Pella’s grapplers will open the winter season this evening when they welcome Pleasantville for a dual meet.

The Little Dutch are sporting one of their larger rosters in recent memory, with over 40 athletes signed up to compete in the first few weeks of practice. Head Coach Bryant Hancock tells KRLS Sports he expects the varsity team to be vastly improved this year, both with the returning letterwinners and with the competition offered in certain weight classes by underclassmen.

“We’ve got everybody back, and when you’ve got everybody back–boy, the competition in the room is so much more intense, so much more competitive” he says. “And that’s not mentioning some of the freshmen coming in that are really some very talented young kids that are going to help us right out of the gate.”

The first match gets underway at 6:30 p.m. between the Dutch and Trojans at Pella High School.