Person wrestling head coach Mark Litchfield has been saying all season that his top wrestlers have a real shot at making serious noise in the state 4A individual competition, which begins Friday at the Chapel Hill High School gym.

The regionals take place this weekend, followed by state competition next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23.

The Rockets completed the duals portion of their season last week by losing a close opening round playoff meet to Piedmont Athletic Conference opponent Chapel Hill, 37-33, and finishing 23-7 overall.

Cary took this year’s 4A duals title by defeating West Regional champion Davie County, 40-27, in last Saturday’s championship contest.

Four PAC-6 teams received playoff bids this season. Along with the Tigers and the Rockets, the Riverside Pirates and Northern Durham Knights competed in the tournament. Chapel Hill made it to the third round, while Riverside lost to Cary in the East regional semifinal round.

Chapel Hill was this year’s PAC-6 regular season duals champion and Northern finished second in the conference. The third-place Pirates and fourth-place Rockets earned wild card berths in the tournament.

Riverside finished first at the conference individual tourney back on Feb. 2 — an event it hosted. Person had six wrestlers make the finals on that day and ended up in fourth place.

With the regional individual competition now on tap, five Rockets in particular enter Friday’s action with high expectations.

Kenzie Sherow (103 pounds), Patrick Stewart (145), Blake Wheeler (140), John Newton (152), and C.J. Younger (160) have each compiled 30 or more victories this year. Newton has the team’s highest win total with 37, and Wheeler has the least amount of defeats, having lost just once to date.

Stewart was the lone Rocket to earn a top-five finish in the states last season, when he took that spot in the 140-pound weight division.

Other Person hopefuls, according to Litchfield, include James Montoya in the 112-pound category, Gerald Pollard at 119, Michael Reardon at 171, and Andrew McCord at 135.