First official practices of the high school wrestling season begin this afternoon across the state of Iowa.

In Washington, the Demons return three state qualifiers including a state medalist in senior Brad Skubal. Washington head wrestling coach Brent Van Weelden says he is looking to Skubal to be a leader on this year’s squad.

“He’ll probably wrestle 195 or 220 pounds for us somewhere at the end of the lineup.” Van Weelden said, “It’s good to have a solid state medalist at the end and he is always a fun, hardworking kid.”

Washington’s other two state qualifiers include sophomores Andrew Waite and Kyle Anderson, both of which are projected to wrestle in the lower weight classes.

Mid-Prairie opens up the season with one senior penciled in the starting line. Golden Hawk wrestling coach Justin Garvey says Josh Murphy will either wrestle 120 or 126 pounds for him this winter.

Garvy says Murphy is closing in on a personal milestone. “He is coming up on the 100 win mark, hoping to break that in the early part of the season.” Garvey said, “He has had real tough brackets in sectionals and districts, and hasn’t quite been able to crack the state tournament yet. We are really hoping this year he can make that jump.”

Along with Murphy, Garvey has five sophomores opening the season in starting weight classes. Duncan Cain is slated to be either the Golden Hawk’s 106 or 113 pound wrestler. Blake Murphy is penciled in as the starter for either the 126 or 132 weight class. Visouth Peterschmidt and Cameron Tolander are competing for spots in the 170 and 182 pound weight class.  Finally, Levi Duwa will start in either the 195 or 220 weight class.