The Hastings girls wrestling team made history with its first ever sanctioned team dual this past Friday when the team went to St. Michael/Albertville. Not many schools in Minnesota have enough female wrestlers to fill a team with 12 weight classes, but Hastings and STMA do which is a testament to their wrestling culture. STMA is the number one ranked AA team for the boys side and Hastings is number three. There is no doubt that their successes on the boys side have driven their successes with the girls teams.

The Raiders knew what to expect and they knew how to handle the meet, and they came out on top by a 35-27 margin.

The girls currently wrestle in 12 weight classes. Here are the meet results: 100 Ivy Brandenburg (Hastings) over Ava Schultz (St. Michael-Albertville) (Dec 10-5) 107 Trinity Yates (Hastings) wins via forfeit 113 Allison Weinzettel (Hastings) over Kaci Brannan (St. Michael-Albertville) (TF 17-1) 120 Gavyn Hanson (Hastings) over Drew Bushard (St. Michael-Albertville) (Dec 7-4) 126 Claire Kvant (St. Michael-Albertville) over Annabel Norquist (Hastings) (Fall) 132 Kennedy O`Connell (St. Michael-Albertville) over Elisa Kursawski (Hastings) (Fall) 138 Rachel Heil (St. Michael-Albertville) over Lauren Whitfield (Hastings) (Fall) 145 Skylar Little Soldier (Hastings) over Hannah Kvant (St. Michael-Albertville) (Fall) 152 Paige Barthel (St. Michael-Albertville) over Amelia Miller (Hastings) (Dec 7-4) 165 Isabel Fritz (Hastings) over Mylin Lemke (St. Michael-Albertville) (Fall) 185 Molly Ruhland (St. Michael-Albertville) over Lily Watts (Hastings) (Fall) 235 Maddy Radspinner (Hastings) over Lily Hamilton (St. Michael-Albertville) (Fall) Hastings head coach Tim Haneberg has poured everything into supporting the sanctioning of girls. He takes a ton of pride in being a coach on the forefront of bringing girls wrestling to not only Hastings, but the entire state. His passion is clearly passed on to his coaching staff and the entire team wrestles hard for them.

“It really is mind blowing to see how quickly girls wrestling has grown in Hastings,” said Haneberg. “The high school program went from one girl, to six, and now to eighteen. Not only are the numbers huge but being able to cover every weight and to be able to dual another team is an awesome accomplishment. Our girls have grown so much over this season and have been able to shine on both a local and national stage. They are having a ton of fun, and the coaching staff is looking forward to the continual growth of this program.”

That growth continued the next day when the girls made a road trip down Highway 52 to Pine Island. The Pine Island Girls Invitational is in its second year. Last year, just over 150 wrestlers descended on Pine Island for the tournament. This year, over 60 teams with more than 260 wrestlers showed up from all over the state. Girls came from as far north as Bemidji and as far west as Ortonville for this historic tournament.

Hastings finished fifth at the tournament with 75 points, behind Apple Valley (128), Bemidji (125), Saint Michael/Albertville (101.5) and Cambridge-Isanta (77).

Individually, Hastings wrestlers that placed are: 100: Ivy Brandenburg -fourth 114: Allison Weinzettel -sixth 145: Jolie Pettit -sixth 145: Skylar Little Soldier -first 165: Lily Watts -first Little Soldier also earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Next up for the Raider Girls is the section meet, this Saturday, February 11 at 11 a.m. Hastings is hosting the section tournament for the second year in a row. Sections one through four will be on hand for a long day of wrestling.

Haneberg was asked what it means to host the section tournament for four sections.

“I think this speaks volumes on how well qualified and passionate our athletic office is. Trent Hanson is one of the highest regarded ADs in the state. Jackie Kranz works tirelessly in the athletic office to make sure our coaches and athletes are prepared and can peak at their highest potential. I think the state high school league recognizes the talents of both of these individuals and trusts that the girls section will run smoothly,” he said.

Ivy Brandenberg started things off for the first ever Raiders girls wrestling team dual. Brandenberg fought hard and earned the win by decision 10-5. Photo by Sarah Wasvick