With the start of the season here, Catasauqua head wrestling coach Jonathan Reed is beginning with a positive outlook.

“We are excited to see what the season brings,” stated Reed a few weeks ago. “We once again have had some really good numbers in our open rooms, but we lack a lot of kids with experience. We will have to bring them up to speed quickly and as in the past hope they grasp the sport as fast as possible.”

The Roughies lost district champion and regional qualifier Jacob Ramos (24-11) along with Jonathan Cordon Pinto (15-15), Braden Bartholomew (15-16), and Jonathan Rizzo (3-19) to graduation. Reed easily realized their significance in the lineup.

“They were part of the program for quite a few years, and it will be very, very difficult to replace in our lineup,” stressed Reed. “They were all tough kids who bought into the program and whose work ethic was second to none.”

Reed will look to district placer and regional qualifier senior Gavin Hacker (19-17, fourth at districts) and senior Evan Reed (5-4), who was sideline most of last season with a knee injury.

“We will look to both of them to continue their hard work and leadership,” added Reed. “We will look to those two seniors to lead our younger wrestlers both on and off the mat.”

Also returning for the Roughies will be sophomore Aydan Frisby (6-17), junior Jayce Perez (2-14), senior Nikoloz Kemashvili (3-14), junior Brandon Takacs, (3-18), junior Donovan Torres (3-5), junior Eli Sandt (2-10), and senior Chris Wellington (2-6).

“We look for this nucleus of kids to continue progressing and getting better and more confident with every practice and competition,” noted Reed.

In addition, Reed will welcome Jackson Beaton, Elija Vasquez, Blake Reed, Lucas Reed, Edward Tejeda, Christian Walters, and Elliott Jones, all of whom competed on he junior high level last season.

Reed anticipates that his team can steadily improve throughout the season. The Roughies began the season with their Rough Rider Invitational back on Nov. 29.

“Our goal as coaches is to get all these kids to compete heavily in the wrestling room and get better and better with each practice and competition. Once again we will look to continue to improve as the season progresses. We once again will push them to their limits and not shy away from tough competition as we are again entered into some very tough tournaments.

“We are very excited for the season to get underway and see how the wrestlers respond throughout the season.”