Do you realize it's been over 20 years since they began seeding the state Class Awrestling tournament?

It's time to declare that seeding experiment a success and begin incorporating the concept into basketball.

This season the state's two top-ranked teams, Mandan and Fargo North, met in the quarterfinal round of the state ClassAboys tournament. Mandan topped the sportswriters and sportscasters poll all season, and North ended up second.

Mandan came away a 51-46 quarterfinal winner over North. The Braves then crushed Dickinson 72-47 in the semifinals and trimmed fifth-ranked West Fargo 57-46 for the title.

North came back from its quarterfinal loss to edge Grand Forks Red River 66-57 and No. 4-rated Williston 64-49 for the consolation title. The Spartans finished 18-7.

No one can argue that Mandan, at 24-1, is an undeserving champion. Likewise, it's apparent that North deserved a lot better fate than fifth place.

This stuff shouldn't happen. A viable alternative is available.

A few days before the state tournament, Mandan's JordanMaurer used the old coaches' rationale in downplaying what turned out to be a first-round championship game. He pointed out the Braves would have to beat the Spartans somewhere along the way if they wanted to be state champions.

True enough. However, I'll guarantee the crowd that filed into the Fargodome the night of the finals was expecting to see a showdown between the state's top two teams in the boys and girls title games.

Don't misunderstand. West Fargo earned its spot in the championship game. The Packers took advantage of imperfect bracketing and were hot at the right time.They had won eight of nine games before squaring off with Mandan.

Yet it was plain to anyone who watched the boys tournament that there was only one titanic struggle:Mandan 51, North 46. The teams were evenly matched. Every possession counted and the competition was intense.

Had the tournament been seeded, the odds are that battle would have been played before the big crowd on Saturday night.

Now don't give me that business about seeding being impossible. If you can gather together a few coaches and seed 448 wrestlers in one day, you can find a way to seed eight basketball teams.

Does seeding always work out perfectly? Of course not. It's not uncommon to see a No. 1 or No. 2 seed get knocked off in the state wrestling tournament. On occasion, both of the top two seeds are waylayed. Yet that doesn't negate the validity of the system. If your track record is good, then you've earned a break in the first round. If you've got a blemished record you shouldn't expect the red carpet treatment.

Seeding gives teams a fresh start by unraveling the mischief created by regional tournament upsets. Certainly, Mandan's boys warranted a reward for winning the West Region tournament. Instead they got a booby prize - the state's second-ranked team in the quareterfinal round of the state tournament.

North went into the East Region tournament seeded second and came out fourth, falling victim to third-seeded Wahpeton 52-48 in the semifinals.

This whole issue has been in the back of my mind for more than 20 years. Iremembered a similar situation in the 1980s and, with a little digging, was able to reconstruct the scenario.

Fargo South, 16-3, was the unanimous No. 1 pick in the final 1986 Class Apoll. Minot, 11-8, was unranked and entered the Western Dakota Association tournament as the No. 3 seed.

South was upset by Grand Forks Central in the Eastern Dakota Conference semifinals and had to battle back to snare the East's third and final state tournament seed. Remember, now, those were the days of the WDA (3 qualifiers), EDC(3 qualifiers) and North Star Conference (2 qualifiers) tournaments.

Minot marched through the WDAtournament, knocking off top-seeded Williston 58-52 for the WDAtourney championship. By that time, the Magicians, with eight wins in nine starts, were obviously the top team in the West.

So what did the Magicians get for their trouble? A first-round clash with top-ranked South in the state tournament, that's what.

Iremember my boss at the time, Abe Winter, the Tribune sports editor, steaming over the pairings. He thought South and Minot were obviously the top two teams in the state and had no business playing on Thursday.

Subsequent events made Abe look like a seer. South marched to the state title by downing Minot, Grand Forks Central and Jamestown 55-44 in the championship game.

Minot, following a 61-45 loss to South, dusted itself off and fought off Minot Ryan and Grafton to win the consolation title at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo.

Do Ilose sleep over this issue? No. Yet over the years I've concluded that slotting teams into the state tournament on the basis of their regional finish is just taking the easy way out. Sure, it keeps seeding committee members from becoming lightning rods, but it's merit mixed with luck.

Seeding at least reduces the likelihood that Dame Fortune will intrude. It also serves as a buffer against outright nonsense. You could have assembled any group of North Dakota high school coaches you wanted last month and there's no way they would have paired Mandan and North in the first round.

(Steve Thomas is a Tribune sportswriter)