With only 10 wrestlers on its roster, the Mountain View High School wrestling team is used to wrestling from behind, especially in dual meets.

That said, the Buffaloes who will take to the mat this season will do so with confidence, if not with numbers, according to MVHS head coach Brady Thompson. The team opens its season today (Friday) and Saturday at the Evanston Invitational.

“We’re small in numbers, but the boys that I’ve got out, they’re hard workers,” Thompson said. “The first tournament, it’s always good to get your feet wet, just to kind of see where you are, what things you need to work on. So far, practices have been going really well and I’m really excited to see what they can do in Evanston this weekend.”

MVHS junior Mark Walker was a state placer for the Buffalos last season, taking sixth at 160 pounds.

“Mark is definitely a wrestler people throughout the state should watch out for this season,” Thompson said. “With it being the first tournament, he’s not at the weight quite yet that I think he wants to wrestle at, but I think he’ll do some good things this weekend.”

Bridger Harris is the lone senior on the Buffaloes’ roster, and was a state qualifier last year at 170 pounds. Thompson said Harris has stepped up in practice as a team leader and captain for this season.

“He [Harris] has been working really hard these first two weeks of practice,” Thompson said. “If he continues to work hard, he’ll do some good things as well.”

Thompson has six sophomores on the team, and he’s hoping his youth movement will translate into success on the mat.

“They’re really young, and maybe some inexperience there,” Thompson said. “But they’ll work hard for you, and I think they’ll do some good things this weekend.”

Class 3A has historically been a strong class in Wyoming, with more than its share of wrestlers who continue on from high school to wrestle at the next level. For a team like Mountain View, who will routinely forfeit seven of the 14 weight classes every dual meet, keeping the wrestlers you do have motivated can be a challenge.

“That is the hard part, going into dual meets knowing that you’re down 40 points from the get-go,” Thompson said. “I think that’s where every match counts. We just emphasize to the boys, ‘Yeah, there’s only going to be seven of you wrestling, but each one of those seven matches needs to count.’ Our guys need to always be looking to score, to be the offensive-minded wrestler and score big points with a pin or major decision.”

Thompson is entering his third season at the helm of the program, and cites the growth of each wrestler from year to year as the most gratifying part of the job.

“The juniors I have on the team, they’ve been with me now for three years, and it’s just fun to see the growth that’s happened from their freshman year to now,” he said. “They’re setting expectations for themselves, then reaching up and hitting them. Everything from their skill level to their work ethic just continues to get better. It’s been fun to see.”

Thompson will be assisted this season by Quinn Martin.

“Quinn has been my assistant for every year that I’ve been the head coach, and he’s been great to work with,” Thompson said. “He really has my back, and helps me with the tough decisions I have to make. He’s a great assistant to have.”