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February 17, 2010

Section wrestling action kicks into full gear

By Jim Rueda Free Press Sports Editor

MANKATO — The high school section team wrestling brackets were released this week and there were few surprises among the seeds.

Mankato West will be the site of the only in-town meet when the Scarlets host Rochester Mayo at 7 p.m. Thursday. West drew the No. 4 seed in Section 1AAA while Mayo is No. 5.

The winner of the dual has the unenviable task of traveling to the Rochester Mayo Civic Center on Saturday to take on top seed Owatonna. The Huskies are ranked third in the state in Class AAA.

In Section 1AA, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/ Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton has been seeded fourth and Waseca is seventh. If the seeds hold up, Class AA’s third-ranked Plainview-Elgin-Millview and fourth-ranked Kasson-Mantorville will battle it out for the section title.

Scott West, a co-op of the Belle Plaine and Jordan school districts, is the heavy favorite to win the Section 2AA championship. Scott West is seeded first, St. Peter is fifth, New Ulm is 11th, Montgomery-Lonsdale-Le Center is 10th and Mankato East is 11th.

The Section 3AA team tournament already began Tuesday. The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals where Windom/Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin is slated to take on Dawson-Boyd and Adrian is scheduled to meet Wabasso/Red Rock Central.

Dawson-Boyd is ranked 11th in Class AA while Adrian is rated 12th. The semifinals take place at 6 p.m. Friday in Tracy and will be followed right after by the championship dual at 7:30 p.m.

The most competitive area section can be found in Class A. The Section 4A team meet begins at high seeds Thursday and concludes with the semifinals and finals in Le Sueur on Saturday.

That meet includes eighth-ranked Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (No. 1 seed), ninth-ranked Sibley East (No. 2 seed), 18th-ranked St. James (No. 3 seed) and 17th-ranked Le Sueur-Henderson (No. 4 seed).

The Knights of LCWM may have the edge as they’ve defeated LSH twice and Sibley East once, but St. James is 11-1 in its last 12 duals, Sibley East is 92 in its last 11 contests, and LSH has gone 12-2 down the stretch.

On paper, the Section 2A meet should go to fourth-ranked Jackson County Central. Thirteenth-ranked Blue Earth Area is the second seed and, while JCC pounded BEA 45-9 back in January, the Bucs have some big wins to their credit, including a 37-24 triumph over St. James.

Only the strong — and sometimes the lucky — survive. We’ll know when it all comes to a head Saturday night.



Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@ mankatofreepress.com.

 

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