Eastview's Outcome at the 3AAA Section Tournament

Last weekend the Eastview High School wrestling team competed in the section 3AAA individual tournament at Rosemount High School, where they failed to qualify any wrestler for the state tournament due to tough competition within the section.
The previous weekend the team wrestled in the section team tournament at Eagan High School where they defeated Eagan 37-26, before losing in the semi-finals against Apple Valley High School, a team ranked number one in the country by Amateur Wrestling News. Although without any post-season rewards to indicate their success, the Lightning had a great season resulting in a ranking of eleventh place in the state prior to competing in team sections. Their ranking was ahead of Eden Prairie, a team who they defeated earlier in February but managed to qualify for the state tournament in section 6AAA. As Eastview’s 171-pounder, senior Josh Weinberg said, “Prior to the section tournament our team was constantly ranked within the top 15 teams in state. Above us in rank were three other teams from section leaving an obvious showing of the depth our section has. Of the 8 teams that went to state we had beaten 4 of them, clearly showing that we belonged in the tournament.”
The powerhouse team turned out to be nearly as unbeatable in the individual tournament as they were in team sections. Apple Valley qualified thirteen of their fourteen man varsity roster for the state tournament, the only not to qualify being heavy weight Harold Delancey who was upset by Eastview junior Erik Ehresmann in the first round of wrestling Friday night. Following the match Delancey stormed off the mat after restraining himself in what could still be considered a violent outburst shown against the match’s referee, opponent, and his own coach. Delancey was immediately disqualified from the remainder of the tournament.
Unfortunately this win proved to be the highlight of the weekend for the lightning, as later on that night Eastview’s 160 pound wrestler Nels Pederson lost to Jared Flaata of Park Cottage Grove, who placed fifth in the state tournament at the 171 pound weight class in 2009. The Lightning’s hopes of advancing post season were further terminated with the losses of Mitch Rechtzigel, Brad Hogan, and Josh Weinberg.
As for Apple Valley, the team qualified twelve boys for the state tournament. Of the twelve wrestling, eleven placed in the top six with two silver medalists and seven individual state champions. In addition to this the team
Historically the Lightning have had difficulty in qualifying their wrestlers to the state tournament. In 2009 Pederson and alumni Dijon Sanders qualified for the individual tournament, the year before the team