The Salisbury wrestling team is entering the final stretch of its regular season before district play begins in a little more than weeks.

The Falcons, who are currently 1-6 in the Colonial League with two conference dual meets remaining, will host the Salisbury Invitational on Saturday, a tournament in which 10 teams will take part.

While the Falcons' record may not rank as one of the top in the league, the Falcons continue to work on the week-to-week improvements.

"They have progressed as much as we kind of anticipated," head coach Eric Snyder said. "We still have a month of the season left. We'll see what that month brings for these guys, and hopefully they can win some matches come districts."

The number of wrestlers continues to be on the rise each season for the program at Salisbury. Still, the inexperience often comes into play and has had a part on a few of the meets this season.

In addition to capturing their first win in six seasons against Notre Dame (Green Pond) on January 15, Snyder saw a few more opportunities to get in the win column throughout the season.

In the team's most recent meet, a 39-34 defeat to Central High School in Philadelphia, the Falcons were in control heading into the final bout. But forfeits had a key impact in the final score. The team also was very much alive in a 39-35 loss to Jim Thorpe early in the season.

"We're an inexperienced team," Snyder said. "Most of our starters have only been wrestling about three years. We still make the inexperienced mistakes.

"The last time we wrestled, we wrestled a team from Philadelphia and we lost. We were winning going into the last match, but we forfeited the last match and we didn't have a guy. That hurt us. We had two guys out. Matt Heiserman was out that day, and Trent [Stump] was actually out that day. If we have those guys, then we win that match."

Looking to close out the regular season on a strong note is certainly on the mind of Snyder and the Falcons. In their final two league meetsagainst Wilson on Wednesday and at Allen next weekthe Falcons have an opportunity to capture victories in both meets.

"We don't want to look past anybody, but I think we have an opportunity in our next two dual meets," Snyder said. "Wilson will be tough to beat. They field a full lineup, but I think we can win some matches. I think it will be a closer match than what most people will think.

"There's a lot of parity in the tournament. I think it's good for everybody. All of the wrestlers will get some pretty competitive matches I think.

The Falcons' lone senior is Stump, who has a 13-7 record heading into the final stretch of the season. He has played a key role in leading this Falcon team, and Snyder believes he has the capability to make some noise in districts once that comes.

"We always said that there was a lot of potential with him [Stump]," Snyder said. "The only problem with him was he couldn't stay healthy.

"He basically missed the last two years. So we weren't sure what to expect, but he's gotten a lot better."

A number of other Falcons have had solid seasons on the mat. Alex Nicholas is currently 10-12. Zach Adams has compiled an 8-10 record at 120 pounds and Nico Scarcia has gone 9-12 at 130 pounds.