Undefeated seasons are few and far between at any level of sports.

That's what makes the 2004-05 season so memorable for the Seneca Valley junior high wrestling team.

The Raiders capped a perfect 15-0 season by defeating Chartiers Valley 63-40 Tuesday afternoon.

It marks the program's first section title and undefeated season since 1991.

"Most of our ninth graders had losing records as seventh graders two years ago," said SV coach Dave Gerrich. "This year, they've been able to turn that around. That's one of the things I've really enjoyed about this group, seeing the progress they've made."

Gerrich co-coaches the squad with Casey Cahall. Both are Seneca Valley graduates.

"Casey is a good technician when it comes to wrestling and he works well with the kids," said Gerrich. "We both wrestled at Seneca under Ken Lockey and learned a lot from him."

Gerrich said he believed this year's team could be successful, but nobody can forecast an undefeated season.

"Last year we finished 5-10," Gerrich said. "And that includes about five forfeits that we had to give up every match. I told the kids before this season that it would be great just to turn that record around and get to 10-5. And here we are at (15-0)."

The Raiders haven't just won every match, they've dominated almost every opponent, winning every contest by at least 10 points.

"Most of the scores have been out of hand," said Gerrich. "The credit goes to our kids. They take it very seriously and have put in a lot of hard work."

Gerrich and Cahall have made sure their wrestlers understand the importance of repetition and consistency.

"We'll go over a move in practice," said Gerrich. "And every wrestler, no matter what level he's at, will work at it over and over. Even for the more experienced kids, it's always good to have a review.

"We pound the core fundamentals of drills and techniques," he added.

Some of the team's wrestlers have compiled very impressive records this season.

Freshman Ben Fallon (210 pounds) is a perfect 24-0 while fellow ninth graders Bill Galiotos (145, 19-6), Billy Burns (155, 17-4), Steve Vasko (165, 16-6), Ryan Scheller (185, 20-3) and Zach Eckstrom (heavyweight, 18-6) have all performed well.

Eighth-grader Grant Evans (90) is an impressive 18-5 and seventh-grader Dan Papst (80) is 21-4.

"We have a group of good kids," said Gerrich. "And the parents do a great job of supporting the team."

The Raiders officially end their season by competing in a tournament Saturday at North Allegheny's Marshall Middle School.

Members of the Seneca Valley junior high wrestling team include:

9th grade:

Russ King, Kevan Kelleher, Brian Costello, Bill Galiotos, Victor Lopez, Billy Burns, Patrick Dawkins, Steve Vasko, Ryan Scheller, Ben Fallon and Zach Eckstrom;

8th grade:

Zach Belcastro, Grant Evans, Bart LaLonde, James Biller, Shon Schettler, Jordan Williams and Andy Berkebile;

7th grade:

Tyler Ung, Coltin Schiever, Jason Hildum, Dan Papst, Will Hugo, Kohl Blint, Ryan Behning, Sean Frederick, Scott Frederick, Kyle Kukieza, Vincent Giancola, Ben White, Bryan Raykovics, Zach Pearce, Nick Pulaski and Mitch Codd.