ATHENS, Ohio — A new season is on the horizon for Ohio Wrestling and the team is excited to hit the mat. 

The Bobcats start their season at the Southeast Open, which they haven't been to in almost six years head coach Joel Greelee said. It'll be an early test for the team before they go to two of their biggest invitationals on back-to-back weekends. The Bobcats then head to the Navy Classic on Nov. 18. Overall, Ohio sees Navy three times this season — once in a dual and twice at invitationals.

"I'm excited about Navy Classic. It's one of those meets we always go to and do well. We've got a half place out of first before," Greenlee said. "We've finished, second, third and fourth a bunch of times. I think we have a really good team and I'm looking forward to going there and making some noise.

From there, Ohio will travel to Nevada to compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. There are 16 teams competing in the invitational, including Navy. Other teams at the invitational include Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa State. Ohio and Rider are the only MAC teams attending. 

Ohio's first meet in The Convo is on Nov. 11 — a tri-meet with UT-Chattanooga and Ashland. It doesn't have another meet in Athens until Jan. 19, when George Mason comes for a dual. George Mason is one of seven MAC duals Ohio has this season. 

Other MAC duals include away matchups with Cleveland State, Central Michigan and in-state rival Kent State.

"(Kent State's) a fun dual. Our guys get into it and their guys get into it. Their coaches get into it, we get into it," Greenlee said. "I think the Central Michigan duals' a fun dual every single year. I just think you've got to take them one at a time and be excited for each one in different ways." 

The dual portion of the schedule is Greenlee's favorite. He enjoys the unique atmosphere that comes with a rivalry. However, he knows that the transition from invitationals to duals can be exhausting. Greenlee's goal for his team is to focus more on the enjoyable aspects of wrestling this season. 

"Every time out I want them to have fun wrestling. There's parts of it that I don't know how much you dress it up, it's not always going to be fun. Cutting weight is not always fun. The hard works not always fun, but I want them to have fun in there," Greenlee said. "I want to see a team that's excited. I want to see a team that's that that's having a good time with each other. I want to see all those things."

The Bobcats are younger than they have been in previous seasons. There are 13 freshman and 11 sophomores on their roster. However, the Bobcats are returning several key pieces including redshirt sophomore Peyten Kellar (Cutler, Ohio), junior Zayne Lehman (Akron, Ohio) and junior Sal Perrine (Northfield, Ohio). All three qualified for the NCAA Championships last season and placed in the top five at the MAC Championships.

Lehman was picked as No. 1 in the 184-pound class in the MAC preseason poll. Kellar was slated at No. 2 in the 157-pound class and Perrine at No. 4 in the 174-pound class. Six other Bobcats were also named in the preseason poll. As a team, the Bobcats were picked to finish at No. 5. 

"I think we got a lot of talent coming in. A lot of older guys left last year and we're someone newer guys and me, Zayne, and Garrett (Thompson) were some of the lower classmen for the past couple years. We're kind of the guys now they're looking forward to leading the team, leading by example, Jordan Greer as well," Perrine said. "I think we got a lot to prove this year and last year, we left off on a pretty good note but we know where we can be and we know where we can get to." 

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