The Nansemond River High School wrestling team feels like it is right on track for its goals this season.

Heading into the latter half of January, the Warriors wrestling team feels good about where they are right now. As a team, they came into the season with high expectations, as the Warriors will be one of the favorites to win the Class 5 state title next month. To prepare for the postseason, the Warriors have wrestled in some of the best in-state and out-of-state tournaments. Despite the ups and downs of wins and losses, Coach Tripp Seed likes what he has seen in his team against different competition.

“We are in a good place right now,” Seed said. “I feel like we are where we need to be right now. The guys have been wrestling well.”

Evan Rawls finished ninth and earned All-American when the Warriors competed in the Beast of the East in December. He and his brother Owen Rawls wrestled well at the Trojan Wars in Pennsylvania. Braxton Lewis, Matt Henson and Andrew McDougal all placed in the top eight in the Trojan Wars tournament that featured 50 teams recently.

With still about a month away from the postseason, Seed is looking forward to his team continuing to wrestle solid matches. They want to get more good experience in close matches to prepare for the playoffs. Nansemond River will compete in a couple more big-time tournaments before the playoffs.

Despite the different competition the Warriors have seen and will continue to see, Seed believes the team’s focus is still on the chance they have at a team state title this season. In the midst of this season they have reached some milestones as well, with Evan Rawls reaching 100 career wins this season and Henson recently achieving the feat as well. By the end of the season, the Warriors could have four total wrestlers achieve the 100-career win mark.

“I tell the guys our record may not be the best, but it shows when we come back and wrestle the local teams,” Seed said. “We have beaten some good teams. And we keep continuing to show improvement.”