play as quickly as possible. Dr. Tracy lives in Menomonee Falls with his wife Tammy, daughter Claire, and son Connor.

More Greendale Panthers Committing to Play Post High School Football.
RAM - 2/20/09

Several Greendale Panther senior players have now expressed their commitment to continue their football careers at the college level next year.

Chris Ridgway (6'1" 195#) has made the decision to play football next year for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. This will make three former Panther players from the class of 09 playing for the Titians. Chris was the quarterback of a leathal offense that put the most points up ever for any team during a 9 game season in Greendale history. He started in all but one game where he was held out with an ankle injury. In the regular 9-game season, he threw for 1482 yards, 20 touchdown passes and finished with a 62.75% pass completion percentage. In the 11 games that he played, he managed to finish 4th in the state of Wisconsin with 2288 yards and 27 touchdown passes. Chris's accolades are numerous to say the least. He shared the team's Offensive Player of the Year award with teammate Jordan Biller and was selected to the 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at quarterback receiving the most votes. He also made the 1st Team CNI All-Suburban at quarterback, 2nd Team Journal/Sentinel All-Area at quarterback, 2nd Team AP All-State at quarterback, 1st Team Wisconsin Preps All-State at quarterback, and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) All-State 1st Team at quarterback. Chris will join teammates Lucas Pohlmann and Andrew Thompson at Oshkosh.

Lucas Pohlmann (6'4" - 245#) looks to be heading to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh next year for college. There he will join fellow teammate Andrew Thompson and play for the Titians. Lucas played left tackle on offense and right defensive end on defense. He was selected to the Woodland All-Conference team for his efforts on the offense line. He and the rest of he offensive teammates were responsible for putting up 358 points, which is the highest regular season point total in the history of Greendale football. This offensive line also only allowed 1 quarterback sack this year, but if you were to ask them, they would tell you that Ridgway should have thrown the ball already. Lucas started last year on the offensive line and owns one of the bigger bodies on the team. He was also selected as one of the team captains. 

Jordan Biller (5'9" - 205#) has committed to play for the Pioneers of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next season. He had an outstanding season playing running back for the Panthers this past year. He was selected 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at running back, CNI All-Suburban 1st Team at running back, Journal/Sentinel All-Area Honorable Mention at running back, Greendale's Co-Offensive Player of the Year, and he will be playing in the WFCA All-Star football game held in Oshkosh later this summer. He scored 12 TDs and finished the season with 1050 rushing yards, which is amazing for a spread offense that relies mainly on the passing game.

Dan Dacquisto (6'3" - 200#) has committed to play for the Warhawks at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dan was one of the team captains and played outside linebacker and safety for the Panthers last season. He was also selected to the 1st Team All-Woodland Conference at linebacker, received High Honorable Mention status for the CNI-All Suburban squad, and was Greendale's Defensive Player of the Year.

Joe Hansen (6'1" - 255#) will also join fellow teammates Dan Dacquisto and Mike Picciolo at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Joe was a co-captain and anchored an impressive offensive line at center the last two seasons. He too was voted in as 1st Team All-Woodland Conference, and 1st Team CNI-All Suburban at center.

Andrew Thompson (6'3" - 225#) has committed to play at Coach Rob Stoltz alma mater for the Titians of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Andrew was a co-captain and a member of the offensive line for the last two seasons at guard. This is the same o-line that in the past two years, have given up less than a hand full of fingers total in quarterback sacks. They also have put up huge numbers in the Panther's offensive production. He also played the defensive line at end. Andrew was voted to the All-Woodland Conference for both OL and DE, was an Honorable Mention on the CNI-All Suburban team and was the Panther's Linemen of the Year.

Kyle Nethery (5'10" - 175#) will be joining teammate Jordan Biller at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next year. Kyle played receiver/running back and was also a co-captain that was considered the emotional leader and the heartbeat of the team by Head Coach Rob Stoltz. He has been on the varsity squad the last three years and was a member of very elite receiving corps. He didn't have a lot of stats per-say, but he was the best blocking receiver on the team, which is important for a spread offense. He also was considered a lethal weapon on specialty teams. He was almost always the first to make the big hit on punts and kickoffs.  Because of this, he received the Specialty Teams Player of the Year award for Greendale. Probably the most meaningful award is determined by the Greendale coaches. Because of Kyle's leadership ability, his work ethic, and his unselfish desire to do what ever it took to make his team better both on and off the field, he was awarded the Pride of The Panther Coach's Award for the second year in a row, which has never happened before in Greendale history.

2009 High School Schedule Is Out.
GPTC 1/23/09

The schedule is now out for the 2009 high school football season. Greendale finds themselves playing their first 3 games at home. They also find themselves with 5 regular season homes games this year versus 4 last year. To see this year's schedule, just click here.

Also this year will be a revamped Woodland Conference. Because Shorewood lacked a football program, they were taken out of the picture and South Milwaukee was added in. The conference will also go back to two inner divisions. The names for the divisions are interesting for they apparently borrowed the term from the NFL's Central division, which is known as the Black & Blue division.

The BLACK division will consist of: South Milwaukee, Greenfield, Wauwatosa West, Whitnall, Greendale, and New Berlin Eisenhower.

The BLUE division will consist of Cudahy, New Berlin West, Pewaukee, Brown Deer, St Francis, and St. Thomas More.

Equipment can officially be handed out no earlier than August 10th while practices can't start before August 11th. Greendale opens their 2009 season on August 27th with a non-conference game against Milwaukee Lutheran at Greendale.

For a downloadable copy of the entire Woodland Conference schedule, click here.

Another Member of Greendale's Elite Receiving Corp Verbally Commits.
WISSPORTS.NET - 2/2/09

Greendale wide receiver/defensive back Mike Picciolo (5-9, 175) verbally committed to Division III UW-Whitewater following an official visit to Whitewater's campus on Saturday.

A standout on both sides of the ball, Picciolo was a WFCA honorable-mention all-state, WFCA All-Region, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Honorable-Mention All-Area and first-team All-Conference selection as a defensive back. He also earned CNI Newspapers first-team All-Suburban all-purpose and first-team All-Conference honors at wide receiver. Picciolo totaled 41 receptions for 614 yards and nine touchdowns on offense and 29 solo tackles, 15 assisted tackles and one interception on defense as a senior.

Ericksen Verbally Commits to Illinois State University
GPTC - 1/22/09

After many months of visits, meetings, and soul searching, Greendale's Ben Ericksen has verbally committed to attend Illinois State University on a full scholarship. There he will join former Panther great Eric Brunner and play for the Red Birds.

For more on the story, click here.