Simley wrestling coach Will Short can envision a world where his Spartans win a seventh consecutive Class 2A team state title Thursday evening in St. Paul.
He also could see Simley getting bounced in the morning quarterfinals.
The latter is something that, frankly, hasn’t been a legitimate possibility for the Spartans in 15-plus years. But it’s part of the intrigue of this year’s Class 2A tournament. The single day, three-round event figures to be as unpredictable as never before.
Simley (19-6) is the No. 3 seed. Kasson-Mantorville (20-5) is seeded second and Watertown-Mayer (19-1) is the top seed and presumptive favorite. All three could win state. Potentially fifth-seeded Marshall could, as well.
But even more teams are capable of pulling off first-round upsets. Simley, for example, will duel an unseeded Grand Rapids (20-1) team that figures to have decisive matchup advantages in at least five of the matches.
But Simley could win three rounds and hoist the trophy at day’s end. The Spartans enter state with top-six ranked wrestlers in six classes but without a ranked grappler at any other weight.
Short is proud that his team is even in that conversation at this point in the campaign. The Spartans returned just three starters from last year’s title team. They start two or three seniors, depending on their lineup decisions. Certainly, senior Vristol Short is a nice pillar of the lineup at 189 pounds.
But they’ve developed a number of wrestlers, as they always do. Jake Kranz was a JV wrestler a year ago who is now the No. 3 seed in this weekend’s Class 2A, 114-pound individual tournament. Eighth-grader Adrian Mincey has grown into a state title contender at 107 pounds.
“It’s a testament to our kids and our program,” Short said. “I’m so proud of the young kids and their growth and how far they’ve come this year. … The improvement that they’ve made, the toughness that they have gotten over the year wrestling the ridiculously tough schedule that they wrestled.”
That schedule beat up some of the Spartans’ individual records but helped them prepare to at least have a shot at defending their crown on Thursday.
“We’re excited to put ourselves on the line, we really are,” Short said. “We’ve kind of got this nothing-to-lose attitude. … Nobody expected us to be in the conversation to win, and yet, here we are. We’re in the conversation.”
Now, how much of a long shot have they really been all season? The Guillotine — Minnesota’s preeminent wrestling new source — has ranked the Spartans in the top three all season. But they aren’t the favorites to win on Thursday, and that in itself is a change from recent years.
The field is open. Who wins and advances may be determined by how the bracket unfolds, with some teams matching up at certain weights far better against some foes than others.
There figure to be a number of duels that are determined by a swing match here or there.
“It’s going to be a fun tournament,” Short said. “A lot of fun happening in 2A.”
OTHER CLASSES
St. Michael-Albertville (24-0) is the top seed and heavy favorite to defend its title in Class 3A. Shakopee is the No. 2 seed and biggest challenger to the Knights, while Stillwater is seeded third. … In Class A, top-seeded Chatfield is also favored to repeat.
Leave a Reply