The Callaway Cavaliers aren’t rich in numbers, but they will still bring plenty of talent to the mat as they get their season under way today in the Granger Duals.

The Cavaliers may have their struggles at times in dual meets because of their inability to fill out some of the lower weight classes.

Head coach Kurt Napier figures, on a given day, there’ll be three and possibly more weight classes that go unfilled.

Don’t cry for the Cavaliers, though.

Despite the loss of two-time state placer Ryan Kiss to graduation, the Cavaliers have plenty of talent returning, including junior standout Brandon Sutton and four other wrestlers who participated in the state meet last season.

“The good thing about wrestling is, it’s an individual sport, so they can still have their own success,” Napier said. “It doesn’t hold them back. We’ll get the best out of what we have.”

Leading the way among the returning wrestlers is Sutton, who won an area championship last season.

Other underclassmen who wrestled at state are Delvron Bledsoe, Sam Moseley and Josh Yaughn and Robert Naranho.

Matthew Bucheger went to state as an alternate.

What the Cavaliers don’t have are numbers, particularly in the lower weights.

“The biggest struggle for our team is some of the lower weight classes,” Napier said. “This year, we have a big group of guys who are in the middle weight classes, and they’ll all be fighting it out for those spots. I have two real good heavyweights who I feel are strong wrestlers. But from the bottom-four weight classes, it’s tough for us to fill.”

A year ago, the Cavaliers overcame that to fare well as a dual-match team, and they finished fourth in the area duals.

Callaway’s best success, though, may come in the traditional area tournament where individual wrestlers get a chance to advance to state by finishing among the top four in their weight class.

Napier said everyone has gotten off to a bit of a late start because of the success enjoyed by the football team, but that everyone is working hard.

“We kind of got started a little later this year because of football pushing the year back a little bit,” said Napier, an assistant coach on the football team. “We’ve only had one good week conditioning-wise, and this week we’ve been out on the mat trying to get ready for five matches (in today’s tournament). Who knows what’ll happen.”

While Callaway has plenty of experience, Napier said there are also a number of newer wrestlers still learning the sport.

“I’ve got quite a few guys who have never wrestled before, and we’ve got a few guys back from last year,” Napier said. “There’s definitely a lot of teaching going on. We’ll learn.”