After the regular season, the squad will go to the Eastern Interathletic Conference tournament, where it will enter the top wrestler in each weight class into a 14-team tournament.

How well each wrestler does over the course of the season affects their seeding in this tournament. Each wrestler must perform well in their weight class for the team to do well at this tournament.

Because several of the team's top wrestlers are freshmen, the team's tournament showing will depend a lot on how these freshmen mature over the season.

"I think we're more competitive this year," Gerstung said. "I think the freshmen should react pretty well to all the challenges."

The best way to rise to the challenge is to work hard, and the squad has been doing plenty of that. Several of the returning wrestlers wrestled over the summer, and the team has had a high intensity level in its practices so far.

"We've been working hard, pushing each other, and improving," Devivo said. "I think it's going to show in the next two years."