No surprise here, but it's impressive nonetheless.
Apple Valley showed why it is the nation's top-ranked team, advancing 11 wrestlers to the state semifinals Friday after dominating performances. They were (opening-round and quarterfinal results):
Seth Gross, 103: (15-0, 9-1)
Jordan Kingsley, 112: (5-2, 14-7)
Dakota Trom, 125: (18-3, 13-3)
Mark Hall, 130: (16-1, 14-2)
Matt Kelliher, 135: (pin, 6-3)
Brandon Kingsley, 140: (pin, pin)
Daniel Woiwor, 145: (6-0, 10-1)
Destin McCauley, 152: (pin, pin)
Steven Keogh, 160: (pin, pin)
Jake Waste, 171: (pin, 18-2)
Matt Hechsel, 189: (4-2, 15-0)
Yep. Pretty dominant
So that's obviously the talk of the tournament heading into Saturday.
In other news, Elissa Reinsma's dream has ended. The Fulda/Murray County Central senior 103 pounder - who in 2009 became the first girl ever to make the state tournament - lost her consolation round match this evening. She got down early to Scott West's Luke Betchwars and was never able to recover. She did put a nice two-point reversal on display, but it was too little of an effort.
That couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to White Bear Lake heavyweight Donny Longendyke. Since having his 88-match win streak snapped in the section finals last week, the defending Class 3A champ has been a man on a mission. Even in the corridors of this massive building Longendyke looks like a beast in the way he's been walking around.
On the mats? How about five first-period pins so far ... yikes.
