ShawneeDispatch.com

Travis Keal knows what a meat grinder looks like.

The ninth-year Mill Valley wrestling coach needs to look no further than his team’s schedule to see it.

Few teams will face a more difficult slate than the Jaguars this season. They opened the season Tuesday night with a home dual against Staley (Mo.) High School. They go to the Kaw Valley League Dual Tournament on Saturday, followed by the Eudora Tournament of Champions and the Johnson County Classic.

That’s just the lineup before winter break.

“They don’t hand out state medals on Tuesday,” Keal said.

No, but the tough schedule — which also includes trips to the J.R. Durham Invitational in Norton, the Newton Tournament and the Baldwin Invitational — should prepare the Jaguars to meet their goals by the time the Class 5A state tournament rolls around Feb. 27-28. That’s what it’s all about for Mill Valley, which returns one of its most experienced squads in school history.

“My ultimate goal is to be ready for February,” Keal said. “I want these kids to be challenged now, and then when February rolls around it always seems to work out in our favor. Maybe you wrestle a kid who’s 20-2 and hasn’t wrestled tough competition and our kid rolls in there with seven or eight losses and ends up winning. I want them to be prepared.”

Six state qualifiers are back, and all are ranked in the top six in the Class 5A preseason rankings despite not medaling last year. Junior 112-pounder Trevor Boyer opens the season ranked fourth in his weight class. In addition, senior Matt Korte is third at 135, senior James Mullin is fourth at 145, senior Andrew Rogers is fifth at 160, senior Josh Van Holland is fourth at 171 and sophomore Leo Beck is ranked sixth at 215.

Keal said Boyer has a chance to be in the state finals this season, and sophomore Kyle Brunson also could be an impact performer.

Keal said that talented bunch should help the Jaguars compete for the Kaw Valley League and regional championships, and they also hope to finish in the top 10 as a team at state.

“Our expectations are high,” Keal said. “We know Lansing’s going to be tough in our league; they’re tough every year. We want to start competing with them and give them a run for the league title hopefully. We also want to be in the top 10 at state. We’ve been close — 12th is the closest we’ve been — so we need to get over the hump.”

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