The experience of youth this season is going to contain many hard lessons for first year Federal Way coach Travis Mango, and going up against the visiting, much more battle-hardened Thomas Jefferson Raiders was no exception, losing, 76-6, Thursday.

“We are young, but this season we won our first match in two years against Garfield,” said Mango, who began wrestling as a kid at Highline High School in Burien, graduating in 1998 and then setting up a wrestling club, as president, at Western Washington because it was not a college conference sport.

The Eagles are winless so far this SPSL North season. The Garfield win was non-league since it was against a Metro League team.

There are no seniors on the Eagles’ team, to note exactly how young Mango’s team is this season. Only one wrestler made it out of the six minutes of three rounds without being pinned by a TJ foe. Plus, there were two Federal Way forfeits and two Eagle wrestlers that got injured during matches.

The only points came for Federal Way when its freshman 140-pound wrestler was picked up and thrown down to the mat and won by injury default. The match was then over and the medics came to take him away on a stretcher. It was precautionary, no likely injury, but his neck was tingly so 20 minutes of waiting for that action midway through the dual.

“It’s unfortunate that it happened, I’m sorry that it happened,” said Raiders coach Jess Workman. “But I don’t think there was anything that my kid did wrong. The way he brought him down, that’s the way we’ve been brought down, too, in matches.”

Just wrestling. And the Eagles look like they have some good wrestlers with potential. They are just young, with three-quarters of the team either a freshman or sophomore on the varsity.

The Raiders have some young but postseason experienced wrestlers on their squad, in contrast to Federal Way. Leading the list would be a junior, Ivan Mukamol. He took eighth place in the state last year, doing the best of the Raider wrestlers. He’s wrestling 125 now and has a 16-3 record. He was the one who won his match by injury default. The other match was actually a loss for TJ because the way the wrestler brought that Federal Way frosh down was ruled unsportsmanlike by the referee.

Mukamol thinks this Raider team is better than last year, even though it’s record is close to the same as last year at this time of the South Puget Sound League North season at 3-3.

“We are focused more, more on our game,” said Mukamol.

He can say that because he’s winning most of his matches for sure and the ones on his team he spars with are winning theirs, too. That would be Zeke Nistrian, a 152-pound sophomore now 21-5 and Kyle McIntosh, a 140-pound junior who is 16-5.

“We’re the trio,” said Mukamol. “We’re having fun, kicking butt.”

Those three are the best state hopefuls for the Raiders this season, heading into league, regionals, and, then it’s state in the Tacoma Dome Feb. 20-21.

McIntosh just missed state last year, and was a state alternate. He has learned from his mistakes missing that mark this time around.

He talked about his coach, Workman.

“He’s really good. He’s helped me a lot mentally, not necessarily the technical side, not letting me get cocky,” said McIntosh, who beat his foe, sophomore Langley Ngov, in a good match that went to the third round before a McIntosh pin at 5:04.

Ngov gave you a pretty good match?

“I was trying to go all three rounds, but he was a good wrestler,” said McIntosh. “I will probably see him at the district tournament.”

McIntosh was wrestling up a weight class on this night, too, to note, which speaks of his ability and strength, as he had no problem matching power to power with Ngov.

McIntosh may have five losses too, as his record shows but his only loss is to Tyler Lamb, who placed at state (top 8) last February at the Tacoma Dome.

In fact, the way McIntosh has improved himself last season to this is from wrestling a lot of “Lamb” types.

“I’ve improved a lot. I have been wrestling a lot of state champs in the off season,” said McIntosh. “I’ve been training with them and working out with them.”

McIntosh likes training with Nistrian and Mukamol.

“We three are practice partners every day and we push each other to our limits,” said McIntosh. “We are pretty much at the same levels. I get the best of both worlds. Ivan is really fast and Zeke is really strong.”

Zach Roth, a senior, could do some things, too. He is 13-6.

“He’s searching for his peak,” said Workman.

Cory Yeaple won at 119 pounds with a pin at 1:37 of the first round. Cody Castaneda, at 130, won by pin at 1:15. Ty Zumwalt won at 135 pounds by pin at 1:25. Zeke Zistrian won at 152 by pin at 5:00 of the third round. Randy Hentges won at 160 by major decision, 14-3, in the only match going the three round distance. Kyle Williams won at 171 by pin at 5:11. Roth, wrestling at 189, won by pin at 2:48. Ryan Kikuchi, at 215, won by pin at 1:51. Dylan Conners at 275 won by pin at 1:34.

Mango talked to his kids afterward, gathered around him.

“We’re young,” said Mango. “We’re not in the weight room, but we can’t think about that. That doesn’t matter now. That comes in the off season. Right now, it’s about conditioning. Overall, we are inexperienced. But you fought hard out there every match. I am proud of that.”

Mango likes his wrestlers’ efforts out there.

“The kids are not quitting on me,” said Mango. “The varsity experience they are getting in this league will pay off now and in seasons to come.”