NEW GLARUS — The Raiders have five strong returning grapplers this year, led by Joe Quaglia, who qualified for state a year ago as a freshman in the 106-pound weight class.

Quaglia finished with a 31-12 overall record and won conference.

Also returning for Sugar River is junior Robert Chenoweth, who went 27-13 and qualified for sectionals. Jack Diedrich (22-17), Danny Enloe (24-12) and Justin Knoebl (15-9) are all returning seniors, with Diedrich and Enloe finishing second in conference and Knoebl third.

“Our seniors will lead the way, as well as Robert and Joe making significant contributions in dual meets and tournaments,” Raiders coach Peter Swenson said.

New to the Raiders varsity team this year are junior Brian Hollis and sophomores Cade Femrite, Rudy Wicker and Drew Enloe.

“Drew Enloe should contribute at the varsity level,” Swenson said.

Filling in the rest of the gaps seems to be the biggest hang-up.

“Numbers are on the rebound, but not enough to spread out to all weight classes,” Swenson said. 

Swenson aims for his team to be in every match and let the chips fall where they may at the end of the season.

“Win the head-to-head dual meets and place our varsity members at every tournament and continue to build upon the fundamentals,” Swenson said of the team goals. “We will stress staying aggressive and forcing our opponent to make mistakes.”

Swenson said Marshall and Cambridge will have the toughest teams in the conference, “but we expect to be in the mix as well.”