Four points was all that separated the Pelham wrestling team from a top-four spot at last year’s Division II championship.

This season, second-year coach Bob Riddinger said his squad, which finished seventh last winter, has the talent to close that gap, and if the right pieces fall into place, perhaps garner a top-three finish.

“We had a couple disappointments last year, a couple kids I thought would finish higher, finish stronger .... Overall I thought we did OK, but that’s something we can certainly work on, to place higher at the state meet,” said Riddinger. “A couple teams were hit pretty hard by graduation. With feeder and youth programs, I’m sure they’ll be able to rebuild a little, but that’s definitely not a quick process, so I think we have a solid chance to improve on what we did last year.”

Riddinger said he’s lost a couple standouts as well, but retained a handful of athletes fully capable of competing for the top spot in their individual weight class.

Among those returning are the Pythons’ four senior captains, 125-pounder Roger Allen, 135-pounder Justin Isabelle and brothers RJ and Mark Riddinger, who wrestle with 145- and 152- pounders, respectively.

Junior Mike Perruccio, runner- up in the 119-pound weight class to Oyster River’s Jeff Cole at last year’s D-II championship, defeated the same foe for third place at the Meet of Champions to earn his second straight trip to New Englands.

Perruccio and Cole are likely to battle it out for state supremacy in 2009.

Though still somewhat green, sophomore Richie Sullivan has the build and the skill necessary to contend with top 140-pounders. Riddinger said with a little polish, junior heavyweight Chris Salazar, who last year transferred from Chelmsford High and recently helped the Pelham football team to another title, has a solid shot to challenge as well.

Others expected to make a splash this season include 112- pound junior Ryan Cannizzaro, who missed last season with a broken arm, 160-pound sophomore Warren Greenhalgh, 130- pound sophomore Josh Lynde, and 103-pound freshman Josh Medeiros.

The key for a solid team showing, said Riddinger, is finding athletes who can fill in the holes and compete in the missing weight classes.

“We certainly have the reasonable expectation to finish higher this year, but top three may be tough if we’re missing one or two weight classes,” he said. “When you go into tournaments, you need all the spots filled to give yourself a chance at any type of decent placement. If we can do that, we’ll be right there.”