Head coach Eric Snyder had plenty of reason to be excited for the upcoming wrestling season. While just one wrestler, Trent Stump, graduated from last year's team, Salisbury had plenty of talent coming back for 2015.

But what Snyder had envisioned took a bit of a back seat due to a number of unfortunate circumstances.

Junior Chris Trenge and senior Matt Heiserman won't be returning to the team after suffering shoulder injuries before the season. Senior Wes Maron is still sidelined from an injury during the football season, as is senior Teddy Denver, who wasn't sure about returning to the mat even before his leg injury in the Falcons' final football game. All four had solid wrestling campaigns last year, and figured to provide plenty of leadership.

"I'm definitely disappointed in not being able to have those guys," Snyder said. "They would have helped us out a lot, but I think we still have a chance to do something.

"They all started wrestling in ninth grade, and they have gotten a lot better each and every year. They would have helped us out a lot. Those are things you can't control."

Another key loss, although he has yet to wrestle a varsity match, was freshman Zack Glenn. After securing seventh in the junior high tournament as an eighth grader, Glenn transferred to Bethlehem Catholic before this year.

"That's a 12-point swing in a lot of matches for us," Snyder said. "I think he would have had an opportunity to potentially qualify for states. That's how talented I think this kid is. He is a hard-worker."

The team may look a bit different from Snyder may have anticipated with the unexpected injuries, but that doesn't from mean the goals have changed.

After finishing last year with a 1-7 mark in the Colonial League, their first victory on a mat since 2008, the Falcons have much higher hopes in store. No Salisbury wrestling team has ever qualified for the District 11 Class AA team duals, but Snyder believes this team, although inexperienced, has an opportunity to do that.

"I still think we do have an opportunity to qualify," Snyder said. "We've been pounding it into these kids heads that they can do this. This is something that Salisbury has never done. It would be huge for our program if we can do it. I don't think teams are just going to roll over us like in the past.

"We still have a lot of inexperience. Some of the guys that have come out, they haven't wrestled for a while. Of the 16 kids, only two have never wrestled before."

Leading the way is Nico Scarcia (14-17 in 2014) at 145 pounds, the team's lone senior who won his opening match of last year's District 11 Class AA tournament. He was one of the Falcons' top wrestlers last year, and he'll be the obvious leader for a squad that consists of three freshmen and seven sophomores.

"I think all of the guys kind of look up to him at this point," Snyder said. "Him and Alex Nicholas are the two leaders of this team right now. This is his [Scarcia's] fourth year, and the guys know that. They do look up to him for that leadership."

Nicholas (15-18), a junior at 220 pounds, and junior Zach Adams (13-14) at either 120 or 126, are also back to improve on last year's solid campaigns.

A year after contemplating whether or not to move Shane Simononis (13-17) up to the varsity level as a freshman, Snyder continues to be impressed by the sophomore's improvements. He'll jump to the 152-pound weight class this year.

"He [Simononis] is one of our more experienced wrestlers for only being a sophomore," Snyder said. "He showed us that he was ready and prepared. He still made mistakes, as any freshman is going to make, but for the most part we were extremely happy with how he wrestled last year.

"We have some individual talent on this team that we think have an opportunity to do something at the end of the year. It's just a matter of being up to them and the work they put into it at this point."

Despite those early season obstacles, the numbers continue to rise for the Salisbury wrestling program. After finishing last season with 11 wrestlers, the Falcons will suit up 16 on opening night against Northern Lehigh on Wednesday, December 10.

"It's nice to have the numbers that we have," Snyder said. "Now we have guys that can jump in."