MONROE — Coming off of a season with five sectional qualifiers and two state qualifiers, the Cheesemakers are aiming to stay in the mix at the top end of the conference standings.

“Battle again in our conference matches to compete for second place behind powerhouse Stoughton,” Monroe coach Tom Witt said of his expectations this season, adding that he wants his squad to “to compete hard in all of our matches and be able to contend for a regional title come February.”

Stoughton won the state title again last season in Division 1 after three straight years of finishing second to Kaukana.

“They are loaded and have an incoming freshman that is already ranked nationally and has yet to wrestle one match in high school,” Witt said of Stoughton. 

Returning for Monroe is sectional qualifiers Patrick Rielly and Alex Witt, both juniors. Alex Witt was second at regionals a season ago and will compete at either 170 or 182 pounds. Rielly won the regional and will grapple at 160-170.

Junior Bodie Minder was third at regionals a season ago and will wrestle at either 220 or 285, as will junior Kelsey Dominguez. At 195, junior Julian Gruber returns after taking fourth at regionals, and senior Gabe Witt, who was also fourth at regionals a season ago, will wrestle in the 145-152 range.

Junior Zack Rope (120) was fourth at regionals and returns, as does junior Kyle Haldiman (113), who was fifth at regionals.

“We will be very solid at he upper weights this year,” said Coach Witt. “We have a strong junior class and experience returning at a lot of weights.”

Coach Witt has six newcomers he expects to make a difference this season, which includes four freshmen — including two that could potentially fit in at 106 pounds, the smallest weight class. For every weight class forfeited in a dual match, six points goes to the opposing team. In the past several years, the 106 class has been notoriously short of wrestlers, which could give the Cheesemakers an edge in several conference duals this season.

Having the smallest weight class filled is one thing, but Coach Witt knows in order to be competitive, all 14 will have to be manned, and manned by worthy competitors.

“Getting our wrestlers to the correct weights to fill the 14 varsity weights” will be a challenge, according to Coach Witt.

While Witt aims for a second-straight year as the No. 2 team in the conference, when the eyes turn toward the postseason, he hopes his team can improve on last year’s third-place finish at regionals.

“Evansville-Albany will be the favorite to win regionals again,” Coach Witt said.