Apple Valley outlasts Prior Lake, New Prague
Josh Barlage doesn’t want to say he told you so, but ... yeah, he told you so.
A few weeks ago the Apple Valley wrestling coach said as many as four teams could come away with the Class 3A, Section 2 team championship. He didn’t offer any predictions at the time, other than to say the Eagles would be one of the four.
They might have been one of four at that time, but now they’re the one. When the dust cleared in the Section 2 team tournament Feb. 16 at Farmington High School, Apple Valley held the trophy. The Eagles beat Prior Lake 30-27 in the semifinals and New Prague 27-25 in the championship match.
It’s the 39th section team wrestling championship in school history, and the Eagles plan to savor it because of the effort they put in to get it.
“In my time at Apple Valley, I don’t remember being in back-to-back matches in the section tournament that were that close,” Barlage said. “We were definitely pushed to the limit in the semifinals against Prior Lake. I can’t think of a time when we had a semifinal match that close.
“We hadn’t wrestled New Prague this year, but we knew they had a 121-pounder who was a returning state champion and their 172 is ranked second in the state right now. They had a well-balanced team and gave us all we could handle.”
The Eagles trailed New Prague, last year’s Class 2A runner-up, by six points with two matches remaining – meaning both were must-wins for Apple Valley. Senior captain Marcell Booth did his part. Ranked sixth in Class 3A at 189, Booth bumped up to 215 and pinned his opponent in 15 seconds. Giovanni Jackson, who practiced little last week because of illness and wrestled only one match in the section team tourney, took an 11-6 decision at 285 to clinch the match for Apple Valley.
In the semifinals, New Prague defeated Farmington 33-27 after winning at each of the last two weights. The other semifinal between Apple Valley and Prior Lake was tied 21-21 with three matches left. Myles Matthies moved up to 189 and won by fall. Booth earned a decision over a Prior Lake wrestler ranked seventh in the state at 215, giving the Eagles enough breathing room that a Prior Lake pin at 285 couldn’t overcome Apple Valley’s lead.
Rosemount defeated Burnsville 71-6 in a first-round section match contested Feb. 14. The Irish lost to Apple Valley 49-10 in the quarterfinals two days later. In other quarterfinal matches, Prior Lake defeated Eastview 46-17, New Prague downed Lakeville North 42-25 and Farmington beat Lakeville South 43-24.
Apple Valley moves on to face No. 3 seed Shakopee in the state Class 3A quarterfinals at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, at Xcel Energy Center. Shakopee defeated Apple Valley in the regular season on its way to the South Suburban Conference championship, but the Eagles are healthier now than they were then. Last week they welcomed the return of junior Louis Prouty, who had missed much of the season because of injuries. Prouty had two key victories at 127 in the section team tournament.
“We’ve seen Shakopee. They’re a very, very good team,” Barlage said. “They’ll be the favorite, but sometimes the favorite doesn’t win.”
Before then, however, the Class 3A, Section 2 wrestlers assemble at Prior Lake High School, where the section individual tournament takes place Friday and Saturday. The top two finishers in each weight class qualify for the state individual tournament March 1-2.
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