Eisenhower's Garrett Head controls Union City's Auston Dolan during their 152-pound match at Eisenhower High School, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Head will try to help lead Eisenhower to a berth in the state tournament during the District 10 duals today.

The Eisenhower wrestling team has enjoyed a very successful season to this point, and they will get a chance to add to it on Saturday at the District 10 Class 2A team duals at Sharon High School.

The 8-team field has the Knights pitted against Conneaut in the quarterfinals at 9 a.m.. Should they win that match, they will take on the winner of the other 9 a.m. match – Reynolds and Fort LeBoeuf.

The Knights have already beat Fort LeBoeuf this season, but to say Reynolds would present an even bigger challenge would be an understatement. The Raiders are the defending state champions and didn’t have a match closer than 47-15 en route to that title.

For coach Kris Black, however, it’s one match at a time.

“You’ve to to prep for the first match, because if you lose that one, you’re out,” he said. “Conneaut is a pretty good sized school and has wreslted a good schedule. They’re similar to us. It should be a good match.”

The two teams do have a common opponent – Union City.

A number of the Knights went to watch that match on Wednesday, which was won 39-33 by UC. The Knights earned a hard-fought 40-34 decision over the Bears on Jan. 9.

Should the Knights get by the Eagles in the quarterfinals, they would be guaranteed three matches and a chance to finish as one of the top three teams and advance to the state tournament.

The D-10 champ automatically goes to Hershey, while the second place finisher hosts the District 7 (WPIAL) third place team and the third place team travels to the No. 2 seed from District 6.

The bottom half of the bracket features the 11 a.m. quarterfinal matchups – Greenville vs. Mercer and Sharpsville vs. Harbor Creek. Greenville handed Conneaut its only Region 2 loss of the season, while Harbor Creek did the same to Ike.

The Knights are a close knit team, and one that has had to deal with some adversity this week with the flu bug going around.

“We’ve been struggling a little bit with that,” Black said. “I’ve been really happy with our guys this week. Even with the struggles of being sick and maybe a little bit of pressure, they’ve had some of their best practices of the year. When you ask them to give a little bit more, they have. They’ve really picked it up and I couldn’t ask for more.”

Although a little bit of shuffling might be expected, the Knights lineup, as it has most of the season, will look a little bit like this: 106 – Logan Jaquay (23-2); 113 – Easton Hedman (18-5); 120 – Jake Williams (11-13); 126 – Josh Bortz (11-7); 132 – Nate Holt (14-14); 138 – Sam Holt (15-8); 145 – Garrett Head (23-4); 152 – Spencer Head (22-2); 160 – Alex Barnett (11-5); 170 – Ethan Chambers (12-13); 182 – Justin Hagberg (15-11); 195 – Matt Huling (19-8); 220 – Joey Bauer (20-7); 285 – Brandon Gourley (1-9).

It’s a strong group, to be sure, and one that won’t be intimated by what has become a familiar setting in Sharon.

“They won’t be shocked by the size of the gym,” Black said. “We’re actually staying at the same hotel we did for districts and regionals last season.”

There’s also been much discussion about not simply being happy to be in the situation they’ve earned for themselves.

It’s a team that may have exceeded outsiders expectations, but not their own.

“We talked a lot about enjoying it, but not to be satisfied,” Black said. “It’s an exciting time, but we’re going down there with a purpose to be one of the top three teams. They know what they need to do. We’re focused on winning that first one and hopefully it goes our way. From there, it just gets tougher, but we just have to take it one match at a time.”

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Schedule

Quarterfinals

9 a.m.

Eisenhower vs. Conneaut

Reynolds vs. Fort LeBoeuf

11 a.m.

Greenville vs. Mercer

Harbor Creek vs. Sharpsville

Semifinals

3 p.m.

Eisenhower-Conneaut winner vs. Reynolds-Fort LeBoeuf winner

Greenville-Mercer winner vs. Harbor Creek-Sharpsville winner

Finals and Third-Place Match (5 p.m.)