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The editor only bitched about the seeding in two weight classes this season,  Most seasons I skip it, as it accomplishes absolutely nothing and would only mean I would just be finishing the 2018 state championships article.  One thing should not go unnoticed about this state championship, though.  After the first day of competition no first or second seeds went the way of the dodo.  The seeding committees was picked 84 of 84, which even in my days at St. Martin's merited a pretty good grade.

Division I

As expected, Jesuit is leading in Division I.  I mean leading by the nose, which is pretty much the opposite of winning by a nose.  The Blue Jays are leading by the nose with a rusty fish hook.  Sure, they are only 14.5 points ahead of the second place Tigers of Holy Cross.  But nobody wins a state tournament on the first day.  For Saturday, the Blue Jays Have 12 semifinalist, and they are favored in seven of them.  And they still have a wrestler in the consolation bracket.  Holy Cross has eight semifinalists and are favored in four of those matches.  They also have one wrestler in the consolation rounds.  Then the cliff starts.  Third-place Brother Martin has three semifinalists, albeit all are seeded higher than their opponents, but to make a charge they need to score a lot of points in the consolation rounds.  They have more wrestlers competing in the back half of the bracket than any of the other top-five teams, but mathematics makes it impossible for Jesuit to have as many, which is five.  East Ascension has five semifinalists and are favored in three of those matches.  An upset or two puts the Spartans in the hunt for the runner-up plaque, but they will need a little help from some other schools to become very threatening.

Semifinalists

Left in Tournament

Upsets

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Division II

I suspected North Desoto would give Teurlings Catholic a tough race for the Division II team title this year, but I did not expect the Griffins to outscore the Rebels by 20 points after the first day.  I did not expect Rummel to be in second place, seven points ahead of Teurlings Catholic.  It looks a tad odd as North Desoto has 13 semifinalists and Teurlings Catholic has 10, whereas Rummel only has five.  Rummel's secret weapon was the consolation rounds.  They have four wrestlers still alive on the back side of the brackets while the Griffins and Rebels have none.  There are three Griffin-Rebels head-to-head matches in the semifinals, but the Rebels are only favored in one of them.  After those matches, if the seeding holds, the Rebels should have two head-to-head finals matches in which they will be favored in both.  St. Thomas More, 7.5 points behind the Rebels, are not in a position to help the Rebels.  Brusly, though, in fifth-place, could.  And I am not counting the Raiders out just yet.  They are favored in four of their five semifinals matches.  Something pretty drastic may be needed to stop a Brother Melchior Trophy from residing in Stonewall during the next year. 

Semifinalists

Head-to-head North Desoto versus Teurlings Catholic: 3

113 lbs. #1 Jacob Kershaw (ND) vs. #5 Daniel Daspit (TC); 126 lbs. #1 Nathan Adams (ND) vs. #4 Kade Leon (TC); 165 lbs. #1 Braedon Simoneaux (TC) vs. #5 Andrew Arinder (ND)

Left in Tournament

Upsets

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Division III

As well as current third-place John Curtis did on the first day, this looks to be a two-team race again between Shaw and Basile.  Each team has 10 semifinalists and two others alive in the consolation rounds.  Shaw is favored in eight of those matches, and Basile in only two, and the Eagles currently own a five-point lead over the Bearcats.  I recognize a lot of state runners-up on both teams, but there are a lot of names I do not recognize.  Just the remaining number of wrestlers on each team makes me believe this will be a close race.

Semifinalists

Head-to-head semifinals: Shaw vs. Basile = 1

285 lbs. #2 Cortez (BAS) over #3 Hanley (SHW)

Left in Tournament

Upsets

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