The Lakeland High School wrestling team returns to the mat hoping for some state finishers this season.

The Cavs wrestling team has a very young group but are returning some key athletes who had successful seasons last year. Coach Nathan Hoffman is hopeful to have a couple of wrestlers reach the podium this season.

“We have a couple state qualifiers returning,” Hoffman said. “A couple of other guys were a couple of seconds away from going to states. We have some new wrestlers buying in from the football team as well, and we think that is going to be really good for us. There is a lot of exciting things going on.”

Wilbert Doswell returns as a senior this year and a two-time state qualifier, and the hope is that he can reach the podium this season. Marquis Scott was a couple of seconds away from going to the state tournament last season, and Hoffman expects that to be different this season. Dakota Joe is also returning and is expected to do some good things.

“All of these guys worked real hard in the offseason wrestling with different club programs,” Hoffman said. “With the experience these guys have gained, I feel confident they can get over the hump this season.”

Lakeland’s schedule will always be tough by default because they compete in the Southeastern District, which boasts some of the top wrestlers in the state. However, they do have some tournaments on their schedule where they will get a chance to see where they are as a team.

“The guys have been working hard this offseason,” Hoffman said. “I have been pushing conditioning because it can make a big difference in where you’ll be at the end of the year. So along with being in better shape on top of the competition we will see this season, we feel good about what that’ll do for the development of this program.”