State wrestling story lines

1 THE VALLEY NINE

Apple Valley, which is ranked third in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, will bring nine individuals to the tournament. It's all but a foregone conclusion that the Eagles will win the Class 3A team title for the 10th time in 11 years. The only mystery might be how many individual titles they take home. They tied the state record with five winners last year.

2 THE HISTORY MAKER

All eyes will be on Elissa Reinsma when she becomes the first female state qualifier in history. The sophomore 103-pounder from Fulda/Murray County Central will take a record of 32-8 into a first-round match against Thief River Falls sophomore Jacoby Bergeron (39-2) in tonight's 2A action.

3 WEIGHT AND SEE

In 3A at 135, two defending champions -- one of them a three-time champ who could win six titles -- could meet in the gold-medal match. Apple Valley sophomore Destin McCauley already owns three gold medals (last year at 119) and could become the first six-time champion in state history. But Bloomington Kennedy senior Robby Fisher, who won a year ago at 125, has split two matches with McCauley this season. Each has lost once this season ... to the other.

4 LOOKING FOR MORE GOLD

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg won the Class 1A state football championship last fall, and now the Fighting Saints are ranked No. 1 in Class 1A wrestling and gunning for another title. They will meet Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial in Thursday's quarterfinals. On the other half of the bracket is unranked Royalton, which lost to K-M-S in the Prep Bowl.

5 DEFENDING TEAM CHAMPS

Along with Apple Valley's expected dominance in the 3A team competition, Simley is the clear favorite to win the 2A team crown. The Spartans moved from 3A to 2A last season and captured the championship with a narrow 30-28 victory over Perham.

6 SEEDS HAVE BEEN PLANTED

For the first time, the teams have been seeded at state. The coaches in each class voted to seed the top four teams, and their quarterfinal opponents were determined by a blind draw. The seeds are (in order): 3A/ Apple Valley, Albert Lea, Cambridge-Isanti, Bloomington Kennedy; 2A/ Simley, Perham, Plainview-Elgin Millville, St. Michael-Albertville; 1A/ Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Atwater-Cosmos-Grover City, Medford.

7 FOUR NEWCOMERS

Of the 24 team entrants, only four are making their first trip to state. They are St. Cloud Apollo in 3A, Mora in 2A and Royalton and K-M-S in 1A. The veteran of the qualifying teams is Apple Valley, which is at state for the 27th consecutive year and 28th time overall.

JOHN MILLEA