The 2016-2017 season for the Oswego State men’s wrestling team gets underway this weekend as the Lakers travel downstate to face Ithaca College.

The last few years have been really tough for head coach Mike Howard’s squad, as the Lakers have not had more then three wins since the 2011-2012 season.

Howard feels confident in his team’s ability to have a successful season with the majority of last year’s roster returning. A total of 18 kids will be back to wrestle for the Lakers.

“Those guys now know what it takes to compete at this level,” Howard said. “They’ve made the adjustments in the offseason to improve and they feel that they are a step ahead of the game going into this season.”

Part of the reason why Oswego State has not been successful in the past is because of the difficult schedule the team faces throughout the season.

“We wrestle a tough schedule,” Howard said.  “I’m sure we are going to run into ten or so top ranked teams dual meet wise we’re going to see some tough competition, but we use that to gage where we’re at and we want our guys peaking at the right time.”

Qualifying their players for the NCAA tournament at the end of the season is any team’s goal for their wrestlers.

“We want to qualify guys for the NCAA tournament that’s our overall goal,” Howard said. “Once we get them in there we want them placing top eight in the country and we have guys on our team that have aspirations of winning a national title.”

Some wrestlers the Lakers will rely on to have a good season on the mats are Sophomore Daniel Smith, junior Troy Seymour, and senior Sean Maloney.

Smith did not take the offseason lightly as he was constantly preparing for his sophomore season.

“I did a lot of lifting, running, wrestling and skill training,” Smith said. “I hope the hard work over the offseason will translate to during the regular season.”

Smith also was very clear about his individual goals for the season and seems very focused on the task at hand in his second season with the Lakers.

“I want to be a regional champion and a national champion,” Smith said.

The main focus for Seymour is to improve day by day and work towards the ultimate goal of being a national champion in his specific weight class, which is 165 pounds.

“My ultimate goal for the season is to just get better everyday in practice and prepare for each meet,” Seymour said. “I ultimately want to be a national champion.”

Being one of the older members on the team, Seymour has used his time as a Laker to not only help himself, but help others on the team as well. Being a student athlete can be an adjustment period for some students when they first get into college.

“I’ve developed pretty well, I got a chance to really adjust a few years after high school,” Seymour said. “By this time I’m helping other guys on the team with the lifestyle of a college athlete.”

Maloney has both individual and team aspirations.

“Team goals would be to get into the top twenty-five in the country and having a winning season,” Maloney said. “Personally my goals would be to stand up on the podium and be an All-American.”

Maloney also hit the gym hard in the offseason and attacked all of his workouts so he would be fully prepared for his senior season.

“It was a lot of lifting running and wrestling during the offseason,” Maloney said. “In order to be champions it’s not the work you put inside the room but outside the room as well.”

The highlight of the Lakers’ schedule will be when they travel to Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 27 to face off against top 15 ranked Muhlenberg College.

The Lakers will have their first home meet of the 2016-2017 season on Nov. 12 against Rochester Institute of Technology in the Max Ziel Gymnasium.