LAGRANGE – A lot has changed in a year.

Last summer, not long after he’d accepted the position as Callaway High’s new wrestling coach, Josh Ghobadpoor announced that he was going to offer some voluntary wrestling practices.

He thought it would be a good way to get to know the men he’d be leading that upcoming season.

During the six summer workout sessions Ghobadpoor offered, though, there were never more than two wrestlers in the room, and for four of the practices, Justin Kiss was the only participant.

Flash forward a year, and once again Ghobadpoor is offering optional summer practices, and the story is a much different one this time around.

There haven’t been fewer than nine wrestlers in the room, and Ghobadpoor had as many as 13 of them at a practice.

The second-year coach, who is coming off a successful debut season at Callaway, has been thrilled with the participation.

“We had nine last Monday,” Ghobadpoor said. “Then it went to 10, then it went to 13. It shows that a lot of guys are excited.”

This week, Callaway’s wrestlers are participating in a camp at Unity Elementary School, and Ghobadpoor is serving as an instructor.

There were seven Callaway wrestlers on Monday, and Ghobadpoor expects that number to increase as the week goes along.

“I expect maybe one or two more (today), and then we’ll kind of build through the week,” he said. “I work with them on that stuff. When they’ve got to work, you’ve got to give them that time off.”

Callaway had a successful 2015-2016 season.

Five Callaway wrestlers ended up making it to the state finals, including Kiss, who capped a phenomenal sophomore season with a sixth-place finish.

Nine Callaway wrestlers made it through to the state sectional, and most of them will be returning next season, including Kiss.

Ghobadpoor felt the program made tremendous strides last season, and he’s glad to see the momentum continue this summer.

“Last year when I had those practices, I had one kid. Four of the six days, I had one kid,” Ghobadpoor said. “So we went from having one to two kids, to having 10 to 13. That’s huge for us.”

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports