Tim Robb wants his wrestlers to be ready for the postseason.

One way the Panther Valley head coach makes sure his team is prepared for the pressure-packed environments of districts, regionals and states is by scheduling a variety of tournaments - both near and far - throughout the regular season, to simulate the situations his squad will encounter at the end of the year.Robb has taken the Panthers from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Damascus, Maryland, in years past in an effort to replicate that big match atmosphere.Panther Valley's destination for this season's annual holiday trip before Christmas was Charleston, South Carolina, for The Coastal Clash.The 56-team event was held at the Charleston Area Convention Center and ran 16 mats at a time before reducing mats for the later rounds on Day 2."We try to travel every couple of years,'' Robb said. "We have gone to Vegas; Disney; Idaho; Hilton Head; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Maryland outside of DC. We finally got enough money to take a pretty good trip again."The same guy (Mike Newton, Hilton Head wrestling head coach) that ran the tournament in Hilton Head a few years ago runs this and sent us an invite. It's just something that I feel helps the interest in our program.''It's also an opportunity for the Panthers to end the first half of the season in a unique, albeit challenging, way."I think everybody on our team benefits from it," Robb said of the experience. "I think our mentality of just getting out to districts has gone away, where now we're trying to get to states and place at states."I tell them they have to approach this tournament like any other important tournament - you're trying to get a medal. If you get a medal, you go on to the next one and try to take the next step."After sending three wrestlers to states for the second consecutive season a year ago, the Panthers appear to have several grapplers on the verge of not only getting back to Hershey, but also leaving with a medal.Ali Capobianco and Darren Goida are certainly prime candidates to finish on the medal stand this year after both made it to states for the first time last season.The seniors made the most of their time in South Carolina, with Capobianco (152) taking seventh and Goida (132) placing eighth.Capobianco won three straight consolation bouts to earn his way into the medal round. In his seventh-place match, he pinned Jake Adams of Mountain View, Georgia, in 35 seconds."It definitely had a rough atmosphere, just like states," Capobianco noted. "It's a great experience to get ready for states, because I remember last year, walking in (to states) it was definitely a rough atmosphere and I couldn't adjust to it right away."But that tournament (Coastal Clash) was just like the state tournament, with the rules and the regulations and the atmosphere. It was great preparation for what you're going to see later in the year."Goida reached the quarterfinals before dropping into the wrestlebacks. He beat Robert Cameron of Ashley Ridge 8-1 to clinch his medal, then lost a pair of close decisions. In his seventh-place match, Goida fell to Sam Colvin of Southside, Alabama, 5-3 in sudden victory.With plenty of experience to lean on, Goida acknowledged that performing on a big stage in unfamiliar territory was a little bit easier after wrestling inside the Giant Center a year ago."It takes a lot of pressure off of you," Goida said of having the postseason experience. "It's a lot easier to get used to a bigger crowd and everything that goes along with it."The Panthers finished 20th in the field of 56 teams. Camden County (Ga.) won the team title by more than 200 points over the runner-up squads.Robb hopes that facing nationally ranked competition at the two-day event will give his team that all-important edge once the grind of postseason wrestling arrives."It's good for our kids, because once they get to districts, it's not the first time they've been in a tournament that's a little overwhelming. They've been there two or three times," he said. "That's how we set the schedule up."MILESTONE WIN ... Capobianco recorded his 100th career victory at Saturday's Anthracite Duals. The senior, who finished the day 5-0, got it in his third match of the day with a first period win over Milton's Bryan Smith. Capobianco has a career record of 102-47. Former Panther Lenny Ogozalek, now wrestling at Gettysburg College, also got his 100th career victory at the Anthracite Duals in 2014.ON TOP ... Yes, it's early but defending champ Northern Lehigh (4-0) is currently the No. 1 team in the District 11 Class AA standings. Saucon Valley (6-0) is second, while Lehighton (7-2) slots in third. Northwestern (9-3) and Panther Valley (9-2) also are in the top 10 at seventh and ninth, respectively. Palmerton (6-9) is 13th. The top-12 Class AA and AAA teams qualify for the District 11 Team Wrestling Championships, which are scheduled to begin Thursday, Feb. 4.WHAT'S ON TAP? … Times News area teams will be participating in several tournaments this coming weekend. Lehighton will host the Indian Duals, while Northern Lehigh and Northwestern will travel to Whitehall High School for the Zephyr Duals; Palmerton and Pleasant Valley will take part in the Big Red Tournament at Souderton High School; and Tamaqua will participate in Hamburg's Hawk Mountain Duals. All events are scheduled for Saturday.