There’s no getting around it. For the shorthanded Northeastern and Currituck wrestling teams, today’s first-round matches in the state dual team tournament are busrides to beatings.

Even so, both Northeastern coach Larenzo King and Currituck coach Paul Bossi think there’s still something to be gained.

“I don’t see how we can win, so the best thing we can do is try to get some wins for some of our individuals to help their seeding for the region meet,” said King, whose 11-13 Eagles will forfeit six weight classes when they take on North Pitt (23-9) in a 2A first-rounder at North Pitt. “It’s also a chance for some of them to boost their confidence for regions and to give them an idea of what to expect.”

Bossi, whose Knights (13-7) will forfeit three weights in the 3A opener at fully-manned West Carteret (17-7), also believes the most value in the match will be from an individual standpoint.

“There’s a lot of good wrestlers who will be there, not just on West Carteret,” he said. “Chapel Hill and Cleveland (which will also be wrestling at West Carteret) have some tough kids, too.

“This will be important for our guys because it will allow them to see some of the better guys in the region.”

When Northeastern clinched the Northeastern Coastal Conference’s No. 2 2A spot in the one-day conference meet in December, the Eagles had a stronger lineup. Since then, attrition has taken a toll on NHS, which is making its first state playoff appearance since 2006,

“We’ve lost some guys to grades, one guy has a back problem, another is concentrating on trying to get recruited for football, so he didn’t want to cut weight anymore,” said King.

But the coach isn’t discouraged.

“The guys who are sticking it out with us are working hard and understand what commitment is all about,” he said. “As long as they keep working hard, I’ll be happy to take them, even if it was just three or four guys.

“And next year we’re expecting a real good crop of kids from River Road Middle School, so I’m excited about that.”

Among the Northeastern wrestlers looking to embellish their region tournament credentials are Ernest Sutton (18-2 at 106), Josh Markham (26-4 at 132), Cole Shumway (21-9 at 170) and Kolby Underwood (17-12 at heavyweight).

Markham. Sutton and Underwood have challenging matchups.

Markham should get Jeremy Avery (29-10), Sutton will go against Gabe Jackson (34-16) and Underwood will face DeMarcus Whitehurst (45-5), who is ranked seventh among the state’s 2A heavyweights by retrorankings.com.

Currituck, which has lost three starters for various reasons in the past three weeks, has a host of wrestlers enjoying good seasons. Parker Hammer is 26-7 at 119, Tanner Stephens is 36-4 at 126 and is ranked fifth in the state in 3A, Seamus Drury is 20-8 at 132, Zach Crump 23-13 at 138, Kyle Larson 31-6 at 170, Brent Becker 25-3 at 220 and Michael Doherty 25-7 at unlimited.

While the West Carteret lineup doesn’t boast many of those kinds of records, that doesn’t mean anything.

“We saw them in a tournament early in the year and they are very solid in a tough wrestling area,” Bossi said.

“There’s going to be some good competition.”