Submitted Photo After earning a Class A state wrestling championship in the 2021-2022 season, Minot High Magicians’ Gabe Mortensen (left) sits atop his weight-class rankings in the second coaches’ poll of the season.

Though still in the infancy stage of the 2022-2023 North Dakota Class A boys’ wrestling schedule, several Minot High Magicians have already turned the heads and garnered the recognition of coaches around the state to pin down a spot in the second coaches’ poll of the season.

Chock full of standout grapplers from around the “Peace Garden State,” four Magi wrestlers earned their place among the best in their weight class as voted on by high school coaches from all corners of North Dakota.

On Thursday, the second of four coaches’ polls taken throughout the season was released, resulting in well-deserved acknowledgment for stellar performances thus far in their weight class by seniors Gabe Mortensen and Danny Fernandez, along with juniors David Llamas and DeJarius Jones.

Headlining those honored for the Magi is Mortensen, who takes to battle on the mats in 2022 coming off an All-State junior campaign that saw him cap off a career-season with a state championship to finish as the best 126-pound wrestler in North Dakota.

Bumping up in weight class this season, Mortensen currently sits atop the 132-pound hierarchy in the second installment of the coaches’ poll.

Minot High had three other wrestlers notch a spot within the top six of their respective class, as Fernandez earned a fourth-place ranking in the 138-pound division, Llamas grabbing fifth in the 113-pound class, and Jones rounding out the final Magi in the individual rankings with the sixth-place spot in the 170-pound division.

Coaches also ranked their top-ten teams in the poll, with Bismarck High perched at No. 1 and followed by Jamestown, Bismarck Century, WF Sheyenne, Valley City, West Fargo, Bismarck Legacy, Minot, Williston, and Fargo Davies.

The next edition of the North Dakota Class A Wrestling Coaches’ Poll is slated to release after the new year on Jan. 12, 2023.