MOUNTAIN VIEW — Brady Thompson has three goals for the Mountain View wrestling team as he enters his first season as the head coach for the Buffalos.

First, he wants his athletes to enjoy the sport. Second, he wants his team to compete when the going gets tough. And lastly, he wants his wrestlers to be fundamentally sound.

Thompson believes those goals will be a good building block for a team that has not won a state title since 1976 and is coming off a 16th-place finish at last year’s Class 3A state championship. 

“Honestly, I think it’s just getting kids excited about the sport, and then working hard throughout the season,” Thompson said. “One thing I’ve been focusing a lot this year are the fundamentals — really focusing on those small things. When you take care of those small things, the big things will take care of themselves. I think those three things will help us be successful.”

So far, Thompson likes what he sees.

“The boys are working hard,” Thompson said. “It’s fun to see them working up a sweat and getting after it in the wrestling room.”

Mountain View lost one senior from last year’s team, but the Buffalos return state qualifiers Caden Stoll, Kylar Hamilton, Caiden Lawrence, Ethan Fensu, Trevon Peterson and Bridger Harris.

Last year’s state finish didn’t set well with that group.

“I think it motivates a lot of our senior and juniors that didn’t do as well last year as we hoped we would,” Stoll said. “We’ve been working hard in here and getting after it.”

Mountain View had 24 athletes — including five freshmen — come out for the team this season. All of the athletes are looking for a spot at the varsity level, which will create a bit of a competition among the team. 

And that’s a good thing, according to Thompson. 

“When I have three or four wrestlers, per weight, in these middle classes, yeah, you have to compete to get that varsity spot,” Thompson said. “I think if kids compete, and have to compete, that just elevates your level as well.

“I think we will surprise some people. I think with the numbers that we have, that means we’ll have to compete for some varsity spots, which I think will just elevate our competition and our competiveness.”

Stoll agrees.

“I think our goal for the team is to put as many people into state as we can and try to fill as many weights as possible,” he said “We want to rank a lot higher than we did last year as a team. I think people will expect a lot more out of us. I think we can surprise some people.”