Class AAA and AAAA brackets announced
Watch for more complete previews of Class AAAA and Class AAA in the coming days.
Class AAA
Once again, previous tournament success was the one factor capable of moving the state tournament seeds and brackets off of the status quo of QRF. The seeds followed QRF with one exception. Holy Angels, the 2016 state champion and 3rd place in last year’s state tournament, leapfrogged DeLaSalle and Willmar to claim the #3 seed. QRF would have had them at #6, or unseeded. As a result, Alexandria drops from #5 in QRF to unseeded here and—what do you know—gets themselves a 1st round matchup with #1-rated and #1-seeded Cooper.
Conference rivals Northfield and Mankato West of the Big 9 will square off in one of the 1st round games, but the seeding process managed to avoid potential rematches like DeLaSalle-Holy Angels and Alex-Willmar. Here are the Class AAA matchups Wednesday at Williams Arena.
10 a.m. #1 Cooper 26-2 vs. unseeded Alexandria 23-5
12 noon #4 Willmar 25-2 vs. #5 DeLaSalle (19-8 with 2 forfeits, i.e. 21-6 on the floor)
2 p.m. #2 Northfield 25-3 vs. unseeded Mankato West 21-7
4 p.m. #3 Holy Angels 25-4 vs. unseeded Grand Rapids 21-7
Class AAAA
No real surprises in AAAA, where Eastview and Hopkins are seeded #1 and #2. 2 conference rematches were scheduled. Eastview and Prior Lake of the South Suburban meet in the tournament’s 1st game, while Suburban East rivals Cretin and Roseville play at 4 p.m. Unbeaten Eastview of course swept Prior Lake. Cretin did the same to Roseville, winning by 22 in December and by 1 at home in February.
The 12 noon and especially the 4 p.m. game promise to be close, competitive games.
10 a.m. #1 Eastview 29-0 vs. unseeded Prior Lake 16-13
12 noon #4 Lakeville North 24-5 vs. #5 Maple Grove 24-5
2 p.m. #2 Hopkins 26-3 vs. unseeded Forest Lake 19-10
4 p.m. #3 Cretin-Derham Hall 21-6 vs. unseeded Roseville 22-7