November 29 is opening night for the Greene County wrestling team and Coach Zach Beekman’s Rams will begin the quest to reach team goals, as well as individual ones.

Qualifying for the Dual Meet State Tournament and winning the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference tournament title are among the team goals. This is also the first year of no Sectional tournaments for any of Iowa’s three high school classes. All individual State qualifiers will be determined through February District tournaments. Each of Iowa’s three classes will also have 24 qualifiers in each of the 14 weight classes instead of 16.

Filling all 14 weight classes is not easy and programs with shrinking numbers will have more difficulty than others. Greene County’s high school wrestling numbers are in decline with just 16 out for the sport. If there are no injuries, illness, or other circumstances keeping individuals out of action, the Rams might be able to come close to being full.

The season begins in Jefferson with a quadrangular at Greene County High School with Van Meter, Ogden, and PCM (Monroe) visiting the Rams.