The Warrenton girls and boys wrestling squads are feeling competitive and confident as they head into their season.

On the girls team numbers are up, and the Warriors went from four wrestlers to nine. Head Coach Clayton Olsson is hoping the program can see their first girls state medalist this year.

On the boys side, Olsson noted they might not look as tough on paper after losing a few key seniors but he will be looking towards the juniors to step up and replace those wrestlers. The Warriors currently have 36 wrestlers on the boys team.

“We should still have four or five real high quality guys competing for state medals and we still should put together a real competitive lineup,” Olsson said.

The boys return five state qualifiers, including Manny McCauley and Zayden Teson who medaled fourth and sixth, respectively. Korben Johnson, Max Teson and Noah Lohrmann qualified for state as well.

Olsson noted he has some freshmen that have shown promise and come in with experience.

“They still need some time to develop but we have some new kids who are picking it up and hopefully we’ll try to replace some of those guys as they go,” Olsson said.

Senior Manny McCauley was a state qualifier last season and placed fourth after having to medically forfeit. McCauley noted his main focus is staying healthy and returning to the state tournament.

“In the offseason when I wasn’t injured and I got to wrestle in some tournaments, I could definitely feel a change in my wrestling,” McCauley said. “I was attacking the spots that I was doing poorly in or needed to work on and was really trying to develop so I can go into the season and dominate as much as possible.”

In addition to wanting to win a state title, McCauley also wants to wrestle consistently.

“It’s not necessarily just go out and win. It’s whether or not I’m wrestling consistently every single weekend back to back. I don’t really want to have an off day. I want to be like okay, I wrestled good but I still need to work on this or whatever else,” McCauley said.

On the girls team, the Warriors return three wrestlers and welcome six new athletes. Leading the way is Allison Vacek who has qualified for state for the past two years. Sophomore Alexis Ruff is also back. Ruff was one win away from qualifying for state as a freshman.

“I’d like to see at least three qualifiers, the other six girls are all brand new so the odds of that happening are pretty slim, but they’re picking things up really fast and you never know with wrestling,” Olsson said.

Junior Dakota Lohrmann enters the season with a year of experience under her belt. Lohrmann will be gunning for a shot at the state tournament after she was one win shy from going to state.

To achieve this goal, Lohrmann noted she needs to focus on not cutting corners and remaining consistent throughout the season.

“I want just a slow progression and really fine tune the things I’m already good at. So, just sticking to what I know and doing it well,” Lohrmann said.

Lohrmann referred to sweep singles and double arm bars as examples of what she is excelling in.

Overall in practice, the Warriors have been focusing on basics to build a strong foundation and muscle memory.

“We usually like the fancier stuff that you watch on high level wrestling and it’s fun to look at those on Facebook or TikTok, but that’s not really what wins those good matches. It’s basic positioning, basic technique and repetition,” Olsson said.

The boys team will open their season at Hannibal on Dec. 3, while the girls will travel to Wright City on Nov. 23.