Big Walnut High School third-year wrestling coach Luke Moore believes his team will be competitive this season despite its youth.

The Golden Eagles, who open Saturday at the Cambridge Invitational, return 11 letterwinners, including a Division II state qualifier in sophomore Matt Brown and three district qualifiers in senior Luke Worley and juniors Braden Hale and Zack White, but are expected to start freshmen or sophomores at eight of the 14 weight classes.

"We are pretty young, but I'm really impressed with our freshman class," Moore said. "I really like our team. They work hard and they're enthusiastic. I think we've got a pretty darn good group of guys."

Brown made his first state appearance last season, going 0-2 at 215 pounds to finish 27-13. He had qualified for state by going 5-1 at district and placing third. The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for state.

The only other state qualifier for the Golden Eagles last season was graduate Ryan Nakama, who placed second at 130.

"He's going to be a force to be reckoned with around the state," Moore said of Brown, the only sophomore to qualify for state in his weight class in Division II last season.

Also at district, Worley went 4-2 at 145 and placed fifth, missing advancing to state by one spot, with White going 2-2 at 112 and Hale going 1-2 at 125. Worley is expected to wrestle at 145 or 152 this season, with Hale at 135 or 140 and White at 119.

"Luke was Ryan's (practice) partner (the week leading up to) state last year," Moore said. "The look in his eyes was like, 'I want to be here next year.' He committed himself in the offseason. I expect a big season from him.

"Braden keeps getting bigger and stronger. I think he'll have a big year. And Zack was a match away from placing at district last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see him wrestling at the state meet this year and getting up on the podium at state."

The other returning letterwinners are senior Mike Foley (135 or 140) and sophomores Ian Barney (171), Aaron Gase (125), Jason Griffith (heavyweight), Gene Hogg (189), Tyler Schenz (130) and Ryan Tutorow (171 or 189).

Others on the team include senior Nate Linnabary (112) and freshmen Shawn Conley (103), Chad Harness (152 or 160), Zach Kane (103), Jeff Linn (152 or 160) and Brandt Weiss (152 or 160). Linnabary has not wrestled since eighth grade.

In addition to Nakama, Big Walnut lost four other starters to graduation in Curt Blase (160), Corey Pace (119), Josh Pace (14) and Travis Richey (135). Blase, Corey Pace and Richey were district qualifiers last season.

"You can't turn around and replace a group of guys like the group we lost," Moore said. "But younger guys are stepping up and taking on the challenge of replacing those guys."

Big Walnut scored 22 points at state to finish 20th behind champion St. Paris Graham (282), with 91 teams scoring.

The Golden Eagles scored 61 points at district to finish 11th behind champion Claymont (157.5) and were the OCC-Capital Division runner-up, ending their streak of three consecutive league titles.

Big Walnut opened the league tournament with a 62-12 win over Watkins Memorial and defeated Delaware 38-33 and New Albany 46-21 before losing to Mount Vernon 43-21 in the championship dual.

The Golden Eagles had won the OCC-Capital championship outright in 2007 and shared the league title in '06 and '08.

"In tournaments, if you have the group of guys who can score points like we have, you'll do real well," Moore said. "In dual meets, it depends on matchups. You match up against some teams better than others."

Last season marked the first time the OCC-Capital championship was determined by one dual-meet tournament. The format has been changed back to separate dual meets that take place over the course of the season.

Big Walnut has its first two league duals Jan. 7 against Olentangy Orange and New Albany. First-year Hilliard Bradley has joined the OCC-Capital and will compete against the Golden Eagles on Jan. 21.

"I think the OCC has gotten considerably better the last couple years," Moore said. "I would label Mount Vernon the favorite. I know they graduated a lot, but I haven't seen a bad Mount Vernon team in a while.

"I wouldn't count us out, but we'll have to have guys step up. We'll get out there and compete. We'll just have to wait and see."

•The swimming program's number of participants has increased for the second consecutive year.

Big Walnut has 14 swimmers this season after having nine last year. Before last season, there wasn't a program, only individuals who represented the school in meets, primarily in the postseason. In the 2007-08 season, the Golden Eagles had only one swimmer in Kayla Chatterton, who now is a senior.

