KINGSTON — Roll out the mats.

The Cavaliers are ready to wrestle at Kingston Junior High School and are taking to the gym with increased experience in the form of both returning wrestlers and kids fresh to the program with pee-wee and/or youth league mat time under their belts.

“We would have hoped to a have a few more (wrestlers), but I think we have a good core of real dedicated guys out,” said KJH coach Chris Gilbreath. “They are there to work, they’re serious about it, and they’re learning fast.”

This year’s turnout of 32 is down from previous years, but only by single digits, Gilbreath said. And half of the squad is returning from 2005.

Last year, though they didn’t place high as a team at the league meet, the Cavs wrestled to a 3-5 regular season record. And at last year’s league meet, 2006 returners Alfredo Ramierez and Gage Leigh placed second and third in their respective weight classes.

Gilbreath added that Alan Webb is the most experienced wrestler on the 2006 squad followed by Jacob Glushko, but a host of Cavaliers should contribute this season.

“We have some guys coming back that I expect will be real competitive at the league tournament barring injuries and all those things,” Gilbreath said, adding that he also has a crew of new kids coming in with high potential. “It will be a lot of fun to see how they fit in to everything and see what they can bring.”

Alex Dickson — fresh to the program — came in to beat an established eighth grader for the first spot at the 137 weight class, and Gilbreath expects returner XXXXX Smiley and newbie XXXX Bauer to consistently compete for the 100-pound spot.

“Those two guys, I bet will be battling through the whole season, which really makes both stronger,” he said.

Helping young athletes improve is a main goal for any sport at the junior high level and the same holds true for the Cavalier wrestlers.

“We want to try and improve on last year’s record team wise but a big goal for us is that we want to have guys that want to stay in the sport,” Gilbreath said. “And that means they have to have fun and see some success at this level.”

Gilbreath added that he’s hoping to focus his wrestlers on individual goal-setting, therefore another team goal is to fulfill those personal goals at each level.

The quest started Feb. 9 when the Cavaliers mixed with Panthers of Poulsbo and the Bulldogs of Bremerton at the Takedown Tournament, and the team’s first dual meet will be at 2:45 p.m. Feb. 14 when they travel to Oak Bay.

GRAY BOX:

Kingston Junior High Wrestling Schedule

2/9 Take Down tournaments  

2/14 @ Oak Bay Junior High                   

2/16 Ridgetop Junior High

2/21 Poulsbo Junior High

2/23 @ Cedar Heights Junior High              

2/28  @ John Sedgwick Junior High            

3/2 Fairview Junior High

3/7 Marcus Whitman Junior High

3/9 @ Bremerton Junior High                    

3/17 Friday Night Junior Varsity Tournament *

3/18 Saturday Varsity Tournament *

All matches begin at 2:45 p.m. with the varsity following at 3:30 p.m. except for the end of the season tournaments

* Both Tournaments at Ridgetop Junior High