The 2017-18 Atlantic-CAM wrestling team will count on a group of strong leaders to build up some youth and inexperience that will enter the lineup.  The Trojans lost a very strong senior class from last seasons squad, a team that went 19-0 in duals during the regular season and qualified for State Team Duals and had 6 Individual State Qualifiers. The experience that does return this year, are strong wrestlers and leaders. A big piece of that group is senior John McConkey who is coming off  a 54-4 season and a State Runner-Up spot at 285. Former medal winner Kole Hansen returns as a senior as well and will start at 138 with the possibility of moving to the 126 weight class. Junior Chase McLaren is shooting for a strong season as well after coming up short of his goals at state last year and he’ll be at 132. Colton Mudd is another senior that looks to make an impact this season. Hansen talked about what the make-up of this team will look like.

Hansen is hoping that individually he can bounce back this season after a disappointing finish last year.

John McConkey committed to continue his wrestling career at the University of Northern Iowa recently and he is setting the bar high for himself this year after a great season and summer.

Chase McLaren has put in a lot of off-season work and he talked about wanting to finish strong this year and not fall short of his expectations.

Colton Mudd will be expected to contribute to the team scoring every night as an upperclassmen and he feels like he has been improving with the help of his teammates.

With a number of new faces scattered across the lineup the upperclassmen seem to understand that their leadership will help bring those younger guys along. Hansen and McLaren talked about what they can do to help the team improve.

Atlantic-CAM wrestling opens up their competition tonight with a double dual in Griswold with the Tigers and Audubon Wheelers.