While head coach Jim Jackson is flattered that his Shakopee wrestling team is ranked No. 1 to start the season, he isn’t focused on the ranking.

The Sabers enter the 2018-19 season as the team to beat, after the Guillotine put them at the top of the first Class 3A state wrestling poll of the season.

There’s good reason the Sabers are ranked No. 1.

They return 10 wrestlers from last year’s team that wrestled for the Class 3A state championship against St. Michael-Albertville and came up one match short of winning it.

In addition to that, the Sabers return a former state champion and some young wrestlers who will push and improve the team.

“We are solid, there is no doubt we are solid,” Jackson said. “We are all excited. We have some good young kids. Our focus is on the team and we have a lot of kids that will sacrifice for the team. Everybody will have to step up and contribute.”

In addition to being the No. 1- ranked team in the state, Shakopee has seven individuals ranked at their respective weight classes.

Junior Paxton Creese is the top ranked wrestler for the Sabers, ranked No. 1 at 113 pounds after finishing as runner-up last year at 106 pounds.

Shakopee has three wrestlers ranked No. 2 in seventh-grader Peirson Manville at 106 pounds, junior Ben Lunn at 120 pounds and sophomore Carson Manville at 152 pounds.

Other ranked wrestlers for the Sabers are senior Brandon Kidd 10th at 145 pounds, junior Jack Casey eighth at 195 pounds and sophomore Tommy Johnson 10th at 285 pounds.

Speaking of Carson Manville, he returns to Shakopee after he spent a year at Wyoming Seminary school in Pennsylvania for the 2017-18 season. Manville won an individual state title for the Sabers as an eighth-grader in 2017.

Carson is ranked No. 2 in the state behind Willmar’s Cael Carlson and No. 7 in the nation at 152 pounds by Intermat.

“We are happy to have him back,” Jackson said.

Other returning wrestlers who will play key roles for the Sabers are senior Tyler Jones (a North Dakota State commit), Connor Raines, Seth Bakken, DJ Smith, Evan Buckner, Sam Treml, Joey Johnson and many others.

“Our goal has to be to walk into the room every day and learn and get better,” Jackson said. “That’s what we have to do. Learn and improve.”

If the Sabers are going to raise the state championship trophy for the first time, it won’t be easy as there are a lot of really good teams in Class 3A and especially in Shakopee’s section.

Sitting there waiting for the Sabers in the section championship is most likely Apple Valley, who starts the season ranked No. 2 and has six ranked wrestlers.

In addition to Valley, Class 3A, Section 2 also has New Prague ranked No. 11, Rosemount ranked No. 12 and Prior Lake listed in the lean and mean section of the state rankings.

Schedule
The Sabers’ schedule will challenge them all season long as Jackson has loaded it with the best competition in the state.

In addition to dual meets against Apple Valley, No. 5 East Ridge, Rosemount, and Prior Lake, the Sabers will compete at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament, the Clash, and the Rumble on the Red tournaments.

“It’s all about preparing for the end of the season,” Jackson said.

The road to the state tournament begins this weekend with dual meets on Friday against East Ridge and Lakeville North and then the Hastings Duals on Saturday.