There is a lot going on in the Raider wrestling room. Hastings has a top five ranked boys team in the state, they also have a full girls team and they are one of a few schools that can field a full girls team in the state. Both the boys and the girls are doing great things on the mat, and the team is more like a family than a team, even more so with the addition of the girls.

As a high school sport, wrestling has been dominated by the boys for decades and now, more and more girls are joining them. In fact, girls wrestling is the largest growing sport in Minnesota since the inaugural season in the 2021-22 winter sports season last year.

Statewide, the number of girls wrestling doubled. The Pine Island Girls Invitational saw over 260 individual girls this year compared to 150 girls last year. Hastings started out with one girl, Skylar Little Soldier, but she wrestled with the boys. Last year, Hastings had six and now, they have 18. One of last years wrestlers, Alisha Brown, decided to wrestle for the first time as a senior. Brown made it to the state tournament where she finished third at 126 and now she is a coach for the Raiders.

“As a state, girls' wrestling has doubled within a year,” said Head Coach Tim Haneberg. “This growth will continue to happen as well. Hastings girls wrestling tripled in size and this is due to the passion our girls have for the sport. They are transforming into women with confidence and pride who are now goal orientated. Another huge piece of this has been Coach Alisha Brown. Having a trusted female coach has paid dividends throughout the year and there isn't a more passionate person than Alisha when it comes to girls wrestling in Hastings.”

The rapid expansion of girls wrestling has forced the Minnesota State High School League to make some official changes. First, the MSHSL approved weight class changes for next year in an effort to maximize the opportunity for girls to wrestle and to keep the number of weights the same for both boys and girls with 13 classes. Here are the weight classes for the girl’s side of things: 100, 106, 112, 118, 124, 130, 136, 142, 148, 155, 170, 190, 235.

Along with approving the weight class changes, the MSHSL made an announcement on Jan. 27, 2023 regarding changes they need to make for the girls side of the state tournament because of the growth, and Hastings is one of the schools leading the charge.

Just one season after Girls Wrestling made its debut as a Minnesota State High School League sanctioned activity, continued participant growth has created an expansion of postseason opportunities.

With Girls Wrestling doubling in size this season to 96 member schools participating, the League and its stakeholders have created postseason expansion from two section tournaments to four on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Sections 1-4 will compete in two separate tournaments at Hastings High School and Sections 5-8 will do likewise at their tournament at Sartell High School. The first-and second-place finishers in each weight class in each of the four section tournaments will advance to the state tournament. Each of the 12 weight classes will feature an eight-participant field competing for first-through sixth place finishes on Saturday, March 4.

“It is entirely appropriate that in the wake of last year's celebration of the 50th year of Title IX, the League is expanding the Girls Wrestling State Tournament to accommodate the rapid growth in the number of girls who are wrestling in Minnesota,” said League Associate Director Charlie Campbell, who oversees wrestling. “Beyond doubling the number of girls who qualify for the state tournament, I'm grateful that more and more girls are being connected to caring adults in their school community after the academic school day.”

At the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season, 12 girls made League history when they were crowned state champions at the Wrestling State Tournament.

A Girls Wrestling division was approved by the League’s Representative Assembly in May of 2021.

Girls wrestling is here to stay, and that is a great thing for high school sports fans. The question is, in that release, did you catch a certain high school named to host a section tournament? Hastings High School is set to host the girl’s tournament for sections one through four for the second year in a row. This is also a huge deal, not only for the City of Hastings, but for the school and the wrestling program, and it is happening this Saturday, Feb 11 at 11 a.m.

If you have a young daughter contemplating what sports she wants to try, you have the perfect opportunity to bring her to see young ladies who have worked hard all season long looking to punch their ticket to one of the biggest tournaments in the state this Saturday.