PELLA — With the start of its second season around the corner, the Central College women wrestling team has its sights set on a big year with a bigger roster.

In its debut season, the Dutch women's program had just eight wrestlers. That number has doubled for year two and gives coach Paige Baynes more versatility in creating a lineup. The roster includes 10 freshmen and five sophomores.

"Obviously the expectation is to win, but we're still young," coach Paige Baynes said. "It's important for us to continue to grow and get better while being coachable. We need to make sure we're not in the way of our growth."

The oldest member of the team is junior Esther Belzer (Kalona, Hillcrest Academy), who in her first ever season of wrestling went 9-14 at 143 pounds and had a pair of third-place finishes.

"Esther will be one of the biggest leaders on the mat," Baynes said. "I'm super excited to see where she's going to go this year."

Asia Young (sophomore, Houston, Texas, Cypress Ridge HS) led the team with a 12-7 record last season, including a title at the American Rivers Invitational at 235 pounds. She's working to get into the new 207-pound weight class.

"Asia is going to be a leader on and off the mat," Baynes said.

The schedule is heavy on tournaments again with six opens or invitationals. Central is scheduled for an away dual at Cornell College on Friday, December 13 and will host the Central duals on Friday, January 3.

"Because we're so young, I'm still very cautious about duals," Baynes said. "We still need a lot more time before heading into duals like the men do. We want to focus on tournament and get them that mat time."

The inaugural American Rivers Championships are set for January 25 in Dubuque. Central will also compete at the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships Regional VII in Indianola on February 22-23. The national meet would be March 7-8 in Coralville if any wrestlers qualify.

It starts at the Luther Hill Invitational on Saturday in Indianola.