By AARON MANAGHAN

Sports editor

For the second season in a row, Klahowya coach Wayne Gizzi is bracing for a young group.

“I’ve got another handful of new guys again,” Gizzi said.

Last year, Klahowya regularly featured freshmen in the varsity lineup.

But that’s put a twist on this year’s youthful group that Gizzi is just fine with. Much like the Eagles football team, this group may be short on years, but not on experience.

“But all in all, even though we only have three seniors, we’re a little more experienced than last year,” Gizzi said. “I think although we’re young, we’re more experienced. We had an awful lot of freshmen in the lineup last year.”

With 32 kids turning out, Gizzi has a good-sized number of grapplers to work with.

“I’m kind of excited to get this larger group of kids,” he said.

Leading the charge back to the mats for Klahowya this year is senior co-captain Karl Neumann, who finished seventh at Mat Classic, the state wrestling tournament, a year ago at 140 pounds.

Gizzi said Neumann is hopeful to build on that this year.

“He’s placed some really high expectations on himself,” Gizzi said. “He’s planning on doing well. You always think, you want to try to build on the previous year.”

Klahowya’s other co-captain, Danny Zimny, also is part of a large returning crew that includes Noah Caffrey, Neil Sell, Joe Sawyers and Ammon Jensen.

Jensen was third at regionals last year at 112, while Sell took sixth at 125. Sawyers was fifth at 130 and Zimny claimed second at 145. John Hays finished fourth at 119 as well.

“We’ve really got a group of hard-working kids,” Gizzi said. “They work hard and don’t complain. I’d have them continue to work on the track they’ve been on.”

Mix that in with the newcomers like Kevin Schiffman and Joseph Hawkins-Takamure, and Gizzi thinks the Eagles should be just fine when it comes to depth.

“(Kevin)’s been looking good in the practice room,” Gizzi said. “(Joseph) doesn’t know much about wrestling, but he’s picking it up quick.”

Overall, Gizzi said the mix of newcomers and returners is split about as much as it can be, giving another advantage as well.

“I think we’re kind of even this year,” he said. “The expectation is not going to be freshmen in the varsity lineup. It’s something they can shoot for. It’s nice to be able to set that as a goal.”

That gives freshmen like Jeremy Beierle and Neiamiah Salo a place to start.

“(Neiamiah)’s definitely a good-looking kid,” Gizzi said. “He might be one of those ninth-graders that has a shot.”

The Eagles open the season with a trip to Fife Saturday for the Takedown Tournament. Gizzi said he’ll be keeping his eyes open.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing where we’re at,” he said. “That competition will kind of give us an idea of where we stand.”

But so far, he likes how things are looking, even with just early indications to go on.

“This has been a good team,” he said. “These guys work hard. They don’t complain. I’m excited to see them in competition.”

As far as Olympic League competition goes, Gizzi said Klahowya once again should be in the competitive mix.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “There’s a lot of changes in the Oly League. I think the Olympic League should be competitive. I really don’t know how it’ll pan out. Except that it’ll be exciting for sure.”