Top-seeded and defending state Class 1A champion Jackson County Central will open defense of that title at 9 a.m. Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Huskies, 18-7 on the season, will wrestle unseeded West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville (19-6) in the quarterfinals. The top five seeded teams are drawn in with the remaining three teams drawn at random.
State entrants
JCC has 11 wrestlers in the individual portion of the state tournament West Central has seven. Here’s the list with state ranking listed for those that are rated.
Jackson County Central
106: Kayden Eller
126: Benjamin Dahlin
132: No. 4 Nolan Ambrose
138: No. 3 Thomas Freking
145: No. 3 Logan Butzon
152: Isaiah Rodriguez
160: Trey Rossow
170: No. 5 Dylan Withers
195: No. 5 Matthew Haley
220: No. 2 Caleb Vancura
285: No. 5 Cameron Scholten
West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville
106: No. 4 Owen Gruchow
138: No. 6 Solomon Wales
145: No. 4 Hunter Gruchow
182: No. 1 Anthony Sykora
195: Beau Robinson
220: Will Rustan
285: No. 8 Justin Blascyk
Something in common
The Huskies and Knights have two opponents in common this season.
BOLD
Huskies: W 84-0
Knights: W 66-15
ACGC
Huskies: W 68-3
Knights: W 54-21
Also, both teams were at the Rumble on the Red in Fargo in late December.
JCC was third in the team standings out of 58 teams and WCAABE was 13th.
Hello again
Jackson County Central wrestled West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville in the semifinals of last year’s state tournament, with the Huskies winning 41-27 on their way to the state title.
In its second match, JCC will face either Royalton/Upsala or Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.
Jackson County Central defeated RU 45-23 in last year’s state championship match.
In the first round of the state Class AA football playoffs in November, JCC was a 27-0 winner over HLWW.
No. 1 seeds
All three of last year’s state champions won the title as the number one seed and each is the top seed again this.
Simley will be after its fifth consecutive Class AA title and St. Michael-Albertville is the reigning Class AAA champ.
Of course, all three were in Jackson for the ‘Night of Champions’ on Jan. 20.
State Class A wrestling tournament
Thursday, March 2
Quarterfinals
All matches at 9 a.m.
Jackson County Central (18-7) vs. West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville (19-6)
Royalton/Upsala (17-3) vs. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (26-7)
Caledonia/Houston (32-6) vs. United North Central (19-5)
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (20-5) vs. Medford (14-1)
Semifinals
Matches at 1 p.m.
Consolation semifinals
Matches at 11 a.m.
Fifth place
Match at 5 p.m.
Third place
Match at 5 p.m.
Championship
Match at 7 p.m.
Jackson County Central dual results (18-7)
Luverne, W 46-21
Redwood Valley, W 72-0
Marshall, W 54-12
Worthington, W 66-9
Willard, Mo., W 43-16
Glenbard North, Ill., W 48-20
Bettendorf, Iowa, L 46-24
Zumbrota-Mazeppa, L 42-21
Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa, L 52-18
Osage, Iowa, L 34-30
Adrian Area, W 49-15
Simley, L 47-20
St. Michael-Albertville, L 47-27
Sibley East, W 69-6
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, W 68-3
Holdingford, W 40-24
Pipestone, W 52-24
Brandon Valley, S.D., L 44-19
Windom/Mountain Lake, W 48-30
BOLD, W 84-0
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, W 63-12
St. Peter, W 44-10
Wabasso, W 69-3
Fulda/Murray County Central, W 76-0
Adrian Area, W 67-6
West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville dual results (19-6)
Ottertail Central, W 76-6
Pelican Rapids, W 58-13
Benson, W 50-24
New York Mills, W 55-24
Border West, W 43-27
Barnesville, W 63-12
Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie, W 49-27
Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, L 42-27
Canby, L 50-19
Osakis, W 45-28
Sauk Centre/Melrose, W 63-12
United Clay-Becker, W 70-9
United, L 34-33
Wadena-Deer Creek, W 70-6
Minnewaska Area, W 47-24
MAHACA, W 36-31
BOLD, W 66-15
Minneota, L 41-31
Detroit Lakes, W 51-27
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, W 54-21
Royalton/Upsala, L 35-34
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, L 44-22
Border West, W 36-30
Ottertail Central, W 66-10
Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie, W 48-28
Other classes
Quarterfiinal pairings in the other classes:
Class AA
All matches at 11 a.m.
Simley (27-0) vs. Totino-Grace (19-1)
Becker (22-5) vs. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus (30-1)
New Prague (28-2) vs. Mora (24-2)
Kasson-Mantorville (24-1) vs. United (28-1)
Class AAA
All matches at 9 a.m.
St. Michael-Albertville (25-1) vs. Anoka (20-6)
Stillwater Area (25-5) vs. Apple Valley (24-6)
Waconia (19-1) vs. Rochester Mayo (18-8)
Hastings (34-5) vs. Willmar (22-7)