"So many things have to go right for a team to win it all," BEHS coach Jason Krueger says. "We’ve had a pretty strong year and are certainly tested from a number of (one-day) tournaments, but now it’s a two-day event and every wrestler needs to find a way to rest between matches.

"Our goal this year is to have a better showing," Krueger says. "That’s been our focus all along. Last year was tough. It was disappointing to finish eighth because we had a good start."

Berlin (181) won the L title in 2003 with Fitch (154½) second with the Lancers (96) well back.

"Ledyard, Montville and Rockville are going to tough teams, but to win here," Krueger says, "individuals need to perform and root for teammates to do well, too."

Back in 1992, the Lancers had five state champs and wound up second.

In 1996, Eastern had one state champ yet took the title because 11 wrestlers placed.

That could be the formula this year when the action starts tonight at 4:30 p.m. at Bristol Central and continues on Saturday starting at 9:15 a.m.

The Lancers, who are led by defending L champ Dan Strong (152), went 23-2 this season and won the CCC South title because of their depth.

Daren Miceli (215, seeded 2nd), Justin Dess (119, 4th), Dustin Deschaine (140, 5th) and Al "Bubba" Blumenthal (189, 6th) figure to challenge as well as score points in their weight classes.

Bristol Central, meanwhile, comes off a 7-11 regular season. Mike Fiorini (130, 2nd) is the only member of the Rams seeded in the Top 10, but Matt Dabrowski (189, 13th), who beat Blumenthal in the recent Central-Eastern clash, figures to make a strong showing.

This year’s field includes several wrestlers who have had success in recent seasons.

Luis Espinosa of Warren Harding won at 112 in 2003 is top seed at 119 while Sloan Holzman of Staples, who lost in the 112 finals a year ago, is No. 1 seed at 125.

Fielding Fagel of Fitch, who lost in the 152 finals last year to Strong, is seeded No. 1 at 160. At 189, Don Lyons of Guilford, who lost in the finals last spring, is seeded No. 1.

Also, Fitch’s Bill Leischner (152), who lost in the finals two years ago, could be Strong’s toughest foe and is seeded No. 2.

"Dan is looking at this meet from a team standpoint and without any pressure at all," Krueger says. "He’s the only kid who didn’t ask me where he was ranked."

CLASS S: Plainville, fresh off winning the NWC championship, is in position to win this title.

Not only have the Blue Devils, who finished seventh in Class M a year ago, moved to a lower class, but they are hosting the meet and have plenty of seasoned wrestlers.

Jesse Cavallaro (119) and Justin Fanguillo (189) are seeded No. 1 in their respective weights and lost in the finals a year ago.

Other standouts for the Blue Devils figure to be second-seed Than Tran (103), Justin Mals (140, No. 3), Nick Cavallaro (112, 4) and Aaron Weinhofer (171, 5).

In addition to the Blue Devils, Terryville, which finished 14th a year ago, could crack the Top 10. The Kangaroos are led by Jared Griffin (135, 4), Joe Kucia (171, 9) and Tom Bedell (215, 10).

At 135, Greg Hom of Lewis Mills, who finished fifth a year ago at 130, is seeded No. 2 behind New London’s Eric Murphy.