John Stark isn’t quite ready to threaten for a wrestling team title. Still, the young Generals are 8-4 on the season after sweeping a dual meet against Bow and Campbell on Wednesday, Jan. 27. For head coach Bill Walton’s charges, however, the brightest days are likely several years away.

“Our freshmen are really picking it up and not making as many mistakes,” said Walton. “Three years from now we will be a force. I have 11 freshmen who are going to be dynamite.”

Against Bow the team registered eight pins, erased an early deficit and came away with a 51-27 win. Later in the evening the Generals utilized five pins and three wins via forfeited weight classes to earn a 48-33 win against Campbell.

Cody Wilkins at 160 pounds, 103-pounder Codi Gaudreau, Kyle Gosselin at 112 pounds, 125-pounder Cody Lang and Zach Foote at 145 pounds earned a pair of pins to pace the Generals. Senior captain Greg Jones continued his quest for 100 career victories when he pinned Bow’s Jeff Gage at the 31-second mark of the first period and then earned a forfeit against Campbell.

Jones has 93 wins entering the final weeks of his high school career. The senior’s experience is a main factor in the development of his less seasoned teammates.

“That’s one thing that separates the elite teams from the non-elite teams is the young guys getting beat on by the older guys in practice,” said Walton. “They’re learning in the wrestling room rather than on the mat what it means to wrestle hard.”

Brad Vaillancourt lost both matches at 135 pounds but has improved significantly during his freshman year, according to Walton.

Lang is a junior wrestling in his first varsity season, and his pins during the team’s most recent action were a sign of his development.

“I’ve begged him to come out the last couple years,” said Walton. “He took some lumps early on, but he is really starting to click.”

The Division II state meet is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, at Bedford High School. While Walton said his team is likely to finish in the middle of the pack, a different result awaits in the near future.

“By the time (the freshmen) are juniors, we’re really going to take off,” said Walton. “I’ve told them that they really have a great opportunity in front of them. If they put in the work for all four years, we could be state champs.”