In many sports, the regular season is nothing more than a warm-up for the post-season/playoffs. Mehlville head wrestling coach Matt Phoenix is hoping that is the case for his Panthers this season.

“Right now we’re getting ready for districts,” Phoenix told the Call. “We’re banged up and don’t have some of our starters, but overall I think we’re progressing … What it’s all about is that we’re improving.”

The Panthers dropped a 50-19 decision to a tough Marquette squad on Thursday of last week. Mehlville found itself down 24 points at the beginning of the evening as the team had to forfeit four matches due to injuries.

“We ended up winning five matches,” Phoenix said. “We still have a lot of injuries and it’s really hard to match up with them (Marquette).”

Winning for the Panthers was junior Corey Lag (103 pounds), sophomore Justin Robidoux (130 pounds), junior Mark Nothum (160 pounds), senior Jacob Roesch (215 pounds) and senior Tim Suntrup (heavyweight).

This Friday evening the Panthers are back on the mat as they play host to Vianney in their final home meet of the 2003-04 season. The Golden Griffens will be looking to ruin Mehlville’s Senior Night and the Panther head coach is looking for it to be a competitive evening.

Mehlville’s final home match of the year against Vianney is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.