After losing multiple point-scoring seniors from the 2016-17 season, Northern Lehigh will look to focus on bout wins rather than team scores in the 2017-18 season.

“I expect our talents to reflect more on individual performances this season. If we can review dual meet box scores at the end of the season and see we’ve won most contested bouts, I will be pleased,” said head coach Scott Snyder.

The Bulldogs lineup is only looking to offer seven or eight wrestlers this year, giving the opposing team multiple forfeits.

By doing so, the points awarded for those forfeits will be hard to compete with.

Therefore, Snyder plans to look at the matches that will actually be wrestled this year.

Their success will rely on those seven or eight matchups.

If they win more matches than they lose, regardless of final match score, it’s a positive for the team Snyder said.

While the first couple weeks of wrestling practice are tough, the Bulldogs’ coach explained that his guys were up for the task.

“I think our wrestlers have been coming together pretty well. It is tough to get motivated with only seven wrestlers in the room, but it seems clear to them that being low on numbers doesn’t mean they have to be low on motivation or intensity. I am pleased with how the wrestlers have been handling themselves throughout practice to this point,” said Snyder.

The Bulldogs lost a big part of their senior-heavy team last year to graduation, including five out of their seven all-area wrestlers. That includes District 11 champion, Southeast Regional champion and state runner-up Ryan Farber (25-2), last year’s Times News Wrestler of the Year.

Dan Belfonti (17-7), Ezra Neff (25-8), Brandon Belfonti (18-11) and state qualifier Jason Schaffer (26-9) all graduated, leaving big shoes to fill.

Snyder explained that he expects his lone senior to be the veteran of this year’s team.

“We have five wrestlers returning from last season, with only one wrestler being a senior. We have a mix of sophomores and juniors otherwise, so we have a fairly young team,” said Snyder.

That senior and the 2017-18 captain is Seth Fronheiser.

Fronheiser earned a record of 22-12 last year, and will no doubt be looked on to lead this young team.

Sophomore Preston Bauer is also back after going 21-10 last season.

Bauer looks to be a wrestler to watch for this year along with the remainder of his high school career.

Also expected to contribute are juniors Tyler Hargreaves (145), Brian Chase (182/195), Damion Rodriguez (182) and Dominic Bandle (220), as well as sophomore Austin Rudolph (195).

The Bulldogs open their season with their first dual meet next Tuesday against Lehighton.

“I believe they could potentially fill their 14-man lineup, so the odds are clearly stacked against us only having seven. However, as I said previously, if we can reflect on the box score and see we won most contested bouts, I will be happy with our performance,” Snyder said.

While the Bulldogs’ goals won’t be to win every dual, their wrestlers will look for bonus points and try to surprise some 14-man lineups in the Colonial League.