Salisbury wrestling head coach Robert Fiedler isn’t the type of person to set the bar low.

The Falcon coach wasn’t conservative with the goals he set for his team this winter, despite coming off a season with just four wins and fielding six to eight wrestlers on a daily basis.

Despite coming up short of their main goal of qualify for the District 11 Class 2A Duals, there was plenty of optimism from the Falcon program this winter. Salisbury (9-10 overall; 2-4 in Colonial League) fell just one win shy of finishing .500 on the season and just two spots out of the 2A District 11 Duals.

“I’m a ‘shoot for the stars, land in the clouds’ kind of person,” Fiedler said. “Of course I want district duals. Of course I want to take every kid I can to states. But Pennsylvania wrestling is as tough as it gets.

“I was hoping we’d land closer to 11–8, but between untimely injuries, weight cuts not lining up, and a few other small things, it didn’t always break our way. I’m really happy with how we performed as a team. We won multiple close matches this year, and showed heart even when duals were out of reach. Those wins mattered.”

There were certainly opportunities for the Falcons to swing two matches the other way, particularly in Colonial League competition. But a few unfortunate injuries and toss-up matches not going their way proved to be key factors in those losses.

“There were definitely a few matches I felt we could have swung our way,” Fiedler said. “Against Pen Argyl, we were without Colton Tone due to injury and that hurt. I also could’ve played a matchup or two differently and maybe we come out on top. Bangor was tough, too, missing both our 114- and 121-pounders. That’s a hard 12 points to give up.”

That defeat against Bangor came in the second match of the season, a 48-27 setback after winning their season-opener against Wilson. In their next Colonial League matchup on Dec. 18, Salisbury came up short against Pen Argyl, 45-26.

Despite those two losses and sitting at 3-6 midway through the season, Salisbury responded with six wins to close out the second half of the campaign, including four victories in the Falcon Duals last weekend.

“Outside of the co-op seasons with Central, this is the most successful Salisbury season since 2005–06 when the program went 8–8,” Fiedler said. “Heading into postseason, we’ll have eight starters. Six of them have 15-plus wins, six enter with winning records, and many improved from last year.”

Leading the way for the Falcon grapplers heading into the individual district tournament is sophomore Jarrod Blunt, who sits 27-8 on the season mainly at the 133-pound weight class. Senior Sam Krauss (22-8) and junior Michael Segata (22-11) both enter with 20 or more wins this winter.

“Across the lineup, I think a lot of guys can outperform their seeds,” Fiedler said. “We intentionally strengthened our schedule this year to prepare for the postseason. Records might not look as pretty for everyone, but I believe iron sharpens iron. Now it’s time to finish strong. These next two weeks matter, and we’re ready to make some noise for the Falcons.”

The individual District 11 Class 2A Wrestling Championships are set for Feb. 21 at Freedom High School.

At last week’s Falcon Duals, Salisbury beat Panther Valley 42-12 in the first round then edged Archbishop Wood 35-34 in the second round.

After a 42-36 loss to Dieruff, the Falcons rolled past Palisades 47-18. They dropped a 57-17 match against Selinsgrove before beating Twin Valley, 42-36, to finish the event.

Jacob Watson, Blunt and Krauss all went 6-0 at the tournament.

Blunt pinned all six of his opponents Saturday. Krauss earned four pins and picked up a pair of forfeits. Watson had two pins and two wins by technical fall while also picking up a pair of wins by forfeit.