With the East-West now over, NDwrestle presents the final Class B rankings of 2017. Wrestling fans can still expect some movement in the lead up to individual regional tournaments two Saturdays from now.  These rankings do not reflect expected state tournament seeding, but are based on head to head and common opponents only.

The most difficult decision came in ranking 3-6 at 113. Isaac Felchle, Brecken Lura, Kyle Alfson, and Garrett Hebl all have wins over one another.  Hebl did the most for his state tournament seeding case by finishing third at East-West and in the process beating Lura and Alfson in back-to-back matches.  That said, the LaMoure product is still 1-3 on the season vs. Alfson and is 0-1 vs Felchle.  Felchle gets the high rank out of the group because he is the only one with a victory over either of the top two wrestlers.  He defeated Connor LeDoux in Rugby.

The notable removal from from the rankings is Velva 145 Elijah Hackman.  Hackman sustained an injury in the Rugby Booster’s final and NDwrestle has confirmed through his coaches that he will miss the rest of the season.  We wish Eli the best in his recovery and future endeavors.

The notable addition to the rankings is Pembina County North’s Austin Urlaub, who is back after an extended recovery from a a football injury.  Though he has yet to earn the top spot on the mat this season,  Urlaub did defeat Carrington’s Kaden Wolsky at the state tournament last season and thus moves in to the number one spot.  The issue should work itself out quickly, as Carrington and Pembina County North will butt heads as region foes over the next two weekends.

Heavyweight is still a bit of a mess, and it will be a very difficult weight for coaches to seed two weeks from now.  As of now, the body of work of Rugby’s D.J. Schneibel, along with his East-West title, make him the #1 ranked wrestler in the state in spite of three losses to Watford City’s Jackson Faller.  It is not hyperbole to say that eight or more wrestlers in the B 285 pound division could win the state title, so I don’t know that seeds will make much of a difference anyway.  Keep a close eye on Northern Lights junior Max Defender, who made his first appearance of the year at East-West and wrestled top seed Riley Molter to a one point loss.  Without a body of work to fall back on, Defender could end up the unseeded wrestler at state that no one wants first round.