#3 Apple Valley, MN vs #15 Hastings, MN in Section Finals Tonight

Schlottke · 02-15-2008, 03:51 PM

Apple Valley travels across the county to face #15 Hastings this evening. The top two teams in Minnesota’s largest class battle for the first time this season in a dual meet that will decide which team goes on to the State Tournament.
Apple Valley is favored rather heavily in the lighter weight classes, but will not go untested. Back to back matches at 130 and 135 are between the #1 and #2 wrestlers at their weight classes and should the event come down to heavyweight, Hastings’ wrestler is #2 in Minnesota, while Apple Valley’s heavyweight is currently unranked.

To listen in to the live audio from the match, click here. The match begins at 8pm CST.

Schlottke · 02-15-2008, 03:55 PM

From the Pioneer Press:

One wrestling powerhouse will stay home. Many individual standouts won’t qualify for the state tournament, either. It is the cruel reality facing wrestlers and their teams as the Section 3AAA tournament begins today at Hastings.
Thanks to sectional realignment by the Minnesota State High School League, an already strong Section 3AAA wrestling field became state tournament-worthy with the addition of Apple Valley, the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, along with Burnsville, Eagan, Eastview and Rosemount. They join Hastings, the big-school runner-up to Apple Valley last season, Henry Sibley and Park (Cottage Grove).

Simley, a longtime Section 3AAA power, moved to Class AA.
“Most wrestling people think this section realignment was pretty foolish,” said David Senstad, the Class AAA rankings editor for The Guillotine, Minnesota’s wrestling newspaper. “It didn’t help the competitive balance at all. Right now, we have some very strong sections and some really weak sections. It is disappointing.”

Geography is the primary reason the MSHSL realigns competitive sections every two years. Boundary lines were drawn for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, creating arguably Minnesota’s best wrestling section in 3AAA.

“My whole approach is that you deal with it,” Hastings coach Paul Vaith said of the realignment. “It is the hand we were dealt. It is one of those things you can’t control. You deal with it and move on.”

Working hard has always been the mantra of Apple Valley coach Jim Jackson, but even he was staggered slightly when he heard news of the realignment.
“Now we really better get to work,” he recalled saying. “Wow, what an incredibly tough section. We will have to work very hard to be successful.”
If top-ranked Apple Valley and No. 2 Hastings advance to the sectional final tonight, it would set up a matchup that has been anticipated all season.

Clearly the winner would be the Class AAA team to beat at the state tournament Feb. 27-March 1 at the Xcel Energy Center. Many would argue the projected Hastings-Apple Valley dual is the hypothetical state championship match.

“The state champion will be decided on March 1,” Vaith said.
“You’ve got the No. 3 team in the country possibly going against the No. 13 team in the country,” Jackson said. “I think Hastings could easily be No. 7 or so. We feel we have a great team this season, but we could also end up going home if we don’t stick to our business and wrestle well.

“Wherever you go, whatever section you are in, the competition is tough. You have to prepare for it. I don’t think many people want to be in the same section with Eden Prairie in football.”

If Apple Valley and Hastings advance, it would be an interesting matchup in the lower to middle weights. Hastings would have to limit Apple Valley’s standouts to a minimum amount of bonus points to keep the Eagles within close range. The Raiders then would have the ability to mount a run in the upper weights.

The Section 3AAA individual tournament is next week at Eastview High School in Apple Valley. The same situation is expected to develop with the real possibility that dominant wrestlers won’t qualify for the state tournament.

If the Class AAA individual rankings were to hold form, Apple Valley and Hastings have wrestlers that would claim 18 of the 28 berths for individual state tournament participants. The top two in each of the 14 weight classes advance to the state tournament.

Even more drama could develop in the 125-, 130- and 135-pound weight classes. Seven standout wrestlers will battle for six spots: Apple Valley’s Tom Kelliher, Eagan’s Matt Ashton, Henry Sibley’s Mason Young, Hastings’ Luke Vaith, Apple Valley’s Justin LaValle and Matt Mincey and Hastings’ Trey Bertram have 17 state place-winning medals among them.

Said Park (Cottage Grove) activities director Phil Kuemmel: “Yes, it is ultracompetitive. Teamwise, I know it is very tough, but for whatever team or individual loses, you can hang your hat on the fact that many people are calling this a mini-state tournament.”

ccbig · 02-15-2008, 05:27 PM

Wow this is going to be a huge match up! I think Valley will take it but Hastings will really give them a run for their money!

It is a shame these 2 teams are in the same section but that will give some of the lesser known wrestlers in other sections a chance to shine and could make for some interesting upsets at the state tourney.