The lineup is full.

Talented wrestlers are back.

And the kids are fired up.

Now, if only head coach Floyd Brown can work his top guys around to fit everyone in the lineup, Lehighton should be looking at a successful year — both in dual meets and the postseason.

“We do have a number or returning starters who have won a lot of matches for us,” said Brown. “One of the problems we’re going to have is spreading them all out because they’re all kind of clumped in the same area.

“If we can spread them out, that will do us very well. Right now, we’re hopeful some will go up and some will go down, and we can fill in the weight classes through the middle.”

The Indians will have a number of youngsters filling the first three or four weight classes, but after that they possess a deep and skilled group of wrestlers.

Among them are six who had at least 20 wins a year ago.

And most of them slot in the middleweights.

Lukas Croizier, a junior, went 38-14 a year ago and slots in around 145, which is also where senior Connor Dugan — who was 21-19 — could wind up. Sophomore Jack Lucykanish (24-16) looks solid at 133, while senior Evan Wentz will more than likely man 152 after turning in a 30-15 campaign.

Senior Konner Nalesnik will be at either 160 or 171 after posting a 29-20 campaign.

Marc Macias enjoyed an impressive 34-15 mark and the junior returns at 285.

“The kids are still trying to figure out their weights, and their goal is to try and make sure everybody’s getting in the lineups, so we just have to kind of figure that out amongst ourselves,” said Brown. “And then starting around 127, 133, we have a wealth of experience up through probably 172 or 189.

“If we can get everybody in the lineup, we should be pretty solid, I think. We have some newer kids in the early part of the lineup. They’re young, but they’re experienced. And once we get to the upper lowerweights and then through the rest of the lineup, it’s all kids who have competed at the varsity level at some point or another. So, we’re excited.”

While not everyone expected to see time had 20-win seasons a year ago, some are returning from injury, others have experience and are hoping to improve, and some are moving up from the lower levels.

Senior Carter Hontz and junior Hamilton Traylor were both lost for the season last year due to injury but are back. Hontz falls in around 160 or 171, while Hamilton Traylor — who placed at districts as a freshman — could prove valuable at 215. Senior Blake Muffley also fought through an injury-ridden season but returns healthy and looks to be the starter at 139.

If anyone does go down via injury, there are plenty of guys ready to step in and contribute.

“Expectations are to hopefully get into district duals, and be competitive with all the teams we wrestle this year in dual meets. I think we have a pretty good lineup that we’re going to be in every match ... as long as we can stay healthy. The last couple of years we’ve had one of our major starters go down and that kind of takes a lot out of your team. But on the other side of that, it gives somebody else experience who will eventually work their way into the lineup.

“Obviously, we’d like to have a better record than we did last year. So we’re hoping to improve upon that. Last year we didn’t get anybody to the state tournament, we got four or five to regionals, so we also want to get kids to states. The kids are excited. They’re working hard. It’s just been highly energetic this year. It feels like everybody’s really excited for wrestling season.”