The Hastings wrestling team was the class of the Bi-State Classic last week in LaCrosse Dec. 29-20.
The Raiders won the Division 1 team championship, had the outstanding wrestler at the event and crowned two individual champions.
Blake Beissel at 120 and Trey Beissel at 126 swept their way through the tournament to take first place. Blake was honored with the Outstanding Wrestler Award for the second time in his outstanding high school career.
The Bi-State Classic features some of the best wrestlers from Minnesota and Wisconsin and is held at the LaCrosse Center. There were a total of 72 teams competing over three divisions, meaning the brackets were packed with talent. Hastings finished at the top of the 26-team Division 1 field with 205 points. Rounding out the top five were Marshfield 191, Holmen 176, Hudson 174.5 and Bay Port 170.
Blake Beissel moved to the semifinal match with three pins. He then scored a 15-0 technical fall to move to the championship match against Liam Neitzel of Hudson. Beissel won a thrilling 1-0 match with an escape in the third period.
Trey Beissel won by fall in impressive fashion in his first two matches, taking down his opponents in 38 seconds and 1:27. He then dominated with two technical falls to move to the semifinals where he advanced to the title match with a 3-2 decision. Beissel jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first period against Logan Schwanz of Hutchinson/BLHS en route to a 16-9 victory.
Also placing for Hastings was Derrick Steinke, who took fifth place at 215, Jack Bainbridge, sixth at 138 and Gavin Lambert, seventh at 113.
Hastings returns to the LaCrosse Center Friday and Saturday to compete in The Clash National Duals.