Fredonia's Gio Russo.

The Fredonia Hillbillies wrestling program has come around full circle in the last few seasons, and now as we move into the 2018-2019 season, the Hillbillies are more eager to get back on the mat than ever before.

“We have a lot of talented kids — it’s a really great group,” said Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli. “We have a lot of guys coming in that are fitting in real nice. We welcome everybody, and they all have shots to get into the lineup.”

The Hillbillies are returning a plethora of wrestlers who were in the state qualifier meet from just a season ago, including athletes like Lucas Hoffman, Peter Calanni, Gio Russo, Dalton Gardner, Ceric Kristan, Jake Skinner and Yanny Acevedo. Fredonia is loaded with experience, and this year they’re looking to show off that experience every chance they get.

“At this point we have seven or eight guys that were in the state qualifier tournament last season,” said Santilli. “We also have Lucas Green who’s an experienced senior and Brandon Wallace who was basically a second away from being a state qualifier a year ago at 126.”

There’s no questioning the Hillbillies’ athletes up and down the lineup, but one of the toughest things to do in wrestling is fill every weight class, and Fredonia is right on track to do that to start the season.

“With our lineup and certifications, everybody is right near where they want to be,” said Santilli. “We are a little thin up the middle and at the top, but I’m confident in the group we have.”

Fredonia is sporting between 25 and 30 kids as the season gets started after finishing last season with 30. Of course, the addition of a couple kids from Pine Valley, Forestville and Silver Creek helps, but it’s leaps and bounds better from a few seasons ago when the Hillbillies only had 13 or 14 athletes.

The Hillbillies individually all share the same goal — get to Albany. Last season we saw wrestlers Hector Colom and Gio Russo make it to Albany, while Dalton Gardner, who was injured last year, made the trip the previous two years before that. For Gardner and Russo, they want to make it back.

“I think [Russo and Gardner] are both very experienced, mat savvy and tough,” said Santilli. They’re both going to be in difficult middle weight classes, but that’s because that’s where the majority of wrestling student athletes are. After the certifications we had, Gio is going to have a tough road, Section VI is no joke. He’s ready for the challenge.”

For Gardner, he knows that after missing the end of last season, he’s not going to let another opportunity go to waste.

“Dalton is ready to go after missing the second half of last season,” said Santilli. “He’s a lot bigger and a lot stronger. It’s not so much what these wrestlers need to pick up. They’ve got it. When you get to the state meet, it’s a matter of who has that day and that weekend. If you replayed that tournament different weekends, you’d have a different winner every time.”

Russo is eyeing to wrestle 132 while Gardner is going to take the 138 weight class.

While wrestling is largely an individual sport, Fredonia wrestling is looking to accomplish goals as a team, also. As far as expectations, the Hillbillies just want to take it one day at a time.

“I’ve learned that over the years not to have those expectations because every day is a different day until you weigh in the night of the match,” said Santilli. “I believe, with the kids on this team, we should be extremely competitive. We want to compete at a high level and qualify for the section dual tournament.”

Two seasons ago the Hillbillies did qualify for the sectional dual tournament, but last season they fell just short of it. This year, they want to make it back.

“That’s just the way it works out, you have to earn your way in and make some noise,” said Santilli. “Legitimately, we might have a handful or more kids placing top three in the section.”

The Fredonia wrestling season gets underway with a home match against Royalton-Hartland on Tuesday, Nov. 27. The Hillbillies will have six home matches in total. Fredonia will head up to the Pioneer duals in the first weekend in December, which is a weekend Coach Santilli sees as a testing point for the season.

“It’s a highly competitive meat grinder,” said Santilli. “It’s a situation where we can test ourselves against outstanding competition.”