Lake wrestling coach Tom Jackson will learn a lot about the Flyers' potential for the rest of the season when they compete at Saturday's Suburban Lakes League Duals at Genoa High School.

“We'll see how we stack up with some of those teams,” Jackson said.

The Flyers took fifth out of seven teams at last year's regular season-ending SLL Tournament, and the league coaches picked Lake to finish in the same spot this year. Jackson, however, said his squad wants to set the bar higher.

“Our goal is top three,” said Jackson, in his 12th season. “Elmwood, Genoa and Eastwood are all going to be tough to beat at one of those top spots. Gibsonburg is much improved as well. We haven't seen Otsego, and Woodmore has some competitive kids.

“We're definitely seeing improvement. Our numbers are up. We have 22 kids and that's a good thing. This is the first time in years we've filled every weight class.”

Lake's home matches are being held at Walbridge Elementary School.

“It's loud and it's small,” Jackson said.

The Flyers have finished in the middle of the pack in the three tournaments they've competed in this season. Lake took seventh out of 14 teams last weekend at the Woodmore 'A' Classic and placed eighth and seventh, respectively, at the Northwood Invitational and St. John's Titan Invitational.

“We have a better dual-meet team than we do a tournament team,” Jackson said.

Lake has beaten North Baltimore, Willard, Northwood and Fostoria and lost to Sandusky in dual matches this season. Two Flyers wrestlers, senior Wes Socie and junior Zach Sharpe, have won tournament titles.

Socie, a 160-pounder, won the Northwood Invitational.

“Wes is a good kid and a hard worker,” Jackson said. “He's a very good athlete but he doesn't look like as much of an athlete as some of the kids he wrestles. He just keeps battling and battling. He's a competitor.”

Sharpe won the 171-pound title at the Titan Invitational.

“Zach and Wes's records are pretty similar,” Jackson said. “Both of them were right around .500 last year and they're both around 16-7 this year. Both of them are very much improved. Zach is good on top and good on his feet and he has been in a zone lately. Ever since the St. John's tournament, he's kind of been on a roll.”

Lake's lone returning district qualifier from last season is senior Carl Brown (215). Brown was a first-year wrestler as a junior.

“He's a pretty athletic kid and very competitive,” Jackson said. “With him jumping into a sport last year, he's willing to try new things. He made districts last year not knowing a whole lot. Right now, his record is around .500 and he's been frustrated with that. We're trying to get him to learn some new moves. We keep telling him now is the time to learn new things.”

Casey Conine, a junior, is a team captain along with Socie and senior Ben Sample. Conine is competing at 125 and 130 this season.

“Casey placed fifth at the Woodmore tournament and it was probably the most competitive weight class from top to bottom,” Jackson said. “I was pretty happy with that. He did some nice work in the offseason and came back and has shown a lot of improvement as well.”

Sample, a 145-pounder, has experience but has gotten off to a rough start this year, according to Jackson.

“I look for him to turn the corner and show his potential the second half of the season,” Jackson said.

The Flyers' other top wrestlers include sophomores Zach Meek and Chris Salaz and senior Robert Swartz. Meek, a transfer from Waite, competes at 125 and 130.

“He's starting to really turn the corner,” Jackson said. “We didn't have anybody at 140 at the time of the Northwood tournament, and he went up and wrestled with some big boys and hung in there. Ever since then, he's been down to 125.

“Chris Salaz wasn't able to make 140 early in the year and is making it now. He placed fifth at the Woodmore tournament and he's been showing a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season until now.”

Swartz, a heavyweight, is a second-year wrestler who had a good showing at the 'A' Classic.

“He is trying some new things as a new wrestler,” Jackson said. “It will be interesting to see how he finishes out the year.”

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