As hard as it is to imagine, this year's state Class Awrestling tournament may put more excitement in the Fargodome than last year's.

That's the opinion of Bismarck High co-coach Scott Knowlen, whose team figures to be right in the thick of things this weekend.

"I believe four teams have a good shot. You could wrestle the dual tournament four different days and come up with four different champions," Knowlen said.

BHSis shooting for its 29th tournament title and eighth dual crown. The Demons have won all seven state dual tourneys.

Wahpeton, Turtle Mountain and Fargo South all loom as threats to Bismarck's stranglehold on the dual championship. They finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the final wrestling coaches poll.

Last year, West Fargo won its first individual tournament title. Just six points separated the top four teams going into the final day.

Wahpeton coach Kelly McNary said things could be more jam-packed this time.

"Ithink realistically any one of those four or five teams have a shot," McNary said, pointing to Bismarck, Turtle Mountain, South and Grand Forks Red River as contenders along with his team. "It's going to come down to which teams wrestle up to their seeds. And then you throw in things like pins. It's fun when it's that way."

Knowlen said the individual tournament could well be up for grabs going into the See Class A, Page 4D

final 14 matches of the weekend - the championship bouts.

"This year going into the finals there could be as many as four teams in the hunt," Knowlen observed.

The recipe for winning the individual tournament is as simple as hamburger hot dish, according to Knowlen. It's the doing that's the tough part.

"If you get three or four in the finals and three or four (other)placewinners, that's what it's going to come down to," he said. "… Ihonestly believe that four teams have about the number of finalists and about the same number of potential placers on the bottom."

Bismarck boasts 13 individual tournament qualifiers, including two No. 1 and two No. 2 seeds. Eleven Demons are seeded.

Wahpeton has qualifiers at all 14 weights, including a No. 1 and No. 2 seed. The Huskies are seeded at 12 weights. Turtle Mountain qualified wrestlers at 13 weights. The Braves will put eight seeded wrestlers on the mat, including two No. 1 seeds.

Fargo South have individual qualifiers at 13 weights, including two No. 1 seeds and a No. 2. All told, the Bruins are seeded at eight weights.

South coach Lynn Forde said the weight in which the Bruins are open represents a big headache.

"We lost Tanner Jones, our 152-pounder, and Ithought he had a chance to place at state," Forde noted. He was ranked sixth in the last poll."

Not so Wahpeton. Forde said the Huskies tore through the East Region tournament like a team of destiny. "Idon't think anyone was going to beat Wahpeton on Saturday. They were really hot and had a great tournament," Forde related.

Wahpeton sent six wrestlers to the regional finals, winning four titles and racking up 254.5 points for its first regional title in 36 years. That left South 52.5 points back in second place.

"That regional was just fantastic for us. We absolutely could have not wrestled any better," McNary said. "… Things just fell into place."

McNary said the Huskies had a good, solid outing in the East Region tournament with a sparkling upset thrown in. At 112, sophomore Chase Julson upset top-seeded Tyler Vacura of Grand Forks Central in the semifinals and went on to win the regional title.

"He was the fifth seed and came out a champion,"McNary said. "… But for the most part we just wrestled consistently up to our seeds or maybe just a little above."

McNary said the regional effort continued a second-half surge that has made his team a threat for its first state wrestling crown.

"We've really been wrestling well the second half," he said. "That's the big thing we dwell on - try to strive for consistent performance. We try not to overdo it and make a big thing out of every tournament.We want to stay on an even keel."

Even though the Huskies are coming off a superb regional effort, McNary said he's wary of Bismarck. He said the return of Jesse Finneman, the No. 3 seed at 171, late in the season has made BHSbetter,

"Bismarck High has a stronger team right now than they were at the Rotary," McNary said. "But we feel we can push them and I feel (Grand Forks)Red River is going to surprise some people. Red River had a few people out (of the lineup) at the Rotary.

"South didn't have a very good day at the regional tournament and I expect them to wrestle better. … Belcourt is going to be in the mix, too. No doubt about that."

Forde said South would have to hyper-wrestle to contend in the individual tournament.

"Without Jones in there (at 152) Idon't think we have enough power to win the individual tournament," Forde said. "… Our best chance if we have a chance at all is to win th duals. We've beaten every one of the teams in the tournament other than Bismarck and Mandan. We haven't wrestled Mandan. We had a five-point match (37-32) with Bismarck. … So Ithink the possibility is there if we wrestle well, but it will be tough."

If South faces BHSagain it will be in the dual finals. The Bruins, 12-3, are the top dual seed from the East, thanks in large part to a 36-30 victory over Wahpeton. As such, they reside in the same bracket as the West's No. 2 team, Turtle Mountain. Bismarck, No. 1 from the West with a 97-match winning streak, is in the same bracket with Wahpeton, 12-5.

McNary warns that 12-5 may be misleading. "We've wrestled some pretty good teams out of Minnesota this year - Hastings, Perham, Cambridge Isanti. Those or three pretty good dual teams and those are three of our losses."

The other two setbacks came at the hands of West Fargo and South.

Knowlen said with the current tournament format - dual semifinals and finals and individual semifinals all on the same day - puts a premium on Friday's performance.

"We're going to have to put together a strong effort on Friday. …We need to put together three good (Friday)rounds and it's tough to keep younger guys focused and wrestling at their peak for three stressful, hard-fought rounds,"Knowlen noted. "… That's where we kind of dropped below our seeds last year."