Catasauqua second-year head coach Jonathan Reed is excited with the depth of his 204-25 squad, but there is an issue of maturity.

The Roughies lost six seniors from last year’s squad. Chad Beller was a district champion, regional runner-up, and seventh-place state finisher at 215, and Mikhail Hartranft was third at districts at 121.

It will be a different look this season.

“We have lot of numbers from junior high up to high school and the first-ever girls’ wrestling team,” said Reed. “But with lots of numbers come a lot of inexperience.

“The kids are all working extremely hard, as we try to get them as much technique and knowledge about the sport. We have taken a ‘marathon not a sprint’ mentality and plan to see vast improvements as the season moves on.”

Key returnees for the Rough Riders this winter will be juniors 133-pounder Jonathan Cordon-Pinto (23-15 last season) 139-pounder Evan Reed (20-18), and 127/39-pounder Gavin Hacker (10-13), along with seniors 215-pounder Braden Bartholomew (5-12) and 285-pounder Jacob Ramos (11-13).

Cordon-Pinto was fourth at districts last season.

Others competing for spots will be freshman Aydan Frisby (121); sophomores Von Cervantes (107 pounds), Edward Tejada (121), Brenden Takacs (139), Christian Mieles (139), Donovan Torres (172), Eli Sandt (189); junior Nikoloz Kemashvili (160); and senior Kaylan Peters (152).

The elder Reed will look to his veteran to help guide a budding supporting unit.

“Our other starters are very raw,” stressed the head coach. “They only have a handful of varsity wins between all of them. How quickly they respond will determine the success we have this year.”

The Roughies began the year hosting their annual Rough Rider Invitational las Saturday. They placed 15th out of 16 teams.

Bartholomew placed fourth at 215, and Hacker was sixth at 127.

Reed is confident his club can grow throughout the season. The Roughies opened their regular season at perennial power Saucon Valley last week, but lost. They will wrestle in the Chuck Springer Memorial Duals in Norristown Dec. 14, the Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament Dec. 27-28, and the War at the Shore in Maryland Jan. 3-4.

“We hope to be competitive with the middle-tier teams in the Colonial League,” added Reed. “We also hope to have some individual success at some of the quality individual tournaments.”