The traditionally strong Bryan wrestling program is rebuilding this year, and the Vikings will be moving next year. The rebuilding may smart, but the move should ease the pain.

A&M Consolidated's wrestlers also are looking forward to a new home next season. The Tigers currently use a dressing room and small practice area in the old field house, which is scheduled to be torn down and replaced after the school year.

Bryan lost seven starters off last season's team. The Vikings' pool of replacements isn't as deep at it has been in recent years, because there are fewer wrestlers in the program.

Vikings coach Mike Zito believes the decline in participants will reverse when the wrestling team moves from its current workout and dual-meet site at Lamar School to the high school next year. The wrestlers will take over a second-floor gym room after the gymnastics teams move to Rudder High School.

"With all the special programs building and growing at Lamar, they need the gym space," Zito said. "It's been a battle coordinating who can use the gym and when, moving our huge mats around. It's slowly been getting more stressful.

"With gymnastics moving, those mats are going to stay down. We're going to put some wall pads up and have one of the top-notch rooms in the state, if not the country."

Consol coach Brian Wessel is excited about the prospect of a new wrestling room in the rebuilt field house, which is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2008. During construction, the wrestlers will practice on the sports court adjacent to Tiger Gym.

Zito said Bryan wrestlers must provide their own transportation from the high school to Lamar for practice after school, just as baseball players did when they practiced off campus at Travis Park. The off-campus practice gym is partly to blame for a gradual decline that has left 38 wrestlers in the program this season.

There also has been a reduction in the number of boys who join the wrestling team after playing football (seven on the current roster) and restrictions that limit wrestlers' ability to move to lower weight classes.

The weight certification policy put into effect last year by the United States High School Wrestling Federation uses a formula that includes body fat percentage to determine a "bottom weight" at which a wrestler can compete.

This season, Bryan had three capable wrestlers certified at 125 pounds, including standout junior Javier Aguilar. The other wrestlers had to move up in weight class or compete at their natural weight for the JV. Sophomore Kevin White moved up to 130 pounds, and the other wrestler left the team.

The Vikings are strong in the lower weight classes, with Aguilar and 103-pounder Logan Meekma among those Zito expects to contend for the state meet. Other potential standouts include Zach Hiney (189), Alex Aguilar (140) and David Orozco (145).

Bryan does not have a heavyweight wrestler this season. The Vikings' 112-pounder suffered a leg injury that probably will keep him out for the rest of the season, and their 180-pounder will miss several weeks because of a staph infection.

Vikings win two, Tigers split at quad meet: The Bryan wrestlers defeated Conroe and Oak Ridge while A&M Consolidated split against the same teams in a quad-meet at Lamar on Thursday night.

Bryan opened with a 60-24 victory over Oak Ridge, getting points on pins by Logan Meekma, Kevin White, Jorge Gonzalez, David Orozco, Thomas Forster, Omar Aguilar and Jacob Taylor. Vikings Alex Aguilar, Zach Hiney and Javier Aguilar won their matches by decision.

The Vikings beat Conroe 52-27, finishing the night in style when Hiney pinned his opponent in 40 seconds. Meekma, White, Gonzalez, Orozco, Forster, Omar Aguilar, Hiney and Javier Aguilar had pins, with Omar Aguilar, Forster and Meekma wrestling at higher weight classes because of gaps in the Conroe lineup.

Consol bounced back from an opening loss to Conroe with a 53-37 victory over Oak Ridge. The Tigers got pins from Tyler Ward, Jonathan Shugart, Colton Boggs and Dillon Bartek, while Nick Barber won by decision.

Bartek also pinned his opponent in the 43-33 loss to Conroe. The Tigers' other pins came from Levi Latham, Connor Roussel and Brian Schoenfeld. Shugart won a decision and took both of his matches on Thursday.

The Vikings and Tigers will skip this weekend's Klein Collins tournament because of conflicts caused when the tourney was expanded to a two-day event.

Zito and the Vikings will host one of the biggest meets in the state when the 11th annual Doc Hess Classic is held Dec. 22. That meet, which last year included 48 teams and more than 1,000 wrestlers, will be held in Viking Gym.

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.