When wrestling coaches Steve Pitts and Jim Cardiero were asked to look ahead and gauge the difficulty of the Division II Alliance District wrestling tournament, they gave their thoughts, but they quickly stopped.

They realized their sectional tournament is tough enough to begin with.

Pitts, Canfield’s head coach, and Cardiero, Girard’s coach, are two of several area coaches preparing for the postseason stretch, which begins Saturday with sectional wrestling tournaments.

Canfield and Girard will be at the D-II West Branch Sectional, along with fellow local teams Howland, Hubbard, Poland and West Branch. The sectional added Streetsboro and Field to an already competitive field. The top four placers in each weight class advance to the district tournament next week at Alliance — one of the most difficult districts in the state.

“The depth has increased (at the sectional), and the quality has increased a little bit,” said Pitts, whose Cardinals have won five of the last six sectional titles at West Branch. “When you wrestle in northeast Ohio, there is no easy sectional. There is no easy district. This is the heartland of wrestling, so you’re going to have teams that have good, competitive kids across the board. When you show up, you’ve gotta be ready to wrestle every match, and that’s what we tell our guys.”

Canfield is usually the team for which others are trying to be ready.

While injuries have plagued the Cardinals this year, with returning state champion Nick Crawford out for the season with a shoulder injury, they’re again one of the favorites. Led by fellow returning state champ Anthony D’Alesio, Canfield boasts a powerful group.

D’Alesio, a 182-pound senior who committed to Kent State, is 14-1 and picked to win another title. Junior Ethan Fletcher, 120 pounds, is another state contender after qualifying as a freshman. He’s 31-6 and ranked as high as fourth in the state. Fellow junior Nick Barber missed some time this season, but he’s a returning state qualifier with the potential to advance along with 285-pound senior Richie Hofus.

Pitts said he has scaled back the intensity of practices the last few weeks. The rigorous nature of wrestling can wear on kids and even lead to them quitting in the latter stages.

“It’s a long season — it’s not for everyone — and we had a few kids choose not to participate here at the end of the year,” Pitts said. “The last two weeks we’ve practiced maybe an hour a day, gone real light, kept things loose, played games, tried to have fun and break up the monotony, and you get other teams that grind, grind, grind. It’s just different strategies, different philosophies. We took this back-off approach to keep it light and keep them enjoying it and having fun. What we have seen is when they go out there, they’re not as stressed and not as tense, and you don’t want that in a wrestling match.”

Cardiero and the Indians have been grinding.

Like Canfield, Girard has quite a few state-hopefuls, led by senior Alex DelGrabino, who suffered a gruesome hip injury in last year’s sectional final. He rebounded with a 38-4 record at 138 pounds. Joining him as potential qualifiers are senior Shawn Thomas (152 pounds, 30-11 record) and juniors Colton McCloskey (126, 29-11) and Kyle O’Hare (120, 32-12).

Cardiero’s approach is slightly different than that of Pitts.

“It’s just all about keep talking to them and saying the right things about how much they’re going to regret if they don’t put everything they have into the postseason,” Cardiero said. “You’ve got to work hard. Wrestling is a sport where you’ve got to work hard everyday. You can’t take long breaks. There’s always matches and tournaments throughout the season. It’s a grind, but you’ve just got to stay in their heads and let them know that it’s all going to be worth it in the end.”

The rest of the field has similar aspirations.

Howland boasts returning state qualifier Matthew Woomer (145, 13-1) and rising sophomore Ethan Snyder (138, 26-11), Hubbard possesses junior standout Conner Burrus (126, 32-7) and Poland is looking to break through with the trio of junior Jacob Caudle (145, 30-11), sophomore Dillon Smith (170, 32-10) and senior Daniel Pagan (220, 24-12).

The host West Branch is another powerhouse at the sectional. The Warriors are led by a pair of state-ranked brothers in junior Kenny Marra (195, 38-2) and sophomore Steven Marra (170, 30-10). Adding seniors Gage Bickley (152, 33-4) and Jacob Hurst (285, 34-7), along with a deep, talented lineup, makes them another one of the favorites at a difficult sectional.

Wrestling starts at 10 a.m., Saturday in Beloit.