As Austintown Fitch coach John Burd started breaking down the postseason for his Falcons wrestling team, he tried to look at every possible scenario.

There are plenty of them at this time of year. Wrestlers can change weight classes, get sick, injured or just simply struggle under the pressure of the postseason.

When Burd was done crunching the numbers and analyzing the different possibilities, he came to the decision that none of his evaluations matter if his team isn’t in the right mindset to wrestle its best.

“The main goal is to lay it all out there, be explosive, wrestle high-tempo and believe in yourself,” Burd said. “A lot of these times, they sometimes don’t believe in themselves. They wrestle not to lose rather than just going out there, having fun and getting it done. Sometimes that’s the biggest thing to do as a high school athlete is go out there and enjoy yourself, and remember it’s a match that you have to stay focused on, but it’s still fun. When you take the fun out of it, the nerves (set in), and you don’t want that to happen.”

The pressure is certainly on area wrestlers, starting Saturday.

The Falcons are one of quite a few local teams with a legitimate shot to win a sectional title and send several wrestlers to the district tournament. Fitch and Boardman are both in the Division I Kenston Sectional, where the top four placers in each weight class advance to the district.

Fitch is one of the favorites to claim a team title. The Falcons finished with a 14-2 dual meet record, with their only losses coming to Wadsworth, a Division I state semifinalist in the dual team tournament, and Louisville, the Division II state champion. They won the Hoppel Invitational tournament at Beaver Local and their own Joshua Hephner Memorial Tournament.

Leading Fitch are returning state qualifiers Zach Richards and Colin Roberts. The 145-pound Richards, who’s 37-10 as a senior, was a longshot to qualify for the state tournament last year, but he upset some higher-ranked wrestlers on his way to a fourth-place finish at the district. Roberts, a 126-pound junior with a 42-4 mark, is a two-time state qualifier with state-placement aspirations.

Burd couldn’t be happier with the duo.

“I don’t think you can ask for better leaders than Colin Roberts and Zach Richards,” he said. “They’ve just bought in, 365 days a year, lifting, running, training, eating right — the whole program. They’re just great leaders.”

They’re not the only contenders for the Falcons.

Sophomore Jacob Ferguson (106 pounds, 20-7 record), freshman Tyler Lintner (138, 36-12), junior Jacob Smail (182, 32-11) and senior Joey Perez (285, 32-11) all have legitimate chances to place in the top four at the district, thus advancing them to the state tournament.

There’s a good chance they’ll have company from a rival, too.

Boardman joins Fitch in Kenston, and the Spartans have a few state contenders of their own. All of Boardman’s top wrestlers are looking to qualify for the first time. Ray Cmil is having a fantastic sophomore season, with a 31-9 record and some impressive wins over state-ranked wrestlers at 113 pounds. Fellow sophomore Sean O’Horo, whose brother, Michael, was a state qualifier last year, is 35-11 at 138. Rounding out a strong sophomore class is 132-pound Tyler Rea, who’s 33-13 and another viable state contender.

“They took their beatings as freshmen and even early this year as sophomores,” said co-head coach Frank Mancini, who shares coaching duties with his brother, Dom. “They’ve had a chance to fill right in at the varsity level. … They’re getting to the point where they’re ready to win. They’re learning how to win.”

Upperclassmen Nathan Thompson, a 152-pound senior who’s 28-16, and Jake Powell, a 195-pound junior who’s 30-9, have benefited from a more competitive practice room.

“These guys don’t want to be shown up by any sophomores,” Dom Mancini said. “… When you get a class that’s tough, they’re all pushing each other and making each other more competitive, and nobody wants to be the guy that lets the team down. ”

Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kenston High School.