Going into the 2014-15 season, Bellevue Wolverines wrestling head coach Kyle Smith knew his squad had a multitude of talented grapplers on its varsity roster, but he didn’t envision a possible undefeated season in dual matches.

The Wolverines, who finished in 13th place at the Mat Classic Class 3A state tournament last season, have put together an undefeated 5-0 record in duals thus far. The undefeated mark has even eclipsed Smith’s early season expectations.

“This year we only have four seniors on the team. We’re more of a state-built team instead of a dual meet team just because of our lack of depth in some spots of our lineup,” Smith said in early December. “I think we can finish in the top five in state.”

The Wolverines have stepped up their game on the mat this season in dual matches and are bonafide contenders to finish in one of the top spots on the podium at the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome in February. Bellevue earned its fifth win with a 41-33 victory against the Mercer Island Islanders on Jan. 23 in Mercer Island. Smith said it’s the first time they’ve defeated their arch-rival in the past eight years.

“It was pretty awesome for us to beat them and come out on top,” Smith said. “It’s been a really long time since we have won against them. I wish it was a home match, but we still had a good crowd there. The kids were pretty excited to beat them. Mercer Island tends to be one of our biggest rivals in all sports.”

The key to Bellevue’s victory against Mercer Island was winning courtesy of pinning combinations. Bellevue registered pins in five of its seven wins against Mercer Island. Wrestlers capture six team points for a victory by pin and just three points for a victory by decision. Jake Myers (126), Brennan Holmes (106), Christian Villani (160), John Mancuso (182) and Zach England (195) all won their matches via pin. Paul Johnson (132) won by technical fall. Holmes, Johnson and Myers are all freshman newcomers making their presence felt in the varsity lineup in their inaugural high school season.

“We have a lot of freshman who have come in and picked up the slack. That has been very helpful for us. Getting those pins was pretty big because it gave us the bonus points we needed to win the match,” Smith said. “That is what helps us at the state tournament, too. When you have a lot of pins, its like having an extra wrestler at the match or tournament.”

Making the Wolverines accomplishments all the more impressive is the fact that only 17 grapplers are on the team as of late January. The majority of wrestling squads with undefeated records and state tournament aspirations rely on gargantuan rosters of 40 to 50 athletes to create competition in the mat room. The Wolverines don’t have that luxury and it hasn’t deterred them one iota.

“We have a small team so it’s so important for every single one of them to be at practice day in and day out so everyone has practice partners,” he said. “These guys are working hard every day.”That work ethic exhibited in the mat room off of Wolverine Way is paying off in full for Bellevue grapplers.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com