"That's great news," second-year coach Andy Chatterton said, referring to the increase in swimmers. "I think what happens is a lot of kids are looking for a sport, and swimming allows just about anybody to participate, as long as they can swim.

"Some of the kids were able to achieve letter status. That helps."

Big Walnut, which opens at the Northridge Invitational on Saturday at New Albany Aquatic Center, returns four swimmers in Chatterton, senior Andrew Myers and juniors Kevin Meyer and Alyssa Newman.

Joining Chatterton and Newman on the girls team are juniors Kelsey Peterson and Marybeth Stefaniak and freshmen Natalie Chatterton, Aria Dockham, Morgan Reed and Julieann Wheeler. Senior Andrew Grooms, sophomore Rayshawn Rankin and freshmen Carson Chatterton and Andrew Merry join Meyer and Myers on the boys team.

Last season, the boys team scored 11 points in the OCC-Capital meet to place sixth, behind New Albany (459), Mount Vernon (307), Delaware (207), Olentangy Orange (85) and Watkins Memorial (45). The girls team also placed sixth in the league, scoring 40 points to finish behind New Albany (489.5), Delaware (239), Mount Vernon (186.5), Orange (111) and Watkins Memorial (87).

First-year Hilliard Bradley has joined the OCC-Capital. The league's eighth member, Franklin Heights, did not have any swimmers last season.

Competing at the Division II sectional meet last season at Columbus Academy for the girls team were Kayla Chatterton in the 100-yard butterfly (15th, 1 minute, 12.58 seconds) and 50 freestyle (30th, 30.56), Cristin Cotter in the 100 breaststroke (37th, 1:38.25) and 50 free (51st, 34.38), Newman in the 100 backstroke (45th, 1:50.55) and 100 free (46th, 1:22.03), Allison Paglialunga in the 100 breast (29th, 1:31.69) and 50 free (53rd, 34.89), the 200 medley relay of Cotter, Paglialunga, Chatterton and Newman (13th, 2:29.8) and the 200 free relay of Newman, Paglialunga, Cotter and Chatterton (15th, 2:17.76).

Cotter graduated and Paglialunga did not return.

Competing at the sectional for the boys team were graduate Marcelo Saad in the 100 free (19th, 59.73) and 50 free (25th, 26.96) and Myers in the 50 free (26th, 27.16) and 100 free (30th, 1:04.02).

The winner of each sectional event automatically qualified for the district meet, with 27 at-large district berths for each event also being awarded based on times at the two Central sectionals and the East and Southeast sectionals.

The Golden Eagles did not have district qualifiers, and neither the boys nor the girls team scored at the sectional.

Schedules

WRESTLING

• Dec. 5 at Cambridge Invitational
• Dec. 10 at Olentangy Liberty
• Dec. 12 Big Walnut Duals
• Dec. 28-29 at Medina Invitational
• *Jan. 7 vs. New Albany and Olentangy Orange
• Jan. 8-9 at Byesville Meadowbrook Invitational
• *Jan. 14 at Franklin Heights (and Watkins Memorial)
• *Jan. 21 vs. Hilliard Bradley
• Jan. 23 at West Jefferson (and DeSales)
• *Jan. 28 at Delaware
• *Feb. 4 at Mount Vernon
• Feb. 6 at Watkins Memorial Tournament
• Feb. 13 vs. Westerville Central

*OCC-Capital match

SWIMMING

• Dec. 5 at Northridge Invitational (New Albany Aquatic Center)
• Dec. 12 vs. Beechcroft/Newark/ Northridge (TBD)
• Dec. 19 at Delaware County Classic (Ohio Wesleyan)
• Jan. 4 vs. Whetstone (Hunter Swim Center)
• Jan. 9 vs. New Concord John Glenn/Northridge/Zanesville (TBD)
• Jan. 16 vs. Delaware/Marion Harding/Marysville (Ohio Wesleyan)
• Jan. 30 at OCC-Capital meet (New Albany Aquatic Center)