FARGO - In an odd way it's a measure of the Bismarck wrestling program's stature when there are great championships, good championships and also-ran championships.

"We'll take the win, but it wasn't good," Bismarck co-coach Jeff Schumacher said after the Demons held off Fargo South 39-31 in the Class A dual championship match Friday at the Fargodome.

To translate, the championship, Bismarck's 10th straight dual title, was nice, but the effort wasn't acceptable.

The Demons came out of the chute looking like the team that won by 35 and 33 points in earlier rounds. Drew Spaulding at 130 pounds kicked off a run of four straight pins to start the dual. Joe Schumacher, Ethan Dockter and Trevor Johnson followed Spaulding's lead as BHS built a 24-0 lead. Joe Latham at 160 and Jesse Finneman at 171 added falls as the Demons reached their zenith at 36-6.

Things started to unravel when South's Tanner Jones and Matt Nagel scored back-to-back pins at 189 and 215. Gerad Fugleberg (285) and Cole Mehring (103) added decisions, and when Eric Forde won a technical fall at 112 the Bruins were within eight points at 36-28 with two bouts to go.

Freshman 119-pounder Jon Binstock finally stopped the bleeding, edging Austyn Christiansen 2-0 to clinch the dual for the Demons. In addition, he made sure Bismarck's 135-match dual winning streak remained intact.

"Joe Binstock saved us today," BHS co-coach Scott Knowlen said.

Knowlen also heaped praise on Dockter, whose pin of Nick Larson at 140 certainly wasn't guaranteed.

"We were thinking maybe if we wrestled well we could get a major (at 140)," Knowlen said. "But he got an inside trip to the back and adjusted nicely to finish it off for a pin."

Schumacher was unequivocal in pointing out the Demons underperformed against South.

"It was not a very good effort. ¦ Guys who are expected to win should win, and that didn't happen tonight," Schumacher said. "And guys who are predicted to lose shouldn't get pinned."

Plus, South wouldn't give up.

"Fargo South did a great job," Schumacher said.

South coach Lynn Forde said the starting weight of 130 couldn't have been worse from the Bruins' point of view.

"It was where they had some of their better wrestlers and we had some of our more inexperienced kids," Forde pointed out. "After we got our first win we started to come around."

"I was real satisfied with how we wrestled. I'm really proud of our kids," he added.

Century rebounded from a 53-20 loss to Bismarck in the morning semifinals to overpower Wahpeton 45-18 for third place.

Brandon Ohlhauser (135), Nick McCormick (140), Donavan Schulz (215) and Joe Jackson (285) rang up pins as Century improved its season dual record to 13-9.

Derek Lee, who moved up a weight to pick up a decision for Century at 160, said he could see the Patriots meant business during warmups before the third place match.

"I could tell they were focused," he said of his teammates. "I could just see in their eyes that they wanted it."

Lee is wrestling in his fourth state tournament. He's placed three times and is a defending champion, but he'd never been on a team that placed in the dual tournament."

"I'm really happy with what the team did here," Lee said. "This is the first time Century has placed in state duals, so it's really big for us. I feel we're starting to get back to where Century should be."

While Bismarck may not have set the house on fire with its performance in the dual finals, there were few shortcomings in the individual tournament earlier in the day. The Demons lost only two wrestlers in the wrestlebacks and sent seven men into today's 3 p.m. championship matches. Five more BHS wrestlers are still alive in the consolation brackets.

By winning seven of nine semifinals, the Demons fattened their point total to 192.5. That gives Bismarck an 85-point lead on second-place South, which has 107.5. Rounding out the top six are West Fargo with 87, Century with 85 and Williston and Fargo North with 82 each.

Dustin Brendel (125), Spaulding (130), Joe Schumacher (135), Johnson (145),

Latham (160), Finneman (171) and Alex Granfor (285) are the Demonw who will wrestle for championships today.

Other finalists include Century's Lee at 152, Mandan's Tate Schwagler (145) and Mike Volk (152), and St. Mary's alternate Neil Kienzle at 125.

Two No. 1 seeds lost in the semifinals. Brock Krumm of St. Mary's fell to Brendel in the 125-pound semis and Josstyn Richter of Grand Forks Red River defaulted in the 103-pound semifinals. Richter suffered an injury to his right leg wrestling Williston's Paul Michaelson and was unable to finish.

While Jeff Schumacher didn't much care for the aftertaste left by the dual final, he said he doesn't expect any long-term ill-effects.

"I'm sure a couple of individuals wish they'd performed better (in the dual final) but I think they'll get over it," Schumacher said.

"We have to make sure these people are entertained by us tomorrow," he said, gesturing to the Fargodome crowd, "and that's what we're going to do."