In a lot of ways, sports teams rise and fall with the waves of athletes they have to participate. For those who have been watching High Point youth wrestling, the wave is about to crest. “We have this group together. Kind of our own little rat pack of eight kids we have here,” Manager Ralph Francavilla said. “It is going to be hard seeing them go, but we’ll follow them.” This rat pack of talented wrestlers have been working their way through the program together for the last few years. “We had a strong group of third and fourth graders that really grew up on the mat together and have moved through the program together,” Francavilla said. “They are just about retiring out of the program now.” Francavilla sees a lot of success in the “rat pack’s” future. “This is our last year and then we move on to the high school level,” the manager said. “We’re very strong now, but we are going to be thinner next year. Most of these kids are going to be starting as freshman for the high school.” Despite the inevitable crash of talent heading their way, no one in High Point is panicked about the future. “We’re fortunate because we get to combine with other teams for our sending districts,” Francavilla said. “We get to combine Sussex, Branchville and Lafayette to form High Point. We kind of gather to see what we got.” Once assembled, the High Point squad has their work cut out for them. “We have a tight schedule. We have a K-6 league, we have a K-8 league and we have a middle school league,” Francavilla said. “So with three different league we make sure the kids get matches in and we kind of see how they pan out. It makes it easy because we have a lot of kids to work with.” Even with such a large base to draw from, filling the holes can be difficult. “We are going to have gaps next year because we will be a young team,” Francavilla said. “But this year we are very strong and expect to do very well.” Russ Crespolini is the online editor for Straus Newspapers and can be reached at 845.782.4000 ext. 352 or at webmaster@strausnews.com.