It isn’t out of the realm of possibility for Mexico boys wrestling to have a team at state this season.

The Bulldogs had almost a full team’s worth qualify for state individually with eight making it to Mizzou Arena. Seven of those boys return this season, including two state runners-up in Grant Van Horn and Carlos Juarez Ramirez.

Head coach Gayle Adams said he expects there to be around 25 on the roster this season with two seniors: three-time state medalist Van Horn and the two-time state qualifier Watson Azdell. Adams said there are quite a few freshmen that are looking for a solid start in the program and sport.

“Anytime you’re returning two state finalists and all of them state qualifiers, it’s always a good thing,” Adams said. “I’ve got some good leadership in the room where some kids are wanting to try it and get better at the sport of wrestling.”

Adams has been saying for years that Van Horn will be a state champion and believes wholeheartedly that will happen this season after he came the closest to the rising to the top in his career.

“He’s got that caliber and he's got a great work ethic,” Adams said. “It’s going to happen. I promise you. It will happen this year.”

Juarez Ramirez, who is a sophomore and younger brother of assistant coach and former state medalist Ricardo Ramirez, won more than 30 matches like Van Horn did. Adams said Juarez Ramirez and Van Horn proved to be capable of making it to the state finals so that wouldn’t be a surprise this season.

“I would be surprised if they don’t make the state finals,” Adams said. “I would even be surprised if they don’t win it. I’ve got that much faith in my two kids.”

Adams said Azdell is at the top of the list of other returning state qualifiers. He said Azdell is looking to “maneuver through the bracket” after drawing some tough state brackets the last two years.

“We can say maybe, ‘OK, this weight class is better suited for you for your size or this one is suited better for your style of wrestling.’ We’re going to play that by ear.”

Kyler Carr was “getting his feet wet at the varsity level” as a freshman. Brayden Arnold was a freshman qualifier too but brings varsity experience and a potential to improve since he has plenty of good lower-weight wrestlers to practice with beyond Juarez Ramirez and Evan Blair.

Isai Hernandez and Grant Walker go into this season after qualifying for state as sophomores last season. Adams said he loves Hernandez’s “ability to compete” and “willingness to get better,” and Walker has more size on top of already being a “strong, feisty kid.”

Adams said he doesn’t overlook the contributions his wrestlers make at other sports that show their competitive drives like Arnold with baseball, Hernandez and Walker with soccer, and Van Horn this season as an active tackler on the football field.

Evan Wilson and Jayden Hodge are juniors that could make a jump to state this season after coming close to state qualification at districts last season as sophomores. Adams said he was excited for his lineup after just one practice.

“Mexico wrestling, we’re proving to put kids at the state tournament,” Adams said. “If we take 14 to districts, I don’t see why we can’t qualify the team. I’ve got winners in my program.”

Adams said this includes his assistant coaches this season, which is a who’s who of accomplished wrestlers he has coached in the past at Mexico, like the aforementioned Ramirez, who wrestled at a junior college in Iowa. This also includes former Division I wrestler Jake Vitale as the head assistant, former Division I wrestler Jordan Jones, multiple time state champion and Division I All-American Brit Wilson, multiple-time state champion and Division I wrestler Kellen Ekern, and multiple time state champion and Division I wrestler Dillon Nichols.

“I’ve got a lot of guys that might not be able come in every day, but I’ve got a really good coaching staff,” Adams said. “Probably in the state of Missouri, I’ve got one of the best coaching staffs. All of the coaches I’ve named, they’ve wrestled in college, they’ve wrestled at the highest level and they came through my program so they know.”

Most notable entries on the schedule this season are multiple trips out of state to see tough competition even outside of the state. Mexico goes to a tournament in Orlando, Florida, a few days before Christmas and one in De Soto, Kansas, in late January, and Adams added Mexico is planning on livestreaming a lot of its matches. All of this helps the Bulldogs be “battle-tested” heading to state this season.

“We get to see some different caliber of wrestling,” Adams said. “I’m fortunate. We get to travel the whole state of Missouri. We’re getting to see a lot of good wrestlers. We’re not going to walk into state with a 45-0 record. People are going to know that Mexico might have a few losses on us, but they know we’re battle-tested.”