For the first time in recent memory, the Garden City Buffaloes are not among the pre-tournament favorites for the Rocky Welton Invitational, which begins Friday and concludes Saturday evening at The Garden.

The tournament is named in honor of Rocky Welton, the legendary Garden City wrestling coach, who guided the Buffaloes to six state team championships in the 1990s and headed the program from 1985 to 1999. He also coached Goodland to three state titles while coaching the Cowboys.

During his illustrious coaching career, Welton’s teams posted a dual record of 200-50-4 and he had 30 individual state champions.

First-round matches begin at 9 a.m. Friday while Saturday’s schedule begins at 8:30 a.m.

While the host Buffs have a solid corps of underclassmen at the lower weights, they will not have anybody at the 182- and 195-pound weight classes.

Two-time defending team champion Pomona, Colo., headlines the field of 36 schools. But they are not alone as numerous top-ranked teams from three states are entered.

Also, still beset by injuries, the Buffs will have backup wrestlers at 120 and 152-pounds.

“I’m beginning to wonder who we will have in the lineup at anytime,” said sixth-year head coach Carlos Prieto of his MASH unit squad. “It’s never a good thing, and this year seems unusually high, so we’ll just wrestle with who we have and try to get healthy. There’s certainly a lot of questions.”

Among the top Buffs will be freshmen Steven Sellers at 106 and Trey Medina at 145 pounds while sophomores Silas Pineda and Jacob Holt will compete at 113 and 126 pounds. Holt, who finished fourth in the Welton as a freshman, went on to win the Class 6A title at 113 pounds. He’s currently sporting a 28-5 record. Sellers (27-7), Holt and Medina (24-12) tuned up for the Welton by winning individual titles on Saturday at the Bob Kuhn Prairie Classic in Hays.

“All the freshmen kids have done a great job,” Prieto said of his young roster. “I’d say Sellers might be the biggest surprise. He’s just getting better and better every week. He’s buying into the techniques we’re teaching, and he’s a very coachable kid. He’s a real gamer and I really like his attitude.”

It’s the first season for Prieto to rebuild with a lineup full of freshmen and sophomores. There are no seniors in the 12 wrestlers who will compete and only two seniors — Kaj Perez (19-9) at 132 pounds and Malachi Salas (8-6), who is subbing for the injured Elijahblu Ruiz-Hernandez at 138 pounds.

Also missing from the lineup is senior Curtis Near (12-4) at 152 pounds. Filling in for him is freshman Isaiah Urias (11-3).

“Hopefully, our kids can get there (deep into the championship bracket),” Prieto said. “We’ve some some talented kids. They’re young and this is a tournament where you have to grow up in a hurry.”

Once again, the Welton will be loaded with talented teams and individuals.

“This could be one of the deepest fields we’ve had,” Prieto said of the stellar field.

Kearney, Neb. is ranked among the top 50 teams in the country while having the No. 16-ranked 126-pounder in junior Phillip Moomey. But even Moomey couldn’t win the 2017 Welton, losing to Pomona, Colo. then-sophomore Colton Yapoujian, 4-1. Moomey is in at 126 this year, while Yapoujian has bumped up to 138.

The younger Yapoujian, Wyatt, won at 106 and returns to the same division this year. Pueblo East’s Jace Trujillo returns at 120 after capturing the 113-pound class a year ago. Valley Center’s Devin Gomez captured the 126-pound title a year ago and will also be at 138 pounds this time around.

Brendon Garcia of Pueblo County is currently ranked No. 17 at 113 pounds by InterMat. Theorius Robison of Pomona won the 132-pound bracket and is still at that weight. He currently is ranked No. 7 nationally by InterMat. Parker Benekas of Ponderosa, Colo. was the 145-pound champion, but has upped his weight to the 170-pound division for this year’s Welton.

Scott City’s Jarret Jurgens captured the 152-pound title a year ago and is now at 160 pounds. Garrett Niel of Pine Creek, Colo., the 170-pound champ in 2017, will be competing at 182 pounds.

Perhaps the top wrestler in the field will be Ponderosa junior Cohlton Schultz, currently ranked by InterMat at No. 2 nationally at 285 pounds. Schultz, who competed at 220 a year ago, was voted the Ed Cramer Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights.

In his five matches, all via falls, Schultz never went more than 1 minute, 38 seconds before finishing a match. In all, his five matches had an elapsed time of 4 minutes, 40 seconds. His quickest win came in just 25 seconds, and three of his wins were under a minute.

“He might just be one of the best we’ve had here,” Prieto said of Schultz.

It could be a spectacular final at 285 if form holds as Lee Herrington of Kearney, Neb., last year’s champion, also returns. His teammate, Jayden Woodruff, who was third at 182 pounds last year, has moved up to 220 and currently is ranked No. 18 by InterMat.

Scott City has two, No. 1-ranked wrestlers in Class 3A — Jusgtus McDaniel at 126 and Wyatt Hayes at 170. The Beavers Jurgens is No. 2 at 160 and Kaden Wren is No. 3 at 132 pounds. Holcomb's Chance Rodriguez is ranked No. 3 at 182 in Class 4A and Lakin's Hadley Panzer is No. 2 at 285 in Class 3-2-1A. In all, there are

On the team front, Pomona, currently ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in Colorado, headlines a Rocky Mountain contingent loaded with talent. Pueblo County is ranked No. 1 in 4A; Ponderosa is No. 6 in 5A while Pueblo East and Canon City are Nos. 3 and 10 in 4A. Lamar sits at No. 5 in Class 3A. Kearney is the top-ranked school in Nebraska.

From the Kansas front, the list of teams ranked is also extensive.

Garden City and Dodge City are ranked Nos. 5 and 6 in 6A; Goddard is ranked No. 1 in 5A as well as being ranked No. 1 for all classes. Valley Center (2), Blue Valley-Southwest (3) and Newton (8) are also in Class 5A. Scott City is currently ranked No. 2 in Class 3-2-1A. Individually, there are 58 individually ranked Kansas wrestlers entered in the tournament.