Head coach Floyd Brown is excited about the prospects for the Lehighton wrestling program.

And it’s easy to see why.

The Indians head into the 2018-19 season with a solid history to build on, a promising future to look forward to, and a coaching staff made up of former Indian wrestlers who can supply the perfect link between the past, the present, and the future.

“We have nine returning starters in our lineup,” said Brown. “They give us a great nucleus to build around.

“I’m also happy about the fact that there is a pretty good chance, barring injuries, that we will eventually have a full lineup and be able to put out wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes.”

Chris Whiteman, who joined recent graduate Cody Scherer as the only Indian wrestlers to reach Regionals a year ago, is expected to be among the top wrestlers in the area this season. Whiteman had a 29-13 record a year ago. He captured a league title and finished fourth at districts.

“Chris is coming off a strong season, and I expect even bigger things from him this year,” said Brown. “But Chris isn’t the only one of our wrestlers who I think can have a lot of success.

“We had a pretty good streak of Lehighton wrestlers making it to States (14 of 15 seasons between 2002-2016), but the last two years we haven’t been able to get anyone out there. We would like to start a new streak this season. Whether it’s Chris or one of our other guys, it’s definitely a goal to get one or more to Hershey.”

Joining Whiteman (145 pounds) as returnees who Brown thinks have the potential to make some noise in the postseason are Logan Pagotto (152), Lucas Sangiuliano (138), Brett Gasker (220 or 285) and Rich Fronheiser (170). All four of those wrestlers had at least 19 victories a year ago.

“I feel like all of those kids have a pretty solid shot to finish in the top four at districts and advance to Regionals,” Brown said. “They all had strong seasons a year ago. Now they are looking to take that next step.”

In addition to that group, Lehighton returns four other experienced wrestlers in Mason Ferguson (113), Alex Zeigenfuss (182), Steven Fritzinger (126 or 132) and Christian Rodriguez (195). Rounding out the roster are Lukas Ferguson (106), Colin Wentz (120), David Miller (120), JJ Marrero (126), Cody Engle (160), Jon Ahner (160) and Darrell Hull (220 or 285).

With 13 underclassmen on the varsity roster and a huge turnout for the junior high program, Brown is not only looking forward to the upcoming season, but also to the future.

“I’m really excited about the state of the program,” he said. “We have a solid nucleus of talented underclassman on our varsity roster, and we had a tremendous turnout at the junior high level this year.

“We went from having seven or eight junior high wrestlers last season, to 20. That’s a very promising sign for the future.”

Another promising sign for the program has been the addition of several former Lehighton wrestlers to the coaching staff in the last few years.

This year’s coaching staff is comprised of Brandon Brownmiller, Jake Hoats, Mark Mihalko, Dave Versuk and Terry Smith. Brownmiller, Hoats, Mihalko and Versuk are all former Indian wrestlers.

“It says a lot about the type of kids we have in our program, and the tradition we have here at Lehighton, that all of these former wrestlers are staying involved with the program,” said Brown.