The Prior Lake wrestling team will have some holes in its lineup, but with that comes opportunity.

The Lakers have lost some top talent over the few years, returning just one state qualifier from last winter in senior Calvin Sund. So there may be some growing pains in the early going of the season.

"I am excited for this season," Lakers coach Joe Block said. "We have a really good group of kids, who work hard and are very coachable. They are also just nice kids, which helps a ton.

"We are going to be very young this season and some of those sophomores who were on the ninth-grade team that had a whole lot of success last season are going to have to step up and fill some spots on varsity," Block added. "We will also have some seniors who haven’t had a lot of varsity mat time step in and fill some weights."

Prior Lake is unranked to open the season for the first time since 2009. The team has three ranked wrestlers — Sund (No. 3, 185), sophomore Teagan Block (No. 8, 106) and junior Cory St. Martin (No. 8, 126).

Sund was the state runner-up last year at 182 pounds, finishing the season with a 24-4 record. He is a team captain this winter, along with senior Logan Edwards.

"They are both great kids with good heads on their shoulders and the kids look up to them," Block said.

Senior Vincent Mosher is also back, along with sophomore Colton Sund and juniors Chase Bloomquist and Logan Hennen.

"We are going to be pretty thin at the start of the year in terms of our varsity lineup," Block said. "We have some holes that will need to get filled, but until we see who steps up and fills those holes December could be rough for us.

"Like I said, this is a hard-working group — just green in terms of wrestling experience," Block added. "It will be fun to see who steps up for us."

It's tough to rebuild in the South Suburban Conference and in Section 2AAA. The SSC has three ranked teams — No. 1 Shakopee, No. 2 Apple Valley and No. 12 Rosemount.

And all three of those teams are also in Section 2AAA, along with No. 11 New Prague. The section also has 29 individuals ranked in the 14 weight classes, including five at No. 1.

Shakopee had the most ranked wrestlers in the section with seven, followed by Apple Valley with six, New Prague with four, Lakeville North, Lakeville South and Prior Lake each with three, Rosemount with two and Eastview with one.

Last year, the Lakers finished 14-11 overall (6-3 in the SSC), losing in the Section 2AAA semifinals for a third straight year. Prior Lake won the Section 2AAA crown five straight years from 2011 to 2015 and was the state runner-up to Apple Valley in 2014.

Prior Lake opens the season Dec. 1 at the Raider Duals in Hastings at 9:30 a.m. The Lakers' first SSC match is Dec. 7 at home versus Eastview at 7 p.m.

The annual Ron Edwards Duals are Dec. 8 and the field is strong with the likes of No. 4 St. Michael-Albertville, No. 5 East Ridge, Farmington, Simley No. 2, Class 2A) and Waconia (No. 7 in Class 2A) in the field.