WEBSTER CITY – Two months still remain in the wrestling season and yet it’s likely that the North Central Conference dual championship will be decided this evening at Humboldt High School.

The league’s top three teams – No. 1-ranked (Class 2A) Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, Webster City and Humboldt – will go to battle beginning at 5 p.m. Pocahontas Area will also be in attendance.

WCHS will face Humboldt in the opening dual. The Lynx will face reigning NCC champion CGD second and will end the night by taking on Pocahontas Area.

The four programs own a combined dual record of 31-1 so far this season and the three conference squads are a combined 8-0 against other NCC opponents. WCHS (6-1, 2-0 NCC) holds the only loss of the group, but that came at the hands of nationally ranked Southeast Polk at last weekend’s Dick Kennedy Memorial Duals.

“It’s a huge night for our kids and they know it. They’re ready to go after it,”WCHS coach Chad Hisler said. “One of our major goals every year is to try to win the conference and these are probably the three best teams.”

A total of eight ranked individuals are expected to take the mat, including three that are No. 1 -CGD’s twins Justin (113 pounds) and Josh (120) Portillo, as well as the Lynx Gavin Dinsdale (220). The Cowboys (4-0, 4-0 NCC) possess two other rated individuals – No. 5 Tanner Abbas (138) and No. 3 Brady Brott (145) – while WCHS counters with No. 4 Cooper Lawson (285).

Pocahontas Area is led by third-ranked Shea Ruffridge (106) and seventh-ranked Tyler Case (195).

It would be easy for WCHS to look ahead to its encounter with CGD, but Hisler says his grapplers will take first things first. In other words, it’s Humboldt (12-0, 2-0 NCC) that the Lynx are currently focused on.

“Humboldt is good and has a full lineup, so we’ll put everything into beating them right away,” Hisler said. “We’re not focusing more on one or the other, and Pocahontas is good, too. All three of these teams beat us last year, so we’ll have to be ready to go.”

One of the night’s pivotal matches could come at 113. WCHS freshman Drake Doolittle has rattled off 10 consecutive wins to begin his career, but could face his toughest challenge to date if he squares off against Justin Portillo.

CGD has moved its lineup around, so there’s no guarantee the match will materialize.

“(The Portillo brothers) sometimes wrestle at 113 and 120 and sometimes at 120 and 126,” Hisler said. “But we haven’t talked about (the potential match) at all. That can cause problems when you talk about just beating one individual.”

WCHS will get a boost with the return of junior Ashton High to the lineup at 195. He won 24 matches a season ago.

High’s return allows sophomore Rocco Miller to bump down 182 – a weight class that fits well.

“We’re glad to have Ashton back,” Hisler said. “He won 24 matches last season, he had a great football season, he’s very athletic and he gives us a chance to score more points.”