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The Raider wrestlers finished a busy week, in part due to the weather related reschedules of both the Tartan and North St. Paul trimeet on Wednesday and the St. Thomas Academy and Two Rivers tri-meet on Thursday and then a big Saturday at Farmington against multiple schools.

“Things went really well this weekend,” explained Head Coach Tim Haneberg. “We had a very busy week. We had to reschedule a conference tri to last week, so we had three events. On Saturday, we were able to get many different wrestlers into our lineups which was great. Many wrestlers got their first varsity win and some even earned their varsity letter. I think there are a couple wrestlers who made big strides from last year such as Peyton Erickson (126), Creed Peterson (152) and Derrick Steinke (195).”

Of course, Coach Haneberg loves the growth he sees in all of his wrestlers and any time you ask him about the girl’s program and the growth there, he beams with pride. Hastings has a very unique culture for the wrestling team. They have very high expectations for each of their kids, but they set those expectations very well. The coaching staff is absolutely amazing with the kids. They have a focus on positivity and support for these young athletes that centers around accountability which lets the results speak for themselves.

With the sheer number of individual results from the matches this week, it is impossible to list everything and have it look like a story in any way. Every single wrestler that stepped on the mat this weekend contributed to the team win in some way. First time wrestlers and veterans alike all helped the Raiders win all eight of the duals in four days.

Wednesday, Hastings defeated North St. Paul 78-3 and Tartan 81-0.

Thursday, Hastings beat STA 56-13 and Two Rivers 75-4.

Saturday was a long day for Hastings, who travelled to Farmington. First, they took down Westfield 59-20, then Northfield 68-9. New London -Spicer were the Raiders next victims 48-21 and finally host Farmington 63-16.

Hastings is 12-3 for the season and 4-0 in the conference where they sit atop the standings. The Raiders are also atop the section 3AAA standings at 2-0. According to the theguillotine. com, Hastings is ranked as the fifth best team in Class AAA. St. Michael-Albertville is in first, Stillwater second, Waconia third and Eden Prairie fourth.

Trey Beissel sits atop the rankings for 106 pounds, Trey’s big brother Blake Beissel, last year’s MSHSL state champion at 106 pounds, is atop the 113pound list. A few weight classes later, Jack Bainbridge is ninth for 132 pounds. Josh Route is eighth in the 145 pound division, Aiden Erickson is sixth at 160 pounds, Rico Cooper is tenth at 182 pounds, Austin Leflay is fifth in 220 pounds and Blake Clemons rounds out the rankings in seventh at 285 pounds.

Hastings has eight top ten ranked wrestlers for their weight class out of 14 weight classes as of January 12th. That is a huge accomplishment both as individuals and a team.

The next opponent, the Simley Spartans, will be a very tough test for the Raiders. Simley is ranked as the number one team in Class AA having several of their own individuals ranked in the top ten in the state.

Hastings travels to Simley for a 5:00 p.m. start time on Jan. 19 and then travel to Bloomington Kennedy for another full day of wrestling on Jan. 21. That meet starts at 9:00 a.m.

At 138 pounds, Mark Svoboda won in a major decision over St. Thomas Academy’s Josiah Solliday. The final of the bout was 12-4. Photo by Bruce Karnick