Wichita ? Lawrence High’s Brendan Halpin has been here before. Free State’s Jesse Hardy has, too.

In fact, about half of the Lions and Firebirds who qualified for the state wrestling meet have made a previous pilgrimage to the Kansas Coliseum, the site of this weekend’s Class 6-5-4A championships.

But, as LHS coach Mark Dulgarian summed it up: “Experience helps, but it doesn’t guarantee much at state.”

“Down there, no one cares about your record or what you’ve done lately,” said Dulgarian, whose regional second-place squad qualified 10 wrestlers. “You have got to go down there and get the job done on the mat, and that’s not an easy task when you consider you’re wrestling against the top 16 kids in the state. A lot of it is determined on your draw, and then from there it’s all about how bad you want it.”

Still, the city wrestlers who are returning to the two-day tourney — which begins with the first round at 9 a.m. today and concludes with championship finals at 6:30 p.m. Saturday — already know what to expect from the circus-like atmosphere that encompasses the nine-mat extravaganza.

And, considering there are no state champions on either squad, both city teams should have plenty of motivation.

“I’m definitely more excited to be back this year, especially because I know how close I was to the big prize last year,” said Halpin, who finished fourth last season in the 140-pound class despite popping his shoulder out of place on the second day.

The same injury has sidelined Halpin much of this season. The 145-pounder has participated in some 20 fewer matches than at this time last year, going 17-7.

Hardy didn’t compete until the start of second semester. The 189-pound junior, who finished fifth at state last season, wasted no time once he returned to the mat, compiling a 25-6 record.

“He’s really been strong of late. I think he could have a great weekend,” said Free State coach Darrell Andrew, whose squad should set up strong with the help of a school-record 12 qualifiers.

Free State won last weekend’s 6A regional at Shawnee Mission West and is hoping to top its best-ever state finish of sixth place.

“I think we finally have developed a little bit of a tradition here,” Andrew said. “Arguably, we’ve had one of the state’s toughest schedules, and we’ve done that to prepare the kids for this weekend. I think it’s worked, too. The kids are confident, and although we know that the state tournament will be a lot tougher than our regional, I think the experience we’ll send down there will definitely pay off.”

Last year was the first season in four years that no city wrestler qualified for a championship match, but that could change this weekend considering LHS junior Nolan Kellerman’s 39-0 mark at 160 pounds.

Kellerman probably also has extra motivation after falling in a narrow championship semifinal loss on Friday last year and then ending his run without a state medal with another setback in the second round of consolations Saturday.

“I think the biggest thing is just not to think of this meet as the biggest meet of the year,” said LHS 130-pound senior Pharouk Hussein, a three-time qualifier. “Personally, in the past I think I’ve put too much pressure on myself and just didn’t go out there and wrestle. The key is to just go out there and try to take it like it was just another match and wrestle with confidence.”