Numbers certainly weren’t in Salisbury’s favor at the start of the wrestling season. And now, unfortunately, things have become a little more difficult with a decrease in wrestlers due to injuries, some participants stepping leaving the team and other issues.

But that hasn’t deterred some of the Falcon grapplers from having noteworthy seasons despite the team’s 0-12 record.

Leading the way has been senior Shane Simononis at 182 pounds. He came in second place at the Jim Thorpe Tournament a couple of weeks ago, followed by a first-place finish in the Archbishop Wood Tournament over the weekend. He’s not only been one of Salisbury’s top point-scorers, but has been an experienced leader for much of the underclassmen.

“Shane had a great tournament knocking off the first seed,” Salisbury head coach Juan Garcia said. “He lost in the finals because he went on a big move and missed, costing him to lose points early and played catch up the rest of the match. But all in all it was a great way to start the second half of the season.

“He [Simononis] is a very coachable wrestler and had been improving every time he competes.”

In a recent match against Notre Dame (Green Pond), Salisbury’s Michael Murphy (126) and Cory Brunner (132) were the only other Falcons that took the mat as the team forfeited 11 matches.

“Both Michael and Cory are seniors, but have had limited mat time,” Garcia said. “We have been working hard, but the lack of mat experiences hates them at times.

“We knew going into the season on paper we were not going to win many, if any, matches,” Garcia said. “But our goal is to win as many [bouts] as we wrestle. Head to head we won one match in our last dual tournament at Elizabethtown.”

In addition to the Elizabethtown tournament, Garcia was able to witness a number of his grapplers pick up their first win of the 2017 season up in Jim Thorpe at the end of December.

“The Jim Thorpe tournament was a great confidence booster for a lot of the kids,” Garcia said. “Two kids won the first match of their careers. It’s always pretty exciting to be part of that. They get to see their hard work paying off. “

Most recently, Salisbury came up on the short end of the stick against Palmerton in a Colonial League match last week, 54-15. Murphy picked up a pin and Bailey Marcks earned a decision at 285.

However, while the loss kept Salisbury without a notch in the win column as the end of the regular season quickly approaches, Garcia and the Falcons have their eyes set on the next phase of 2017.

“I view this part of the season as practice,” Garcia said. “Each time we compete, we see what we need to work on and improve in these areas. I think we will surprise some people come the postseason.

“I knew it was going to be a rebuilding year. I have been surprised with the middle school group; in a few years we will have almost a full team. So, I’m pretty happy with the thought of having a full squad.”

The Falcons conclude the regular season on Tuesday against Southern Lehigh. Results were not available at time of press.