Unless Lawrence High receives a sudden surge in wrestlers, the Lions will be understaffed for their home dual against No. 8-ranked Free State tonight.
The annual intracity dual will begin at 6 p.m. Cable Channel 6 will show a replay of the dual at 10:30 tonight.
LHS, 0-14 in duals, had six open weight classes at its last event and won't come close to filling the allotted 14 slots against the Firebirds (6-2), LHS coach Jeff Tummons said.
"We'll probably have a couple of more weight classes filled," said Tummons, whose squad won last year's thrilling intracity dual with a victory in the final heavyweight match. "We'll still not be at full strength. It'll be real tough for us. Free State has a tough squad and I'm sure they'll be at full strength.
"With so many open weights, it'll be tough team wise for us to compete with them with their caliber of wrestlers."
While LHS is short on numbers, the Firebirds, who have six ranked wrestlers, are stacked.
"It's unfortunate we're not meeting during a year in which we both have strong programs," FSHS coach Darrell Andrew said.
Senior Justin Stevens, who has won five tournaments this season, is Free State's top wrestler. He has a 19-0 record and is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A at 189 pounds.
Free State's other ranked wrestlers are Matt Somers, third at 119 pounds with a 11-2 record; Anthony White, 16-7 and fifth at 135 pounds; Nick McGovern, 11-5 and sixth at 160 pounds; Kyle Frank, 13-5 and third at 171 pounds; and Ian Brk, 14-3 and fourth at 215 pounds.
McGovern will likely be held out of the dual because of a rib injury, Andrew said.
Because of its depth, Free State has been able to overcome the nagging injuries.
"We're having a season to remember right now," Andrew said. "We're in a situation where people are actually gunning for us. The kids are improving on a weekly basis. It's different in practice. It seems like there's a lot more fire under them than we had last year."
The Lions' top wrestlers are Chris Hultine (135) and Aaron Madill (160).
The intracity series is tied at 2-all with LHS winning two in a row.
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