The Cleveland wrestling team is heading toward what might be their seventh district win in a row. But with what has been described as an incredibly young team, will they be able to pull off the win?

The district meet got underway Friday afternoon (Feb. 2) and will continue through Saturday. Results will be published online and in the next edition of the Clarion.

Head Coach Jeff Zerba isn’t focused on winning districts, though. “I just want the team to improve and achieve our end goal of taking lots of people to state, and I think we’re on track to do that,” said Zerba.

The team has two returning district champs this year, Aaron Kemper and Van Chrisman. They are expected to have a good performance at districts, along with juniors Jontae Hardaway and Dominic Zupo. Both placed second at districts last year and are looking to win this year.

Although seven wins in a row is a very impressive statistic, it might not be attainable this year. With a large influx of new freshman with little to no experience, the team is growing and developing new strengths.

Zerba’s goal for every year is to qualify people for the state tournament and be a contender for the PIL title. This year “I just want the team to improve,” said Zerba. He still wants to get as many people to state as possible, but his mentality for this season has shifted slightly because of how many inexperienced people the team has.

Even if the team doesn’t manage to pull off the seventh PIL win in a row, chances are in the coming years they will have a good shot at it again, as young talent develops.