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Ray Cox | The Roanoke Times

Christiansburg’s returning Group AA state place winners are (from left) Sam Rakes, Jon Weber, Andrew Robertson, Derek Woody and Devin Carter.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- A lot of Christiansburg High School's wrestlers you may not have heard of. You will.

So go the predictions for a program that is seeking its seventh state Group AA title in a row this season.

"We have a lot of wrestlers who have no credentials this year but are good, scrappy wrestlers," Blue Demons coach Daryl Weber said. "They've just been wrestling behind some of the state champions we've had. Now it's their turn."

It's a tough life slogging through workouts grappling with the likes of four-time Christiansburg state champion Cody Gardner. Life gets better, though. Obscurity isn't forever.

"They've been wrestling the best in the state the past two or three years in practice," Radford coach Chris Vicars said of Christiansburg's newcomers. "They'll be just fine."

The Demons are well-stocked in veterans, too. Senior Sam Rakes (41-6), who toiled most of the last season at 152 pounds, moved up to 160 for the postseason and promptly won state at that weight. He'll return to the same class this year.

Four other members of the current squad placed last year at state, including sophomore Devin Carter (43-13), runner-up at 103; Andrew Robertson (21-3), third at 112; junior Derek Woody (27-8), eighth at 140; and Jon Weber, fifth at heavyweight.

Carter, light for the weight class last year, has grown to a more comfortable size and figures to settle there again. Robertson is moving up to 119. Woody most likely will land at 152. Weber, forced to wrestle up because Gardner was 215, will move down to his more natural weight this year.

Here are some others to watch out for: senior Bobby Schaffer at 135, who wrestled behind two-time state champ Timmy Miles; junior Michael Giordano (140); junior Brandon Carter (171); senior David Cheney (189); and heavyweight Trey Dillon.

"All these guys could have been state place winners last year," Weber said.

It's going to be an interesting year for Christiansburg and the other two area River Ridge District teams, Blacksburg and Pulaski County. That league moves from Region III to Region IV, setting up future clashes with the region's dominant power, Grundy.

Other New River Valley wrestling programs:

n Based on early season returns, Blacksburg could be in for exciting times. At a quad meet with William Byrd, Staunton River and Salem last week, the Bruins gave away four weight classes because they had nobody yet to fill them and still beat each of the three other teams.

"Those are good programs," Blacksburg coach Kevin Humbert said. "I don't know if Blacksburg has ever beaten William Byrd."

Back for his senior year at 189, Joey Phillips will be aiming high. Last year he wrestled well during the regular year but faded after winning the district championship. Aaron Barbour, another senior, qualified for state at 171 but will be slated for 215 this season. Senior Justin Overcash is staying put at 152, where he was also a state qualifier last year.

Other promising Bruins include William Jones at 119, Neil Kennedy at 103, Neil's brother Austin at 125, Adam Seigel at 171, 135-pound sophomore Zach Myers and 6-foot-5, 255-pound Daniel Overstreet at heavyweight. Freshman 160-pounder James Petersen was runner-up at the state middle school meet.

"I think we can have qualify 10 guys for state this year," Humbert said.

n Pulaski County is in the midst of a wrestling boom. No fewer than 25 are out for the varsity this year. The program at Pulaski Middle has more than 30 wrestlers; Dublin Middle's squad exceeds 20. In the recreational program, 65 have signed up.

"We're going in the right direction," Cougars coach Dan Butler said.

Look out for senior Cameron Brown at 125; sophomore Matt Bowman at 145 or 152; freshman Tommy Wojcik at 171, who was a middle school All-American last year; and senior David Willis, who is dropping from 145 to 140.

The big problem for Pulaski County last season was that too many players battled their weight all year, which took it out of them when it finally came time to actually wrestle. Butler subsequently encouraged them to be more industrious and weight-aware in the offseason. He says he's liked what he's seen.

n Floyd County welcomes a new coach, Mike Murphy, who moves up from the assistant coach position he'd held the previous three seasons.

The Buffaloes program has had a major spike in participation with 25 ready to wrestle this season, up from 13 or 14 a year ago. Five of 10 starters went to the state Group A meet last year, with three of them placing.

Tyler Beckner was state runner-up at 125 and is slated to move to 130. Max Lander placed at 140 and is moving to 145 or 152. Josh Penn was an underweight heavyweight who placed seventh at state last year but figures to drop to 215. Adam Arno and Josh Cluxton also placed at state. Arno is moving to 140 from 130 and Cluxton is going from 152 to 160.

n Radford will start at least 10 freshmen and sophomores. The headliners are upperclassmen.

Tanner Sutphin won Group A 119 last year and is shifting to 125 or 130. Adam Sandoe won at 130 but is likely to end up at 135 this year. William Sanders was state runner-up at 112 and is slated to land at 125. J Clark is dropping from 160 to 152.

Vicars likes the future for inexperienced senior Isaiah King at 215.

"We'll bring him along slowly," Vicars said. "He could end up being pretty good."