To many onlookers, it must have looked strange to see the Belen Eagles wrestling team holding up the Class 4A state runner-up trophy at the state championships last February.

It probably looked strange to the Eagles, too.

"Our goal this year is to win state," said Belen coach Lee Chaves. "And the only way we're going to do that is with as much teamwork as we've ever had."

The Eagles open the season with the Las Cruces Invite on Dec. 11-12.

Belen had five individual state champions in 2007-08, winning its sixth consecutive team title by 90 points over the second-place team, Silver. But with only two state champs, Bryce Cargile and Tyler East, and fewer placers in the top six, at state last year, the Eagles finished 11.5 points behind Silver, settling for second place.

"We'll have a young team," said Chaves, now entering his fifth season as the Eagles coach. "But it will be deep, and have someone effective at each weight. We'll have a very solid team, but the lineup we start the year with might not be the same group we end up taking to state."

The Eagles don't have a huge supply of experienced seniors, as some of its past squads have had. Several talented 2008-09 seniors, including East, Cargile, Justin Arellano, Diego McCloud and John Padilla, are gone.

Jacob Padilla, who placed sixth at state at 145 pounds last season, and Matt Gallegos, who was fourth at 135, are the team's returning seniors with the strongest credentials.

Junior Josh Griego, who was fifth at 112 pounds, is another of the team's returning state placers. Another is Jordan Freidt, who was sixth last season at 130 pounds despite only competing in the last part of the year.

David Quail, at 140 pounds, and Joaquin Gonzales, a 2007-08 state placer at 119, showed promise in the past two seasons, and Chaves says he has strong sophomore and freshman classes.

The hard-working freshman class includes the talents of Phillip Gonzales, who competed at state as an eight-grader.

Other hard-working members of the Class of 2013 include Danny Chavez, Wyatt Robinson, Javy Armijo, Dillon Greenlee and Nick Kurtz, said the coach.

"People will know we're young," said Chaves. "In the past, some teams set up their lineups to beat us. I like the idea of us being the underdogs, because there may be teams gearing their lineups to beat Moriarty, Deming or Volcano Vista."

The Eagles were bumped from atop the News-Bulletin's 4A statewide coaches poll last season by Moriarty, and in this year's preseason poll, the Eagles are second in Class 4A, one point behind Volcano Vista.

Belen ranks third behind Rio Rancho and Volcano in the all-classes category in the poll.

Belen will compete at the APS Invite the weekend of Dec. 18-19. The Eagles will host Valencia High on Monday, Jan. 18, and will host Los Lunas on Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Only the top three wrestlers per weight class in each district will advance to state this season, so it's possible some strong fourth-place wrestlers may not get to the state level.

"We have some guys who haven't gotten a lot of varsity work in, who might be better than state placers on other teams," said Chaves. "This may not be a team full of stars, but we can have state placers at every weight, and there are some open classes on our team right now. This is the best depth we've had in a long time."