Jared Vandal takes a 4-0 record to the North Dakota Class B state wrestling tournament.
The Rolla-Rock Lake-St. John senior also takes the No. 1 seed at the 189-pound weight class, even though he saw such limited action.
"I was pretty surprised (by the No. 1 seed)," said Vandal, who missed most of the season because of a shoulder injury he suffered during the football season. "I expected to be a high seed, but not a one. All the other guys had a lot of matches. I didn't wrestle until the end of the season. I'm hoping I can prove that I should be up there.
"Seeding isn't that big a deal. If you want to be a state champion, which is my goal, you still have to go out and beat the best. We're all in the same boat."
Rolla-RL-SJ coach Davy Zinke said seeding is based on certain criteria, which narrowed the top spot to either Vandal or Lisbon's Reed Huether, who wound up with the No. 2 seed.
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"When you go through the list of criteria -- head-to-head matchups, results against common opponents, things like that are looked at, it came down to last year's state tournament," Zinke said. Both Vandal and Huether finished fourth at state. "But we took fourth at 189 and (Huether) took fourth at 171. So Jared, because he's back at the same weight, got the No. 1 on that criteria.
"Is it a surprise for Jared? Probably. But I've seen something like this happen before. I'm sure we'll get a lot of questions on that one (Vandal's No. 1 seed). People have different opinions on seeding. But this is how it worked out by criteria. A lot of weight is put on how kids did at last year's state tournament. And there's more weight for a kid if he did well at the same weight class he's in."
Rolla-RL-SJ won only one dual all season. But Zinke looks for the team to contend for a top-10 finish at state, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Fargo. In addition to Vandal, the Bulldogs have high seeds in Willson Hallaway (19-0, No. 2 at 160), Seth Anderson (21-2, No. 2 at 285) and Carl Nelson (17-4, No. 5 at 215).
"We started the season with only four kids because of injuries and not getting all the kids out," Zinke said. "Now, seven of our 10 kids at the regional qualified for state. My goal is to be in the top 10. If things go right, the top five is a possibility.
"We've had some bad luck with injuries. But come state tournament time, it's about quality. If you can get kids into the finals, that bumps your team points up quite a bit. And all four of those seeded guys could be in the championship. They're talented."
Something to prove for NB-C
North Border-Cavalier takes the No. 1 seed out of Region 2 to the Class B state dual tournament. But the team could go to Fargo with a something-to-prove attitude.
North Border-Cavalier won the region championship by forfeit after fellow finalist Carrington pulled out of the tournament when it was learned that the Cardinals' wrestlers had been exposed to a wild raccoon.
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"That whole drama probably overshadowed us getting to state," NB-C coach Shon Horgan said. "But we'd already qualified for state in duals before all that happened. We aren't in because of what happened to Carrington."
North Border-Cavalier's strength is its balance. The team qualified individuals at 10 of the 14 weight classes. But only one wrestler got as high as a No. 3 seed, Brett Schurman (34-1, No. 3 at 135 pounds). The next-highest seeds are Jeff Ulvog (31-3, No. 5 at 112) and Jesse Schurman (30-5, No. 5 at 119).
"Our kids are seeded about where they should be," Horgan said. "Our seeded wrestlers all had one or two close losses to good kids that hurt our seeding. But I would anticipate at least one, if not more, of our kids to do better than their seeds. We've been wrestling better at the end of the year."
Burro gets No. 2 seed
Tyler Anderson moved into second place on the career win total in the Hillsboro wrestling program last week. Now he takes the No. 2 seed in the 140-pound weight class to the state tournament.
Anderson is 34-3, giving him 178 career wins, as well as 106 career pins. The top seed is Hettinger's Sean Elkins (38-2).
Hillsboro coach Eric Ptacek looks at 140 pounds as a wide-open division.
"I feel pretty confident that Tyler has a good shot at winning it," Ptacek said. "The top guys in his division are pretty equal. It's one of the more balanced weights in the state. Elkin has beaten all of the other top-five seeds. But, from what I've seen, most of the matches between those top five have been close.
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"Tyler's earned that second seed. Hopefully, he can one-up it."
Hillsboro also has a pair of No. 4 seeds in Alex McLean (189) and Thomas Doeden (285).
DeVillers reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1128; (800) 477-6572, ext. 128; or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
Class B state qualifiers
Here are area qualifiers for the North Dakota Class B individual state wrestling tournament. Top-eight seeds are in parenthesis.
Grafton
W L
112 - Jaron Lunday, 8th (8) 30 8
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140 - Arturo Delacruz, soph. 22 12
285 - Jeremy Talamantes, jr. 26 18
Hillsboro
W L
140 - Tyler Anderson, sr. (2) 34 3
145 - Josh Riendeau, sr. 30 10
152 - Oakly Zink. sr. (6) 20 8
160 - Jordan Bolstad, fr. 8 12
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189 - Alex McLean, sr. (4) 32 5
215 - Brice Willison, soph. 19 19
285 - Thomas Doeden, jr. (4) 32 8
Larimore
W L
130 - Wyatt Morten, soph. 22 11
160 - Michael Finn, jr. (8) 22 13
Mayville-Portland-C-G
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W L
119 - Ricky Wilson, 8th 25 16
135 - Cody Idso, sr. (8) 31 11
152 - Zach Todd, sr. 12 9
171 - Seth Wilson, sr. 26 16
215 - Jon Raywalt, sr. (8) 18 15
North Border-Cavalier
W L
103 - Bradyn Horgan, 7th 15 18
112 - Jeff Ulvog, jr. (5) 31 3
119 - Jesse Schurman, fr. (5) 30 5
125 - Chris Miller, jr. (7) 26 12
130 - Sebastian Schill, sr. (7) 29 6
135 - Brett Schurman, jr. (3) 34 1
145 - Andrew Braget, fr. 17 19
152 - Wendel Lafferty, jr. 25 13
189 - Cole Carrier, jr. (8) 29 10
215 - Trey Lafferty, sr. 21 15
Rolla-R. Lake-St. John
W L
130 - Dylan Stewart, soph. 4 2
145 - Cole Haberstroh, sr. 16 13
152 - Jeffrey Gailfus, fr. 13 14
160 - Willson Hallaway, sr. (2) 19 0
189 - Jared Vandal, sr. (1) 4 0
215 - Carl Nelson, sr. (5) 17 4
285 - Seth Anderson, jr. (2) 21 2
