Class A Team Rankings–the final cut for 2018, and the first cut for 2019
Marc Hugunin
<p>Our final top 25 Class A team rankings for 2018 have now been posted under the High School pull-down menu. And, along with that, our 1st cut at our top 30 Class A teams for next season (2019) are also up. Just scroll down below the final rankings for 2018 and there they are.</p>
<p><strong>Final 2018</strong></p>
<p>For 2018 our rankings pretty much mirror last week’s state tournament. The champions from Lyle/Pacelli move up from #2 to #1, but Sleepy Eye and Minneota make bigger leaps—Sleepy Eye from #9 to #2 as a result of its upsets of Ada and Mountain Iron-Buhl, and Minneota from #7 to #3 even though it didn’t actually win any upsets according to state tournament seeds. But, we had Menahga at #3 and Minneota at #7 going into the 1st round of tournament play, so Minneota’s win in that game was an upset in our book.</p>
<p>Mountain Iron-Buhl dropped from #1 to #4 after losing to Sleepy Eye and Minneota. Hayfield remains at #5 after losing to Lyle/Pacelli in Section 1A. Ada dropped from #4 to #6 and Menahga from #3 to #7.</p>
<p>Heritage Christian made the biggest leap from #19 to #9 after defeating Menahga in consolation play. Stephen-Argyle moved up from #15 to #10 after playing well in losses to MIB and Ada.</p>
<p>In the 2nd 10, the big gainers were BOLD, who lost to Sleepy Eye in the Section 2A final, moving from #24 to #16, and Underwood, which surprised by getting to the Section 6A final and moved from unranked to #20.</p>
<p><strong>1st Cut at 2019</strong></p>
<p>Minneota impressed with its state tournament wins over Menahga and Ada. The Vikings had just one senior on their roster, who played relatively little. They’re led by junior post Lydia Sussner and freshman and sophomore guards Abby and Morgan Hennen. And, they’re our early favorite for next year’s Class A title.</p>
<p>Mountain-Iron Buhl, Ada, Menahga and Heritage all return significant talent—players like Allie Negen, Mariah McKeever, Alyssa Peterson and Taylie Scott—from this year’s state tournament teams, and they’re rated from #2 to #5, respectively, for next year, and all are expected to return to the tournament.</p>
<p>Rounding out our top 10 for next season are mostly perennial powers Lac Qui Parle Valley, Cromwell, Goodhue and Lyle/Pacelli, though all lose significant talent in the class of 2018. BOLD at #7 can be considered to be something of a darkhorse.</p>
<p>Sacred Heart is the top-ranked team in Section 8 at #17.</p>
<p><strong>Possible Class AA State Tournament Matchups 2019</strong></p>
<p>#1 Minneota vs. BOLD</p>
<p>#4 Menahga vs. #5 Heritage Christian</p>
<p>#2 Mountain Iron-Buhl vs. Goodhue</p>
<p>#3 Ada vs. Sacred Heart</p>
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