Garrick Hodge/MDN Rugby's Kaden Jaeger, bottom, tries to escape from Velva's Jon Thomas, top, during their 152-pound semifinal matchup at the state wrestling tournament Friday at the Fargodome.

Rugby wrestler Kaden Jaeger already knew he was an underdog heading into the 152-pound bracket as a No. 6 seed.

But that hasn’t stopped him from taking down the No. 3 and No. 2 wrestlers in the bracket to vault his way to today’s state title match.

It might have been hard to believe for several spectators looking in on the match, but Jaeger knows exactly how he ended up pinning Velva’s Jon Thomas in Friday’s Class B 152-pound semifinals at the Fargodome to continue his Cinderella run.

“I made a solid throw,” Jaeger said. “Being a six seed and making it to the finals is just an awesome feeling.”

His coach, Craig Zachmeier, offered a slightly different take on how his junior was able to beat the No. 2 wrestler from Velva.

“It was all luck,” Zachmeier said with a laugh.

Kidding aside, Zachmeier attributed the victory to Jaeger’s focus throughout the tournament.

“It just happened to be his night I suppose,” he said. “He was well prepared.”

Jaeger (35-10) was confident heading into his battle against Thomas, because he had beaten him two of three times the pair faced each other in the regular season.

Today’s matchup will be a different story, however. Bishop Ryan’s Konner Beeter, Jaeger’s state championship opponent, has gotten the better of him in all four matchups the duo has had this season.

But with Jaeger’s surprising run giving him momentum, he’s hoping the fifth contest will be different.

“I’m thinking about switching up a few things against him,” Jaeger said. “I’m going to try a couple of moves that I haven’t tried in the past. Other than that, I’m just going to go out there and wrestle.”

Zachmeier offered a less thorough explanation for why his wrestler can pull yet another upset, alas, a valid reason nonetheless.

“Anything can happen at the state tournament,” Zachmeier said.

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge.