The foundation is in place for the Palmerton wrestling team.

Now head coach Justin Petersen is ready to see the Bombers start to build on it.

“It’s where we expect it to be,” said Petersen. “We’ve got a few more kids than we were expecting, which is always a good thing; a couple more than last year. This year’s group, though, is a little different than other years. Our nucleus has always been great. We always have a group of five or six guys that are there, consistently, doing what they need to do.

“This year we had, in the offseason we had about 10-to-12 guys going to tournaments; we went to four different tournaments; we went to a team camp; they were working out at a gym. We were doing a lot of different things, and they were very committed. I’m excited for these guys, because of that reason. They’re putting a lot more in in the offseason, which is something they need to do, in order to compete with some of these Lehigh Valley kids.”

A key cog in the lineup is Lucas Christman. The senior was 33-7 a year ago, and placed first at the Rough Rider Tournament, third at the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament, fifth at the Coal Cracker Tournament, was a district runner-up, third at regionals and qualified for states for the first time, success Petersen hopes carries over to the rest of the lineup.

“If you look at any top-tier level guy, perennial state guys, medalists, there’s usually, in a dual meet, there’s usually a couple guys on either end of him in there and on his team that are very good,” said Petersen. “And there’s a reason for it, because they get to practice with him every day.

“We are seeing that with Lucas. Lucas is obviously a top-tier talent, and we have Matt Lalik, Hunter Fierro, Shawn Gardner, all right there with him, and they get to practice with him every day. So they’re getting better because of that, and that’s going to help the team obviously, and hopefully it keeps expanding from there.”

Christman, though, is coming off surgery for a torn labrum, a procedure he had done near the end of the last school year. and one that kept him out of action for nearly six months.

Freshmen Aaron Gardner (106), Shawn Shirk (106/113) and Gabriel Ramos (113) are expected to fill out the lighter weights, though Petersen noted Palmerton doesn’t have a true 120-pounder at this point.

Junior Grant Scott is expected to slot into the lineup at 126.

Palmerton will look to freshman Dennis Lombardi — who was a match away from placing at junior high districts — to wrestle at 132.

The Bombers’ core will be Gardner, Christman, Fierro and Lalik, who should occupy the middle of the lineup.

Dylan Gonyo (170), Aidan Melber (182) and Jon Eckhart (195) will be joined by Jeremy Mooney and Chris Lucykanish near the top of the order.

Petersen is hoping the team’s upperclassmen can help lead Palmerton to more team and individual success this year.

“The work ethic. I’ve always tried to instill the culture of a hard work ethic, and for these guys, it seems like it’s finally coming to fruition, because we’re seeing these guys do it all year round, and I just love the way these guys … they’re leaders, they’re not letting other kids slack; they’re getting on each other for that,” said Petersen. “They’re overall, just very good workers, and we’re gonna see more and more progress because of that on the mat.”