FELTON — It’s not like the Lake Forest High wrestling program hasn’t had its share of success.

The Spartans have made the DIAA Division II state tournament six times in the last decade.

But Lake Forest hasn’t won the Henlopen South in that stretch, either. So the Spartans understand if nobody calls them a powerhouse in the sport.

“I just kind of look at us as the underdogs,” said junior 152-pounder Cole Dempsey. “No one really thinks of us as a wrestling school.”

This is one of those seasons, though, when Lake Forest has a chance to change some more people’s perception of the program.

The Spartans are off to a 2-0 start in the South with a big match against Indian River next Wednesday night at home.

Lake Forest only has to forfeit one weight class this winter — it doesn’t have a heavyweight. More than that, the Spartans also have a number of wrestlers with experience in the sport.

“That’s the difference for us — they’ve all wrestled for at least one year,” said Mike Hansen, who is in his 10th season as Lake Forest’s head coach. “In practice, them receiving information, the way to disseminate that is just so much faster.

“Just having a full lineup is going to make you competitive,” he added. “Because there are other teams that are forfeiting two and three and four (weight classes). All those little things help in a year like this.”

“We got off to a quicker start, that’s the best thing about it,” said senior Nathan Schurman. “Maybe not the first day but the second day we were wrestling live. It was a good feeling to not have to go do all the drills.”

Senior Tyler Ratledge is probably the Spartans’ most accomplished wrestler after reaching the Henlopen finals at 106 pounds last year.

Like pretty much every wrestling team in the state, Lake Forest’s roster is a lot smaller this season because of reasons related to the pandemic. The Spartans have about 18 on this year’s squad where normally they’d have over 30.

But the wrestlers who did come out this year are generally the ones who are more serious about the sport.

“Wrestling’s more of a grinding sport so a lot of people don’t want to do it as much,” said Schurman. “Kids who don’t come, they do it for the fun. They do it for the camaraderie.

“I think the people who do it here (this year), they enjoy wrestling. They like the physicality. I think that’s why most of us come.”

Because of the pandemic, there isn’t expected to be either a Henlopen Conference or DIAA dual-meet wrestling tournament this season. There are still plans to have an individual state tourney.

Along with five Henlopen South matches, the Spartans also have non-conference dates with Newark Charter, McKean, Delaware Military and Milford.

“You just go with the flow, that’s what I’m trying to do,” said Schurman, who’s competing at 182 pounds. “My goal is always on the team stuff.

“That’d be pretty cool,” he said about the chance to win the South.

Dempsey, who’s been wrestling for seven years, said he’d probably still be at practice no matter what the rest of the season looks like.

“I love wrestling,” he said. “There’s something about it. I just like competing.

“It’s not too much different,” he said about wearing a mask, “especially with the mask break at the end of the period. You get to catch your breath. It’s not too bad.”

As much as he would like to see the Spartans get a shot at winning the South title, Hansen tries to stay pretty even-keeled about it.

In a division that used to be dominated by wrestling giant Smyrna, Lake Forest’s only South championship in the sport came in 2001.

“I think it’s in the back of their minds,” said Hansen. “I hear them talking about it. I don’t ever over-hype anything. It’s always about the process of getting better every day. It takes care of itself.”