Last year wasn’t the first time Timberland suffered through growing pains. Two seasons ago, the Wolves played well in the Gateway Athletic Conference North, storming to a 9-2 record and an appearance in the Class 5 state playoffs.

But as if a heavy senior turnover wasn’t misery enough heading into last season, the program also made the shift to the competition-heavy GAC South. Suddenly it was Timberland’s turn as fresh meat: New conference foes such as Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt West chewed up and spit the Wolves out to a fifth-place conference showing (2-4), and an overall 4-6 record.

“We made the tough adjustment to go with the GAC South, obviously a bigger conference, and we didn’t have the season we wanted, for sure,” said Timberland coach Craig Collins, who begins his 10th season with a 58-33 overall record. “But we’ve been through it before—we first started in the state as a Class 3 (program). It’s not the first time we’ve had to make those adjustments. We’ve had to adjust every few years. But you go through it, and you get better. We’ll just have to take what we can from last year and improve on it.”

Source: Patch.com