Thursday is the dual team tournament. The top seed is Apple Valley, and the Eagles face Hastings in the first round before a likely semifinal date against Farmington. In regular season competition, Apple Valley beat Farmington 38-30 (8-6 matches). For second seed STMA, it is an opening round match against Minnetonka before a likely semifinal against No. 36 Anoka; the teams did not meet in the regular season, though STMA out-pointed Anoka at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament and out-placed them at the Clash.
University of Minnesota signee Mitchell McKee, a four-time Fargo champion and two-time state champion, is one of 11 state qualifiers for STMA (Photo/The Guillotine)
The championship dual between Apple Valley and STMA would be a rematch of last year's state final, which Apple Valley won 36-30 (8-6 matches) with a winner-take-all pin from Gable Steveson at 285. That was a tenth straight team state title for the Eagles, including the shared title with STMA in 2013. This year's regular season dual was won by Apple Valley 38-30 (8-6 matches). The state tournament dual is likely to have many moving parts in comparison to where wrestlers are for the individual bracket, including potential strategy driven by the coin toss.
For the individual bracket event, where no official team score is kept, STMA qualified 11 to state (including 10 section champions) along with three alternates (third in the section), while Apple Valley qualified nine (including five champs) along with three alternates. It should be noted that Apple Valley exited arguably the toughest Class 3A section.
The following individual weight classes in Minnesota are notable for having multiple high profile wrestlers:
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