CLASS 1A QUICK HITS
• In addition to defending champion Jackson County Central, five other teams are back from last year's tournament, including runner-up Frazee. The Hornets are back for a sixth year in a row.
• Pierz, which won back-to-back Class 1A championships in 2004 and '05, is back at state for the first time since 2006.
• Five returning medal winners are back in the 125-pound weight class, including two runners-up: sophomore Gus McCarthy of Border West (103 last year) and senior Christian Skillings of Minneota (119).
• There is guaranteed heartbreak ahead in the 152-pound class. Someone's lone loss of the season will derail his state championship hopes. Last year's runner-up at 140 pounds, Le Sueur-Henderson's Brett Pfarr, and Crookston's Anthony Caputo and Blue Earth's Joe Franta all come into the tournament undefeated.
• Ten wrestlers from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City qualified for the individual tournament. The Falcons had only one place-winner last year: eighth-grader Larry Bomstaad finished fifth at 130 pounds. He is back at 140 this season.
BRIAN STENSAAS
