Simply put, the Seneca Valley wrestling team is loaded.

The Raiders return six wrestlers who produced more than 30 wins last season. A seventh, Patrick Johnson, amassed 27 victories.

Sophomore 113-pounder Alejandro Herrera won 46 matches and a state championship at 106 pounds a year ago. Dylan Chappell, Jason Geyer, Drew Vlasnik, Antonio Amelio and Nick Montalbano were other 30-win wrestlers for SV.

Louis Newell, another one of SV's top matmen last season, is red-shirting at the University of Pittsburgh this year.

Seneca Valley reached the PIAA semifinals in last year's team tournament.

“That success got a lot more kids interested in the sport,” eighth-year coach Kevin Wildrick said. “Some kids in the school have talked to friends on the team and they're trying it out for the first time.

“We have more depth ... It's just not experienced depth.”

Butler's Scott Stoner enters his 26th year as Golden Tornado head coach. Three schools — Knoch, Mars and Seneca Valley — have first-year head wrestling coaches.

Grayson Hixon, a 2010 Knoch graduate whose 82 wins are second all-time at the school, takes over the Knights this year.

Bob Jox, a former assistant coach at Chartiers Valley, assumes the reins at Mars.

Shamus Carr, who has cousins who have won state wrestling championships at South Fayette, is interim coach at Slippery Rock. He put in a number of years helping out with South Fayette youth, middle school and varsity wrestling.

Here is a look at Butler County wrestling as the season opens this weekend:

Butler

Coach: Scott Stoner, 26th year

Prospective Lineup:106 pounds-Nick Schaukowitsch (soph.), 113-Guyd Baptiste (senior), 120-Clayton Dressler (soph.) 20-16, 126-Domenic Vivirito (freshman), 132-Colton Spohn (junior) 11-8, 138-Nate McMaster (soph.) 24-15, 145-Steven Green (soph.) 28-12, 152-Nate McDonald (junior) 14-15, 160-Jack Codispot (senior) 31-7, 170-Cooper Baxter (freshman), 182-Hunter Neff (junior) 10-18 or Jake Pomykata (freshman), 195-Shawndell Zapata (freshman), 225-Caleb Hartung (7-9), 285-Nate Cornibe (junior)

Stoner says: “We are predominantly a young team and we'll have trouble stacking up with Seneca Valley's experience.

“Jack Codispot is showing leadership, as are Steven Green and Nate McMaster, who performed well as freshmen last year. I'm excited about the work ethic that's in the room right now.

“We have 20 guys on the team. Our numbers are down, but wrestling numbers are down in general.”

Knoch

Coach: Grayson Hixon, first year

Prospective Lineup:103 pounds-None, 113-None, 120-None, 126-Ty Misitis (soph.), 132-Hunter Oskin (senior), 138-Kam Grassi (junior) or Hunter Cascio (senior), 145-Kyle Lauster (soph.),152-Guy DeLeonardis (junior), 160-Brendan Hinchberger (junior), 170-Sam Freyermuth (soph.), 182-Ernie Zilka (junior), 195-Kody Moore (soph.), 225-None; 285-Eli Reese (soph.)

Hixon says: “A few of our guys (Grassi, DeLeonardis, Hinchberger) were WPIAL qualifiers last year. We're looking to emphasize the individual level this year, since we won't be able to full out a full lineup.

“I like the young talent on this team and we've got some more freshmen due to come up who will help us next year, too.”

Mars

Coach: Bob Jox, first year

Prospective Lineup:103 pounds-None; 113-Noah Hunkele (senior) 26-9, 120-Eli Wright (freshman), 126-Anthony Maiure (soph,), 132-Christian Scheller (freshman), 138-Declan Ryan (senior), 145-Colin Vanderberghe (soph.), 152-Max Lamm (junior) 11-9, 160-Jake Richardson (junior) 30-5, 170-Sean McElhinny (junior) 24-15, 182-Mitch Wright (junior), 195-Jordan Marshall (soph.), 225-None, 285-None

Jox says: “A few of these kids were stuck behind seniors last year and now they're ready to step in and show what they can do. David Luedtke is a sophomore who may crack the lineup somewhere from 126 to 138 pounds.

“We have good senior and junior leadership here. Every program has its ups and downs, but the foundation here has been good to us. We're going to look to outwork our opponents.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Kevin Wildrick, eighth year

Prospective Lineup:103 pounds-Dylan Chappell (soph,) 37-13, 113-Alejandro Herrera (soph.) 46-8, 120-Ronan O'Shea (junior), 126-Chanz Shearer (soph.), 132-Jason Geyer (senior) 33-15, 138-Drew Vlasnik (junior) 32-13, 145-Antonio Amelio (soph.) 33-17, 152-Nick Montalbano (senior) 35-13, 160-Liam Volk-Klos (freshman), 170-Sam Baic (senior), 182-Patrick Johnson (junior) 27-12, 195-Davin Beahm (junior), 225-Nick Funovits (junior), 285-Tyler Proctor (senior)

Wildrick says: “This is a pretty experienced group. We're hoping to take another run at the WPIAL (team) title and go as far as we can in states again.

“We placed sixth in the state as a team last year. We'd love to improve on that. This team is still pretty driven.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: Shamus Carr (interim)

Prospective Lineup:106 pounds-Justine Szuchowski (freshman), 113-Nick Ayres (soph.), 120-Zane Lynch (freshman), 126-None, 132-None, 138-Mason Borlan (junior), 145-Justin Pearce (freshman), 152-Kid Scarborough (soph.), 160-Mike Antel (senior), 170-Elijah Hilliard (senior), 182-Kaleb Kamerer (senior) or Tony Pilosi (freshman), 195-Vito Pilosi (senior), 225-Trent Duncan (freshman) or Landon Shaffer (freshman), 285-Brendon Good (senior)

Carr says: “I'm excited about the opportunity to coach these kids. We've got a good mix of football players, younger guys and experience.

“Ayres. Antel, Hilliard, Kamerer and (Vito) Pilosi are our top wrestlers right now. We're going to work on technique, get the conditioning down, and we have a number of guys who could do very well.”