Apple Valley-STMA rivalry continues this week

In the Minnesota Class 3A (big school) state tournaments this weekend, No. 15 Apple Valley and No. 19 St. Michael-Albertville will be in the same event for the fourth and fifth time this season. STMA beat Apple Valley at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament in mid-December; Apple Valley beat STMA at The Clash on Jan. 2; then STMA out-pointed Apple Valley at the Cheesehead, though the margin was within the probable impact of Brock Morgan's absence for Apple Valley.

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:

Class 3A: 106 pounds: No. 4 Aaron Cashman (Mount Westonka) is in the opposite half-bracket of both No. 8 Patrick McKee (STMA) and No. 18 Israel Navarro (Wilmar). It should be noted that Minnesota has implemented a structure to seed all eight section champions this year, as opposed to randomly pairing section champions with another section's runner-up; as a result, no more stacked quarterfinal bouts.

Class 3A: 152 pounds: No. 13 Jake Allar (STMA), a returning state runner-up, is the anchor figure in this weight class. In his half-bracket is returning state placer Kenny O'Neil (Prior Lake). The other half-bracket features the undefeated Brandon Olveson (Chanhassen), a returning state placer, as well as Brock Morgan (Apple Valley), a 2014 state placer; Morgan made the late move up into this weight class after Alex Lloyd (Shakopee) came up from 138 to 145.

Class 3A: 182 pounds: No. 10 Lucas Jeske (STMA), a returning state champion, is the top seed in this weight class. The other key figure here is Taylor Venz (Farmington), a 2013 state champion who has placed third each of the last two seasons. Both wrestlers might have considered the 170 pound weight class, except for the presence of a certain Mark Hall.

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Apple Valley-STMA rivalry continues this week

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