Hastings hosts first ever Girls Wrestling Section Meet

By Bruce Karnick

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For high school wrestling fans, this day was a long time coming. For the Hastings Wrestling team, this day could not have lasted long enough. The day was Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. The event: the first ever Section Wrestling Tournament with Girls Wrestling being a Minnesota State High School League-sanctioned event.

As a now-sophomore, Skylar Little Soldier was one of a few trailblazers in wrestling for the state of Minnesota. Little Soldier wrestled with the boys team from seventh grade until now. Saturday, she stepped on the mat to work her way toward a state title wrestling girls.

Little Soldier explained what the day means to her.

“I think it's awesome that it's just growing so much, especially in the state of Minnesota and all across the country. Really, it's awesome to be a part of the first year they have it too. It’s just so moving. It's going to be such a growing sport, especially after this year.”

If the first ever section meet is any indication, girls wrestling is going to grow exponentially for a while. Hastings was one of two sites to host a section meet. Hastings hosted 76 girls from 35 schools across the state from sections 1-4. Little Soldier was joined by six other female wrestlers from Hastings.

She has not abandoned her boys squad. Little Soldier had not wrestled with the boys team all year in any team events, but they insisted she wrestle with them for their section meet. They wanted her to be with them at the state meet if they made it. This year, because of the newness of the girls wrestling, there is no team meet for girls, only individual, so Little Soldier is eligible to wrestle team with the boys and individually with either. She chose the girls meet.

“I think it's going to be awesome to be able to wrestle alongside them, especially at Xcel. It's just going to be such a big improvement for the girls because other girls are going see it that are there and be like, oh, I want to do that someday. It’s so big,” explained Little Soldier.

Along with supporting Little Soldier, the boys team has six other wrestlers they now watch out for. They were at the nearly sevenhour event cheering on their teammates, helping facilitate the meet by running scoreboards or entering scores, setting up and tearing down, and just being there for the girls. It was truly a sight to see.

Long time Hastings’ wrestling coach Paul Vaith was walking around soaking in the history that had been made that day.

“It's just been great. You know, to watch the girls and to see them compete. I mean their wrestlers and they train hard. They're just excited about the opportunity to improve themselves see what they can do in the oneon- one competition. The girls have embraced it and it's just been so exciting to be a part of,” he said.

Vaith explained that it means just as much to the girls to make it to state as it does the boys.

“It's going to be an awesome feeling to reach that. Anybody that's involved in sports, you always talk about those end of the year tournaments, and to have that opportunity to reach that level. Male, Female regardless of the sport, it's truly something special,” said Vaith.

Head Coach Tim Haneberg was proud of his team, for staying together the way they have all year and how the boys have worked really hard to include the girls and teach them, many of them first year wrestlers. He was honored that Hastings was able to be a host for the first ever girls section meet.

“It’s really neat that we have the kind of facilities that can host schools from all across this area in our house right here,” explained Haneberg, “It’s pretty cool that we have the resources, we have the athletic department that supports this 100 percent. We have the staff that's knowledgeable and we have someone like Jackie Kranz that's able to organize all this stuff. So, it's pretty neat that we get to host it right here for the first one.”

Kranz is a long-time, 27 years and counting, athletic secretary for the school district and one of the most relied upon people to facilitate all the various sports and activities around the school. She spent her entire Saturday at the meet making sure things ran as smoothly as possible.

Interim Vice-Principal Trent Hanson who normally is in the Athletic Director role, spoke on the impact of the event.

“It's a privilege to host it for a number of reasons,” said Hanson. “Locally, I think it's just cool that our own wrestlers get to be on their own mat in their own backyard where their family and friends can come and see them. Secondly, we just have a fantastic staff here that knows how to run a first-class event in general and certainly knows how to run a high-quality wrestling event. So, I think there's a reason that the league asked us to consider hosting this, but it is a privilege. It's fun to do it. In terms of the scope of the, you know, first ever girls section tournament itself. It's an honor. It's something that I think we can look back on 10 and 30, and a lot of these trophies we're standing by, 100 years from now be kind of cold and all that. Hey, the first one ever was in this year and jeez, Hastings hosted it. That's pretty incredible.”

The historical impact of hosting the firstever girls wrestling sections had more to it than that. These girls were talented. Hanson nailed it when he talked about their performances.

“I think it's a testament to that whole group of kids. They have a wide range of experience and a wide range of wrestling backgrounds, everyone from a real veteran like Skylar to some kids so that really this is the first time ever trying it and folks that have seen that today. They are awesome, right? They're tenacious, they're skilled. We've seen a few kids that have gone against another wrestler that probably was stronger and more physical, but our kids are well trained, better skilled and kind of work their way through. So, they just have a ton to be proud of. Those kids should feel super stoked. Their parents should be really proud. And I think it's just again, it's a cool testament to the work that our coaches do and the culture that's in the room. It's super fun to watch,” said Hanson.

He was right, it was fun to watch. The girls were aggressive, tough, skilled, tenacious. They fought with perseverance, knowledge, and integrity. 76 girls competed and 24 punched the ticket to state, two of them from Hastings: Little Soldier at the 132-weight class and Alisha Brown in the 126-weight class.

The five other Hastings wrestlers finished as follows: 107 – Allison Weinzettel – third 114 – Kayla Williams – did not place 120 – Annabel Norquist – sixth 138 – Amelia Miller – fifth 145 – Lauren Whitfield – fifth The state wrestling meet runs Mar. 3-5 at Xcel Energy Center. The girls portion is scheduled to be on Saturday, Mar. 5, but the times have not yet been released by the MSHSL. Keep in mind there are some rules to follow for spectators. No bags are allowed with the exception of medically-required or diaper bags. Masks are required at all times as well.

For the Hastings girls, Coach Vaith gathered them up at the end of the day, told them how proud he and the rest of the coaching staff were of them for that day and told them the season is not over yet. They have one more job to do and that’s to help their two teammates win a state championship, and they are ready to do their part.

Overtime battle

Allison Weinzettel fought to the end of the first-place match that saw multiple overtime periods. Weinzettel lost the ultimate tie breaker 7-2 forcing an additional match to determine true second place 45 minutes later. Weinzettel fought hard and never gave up during either match, a true testament to the character wrestling builds in these young athletes. Weinzettel finished third overall. Photo by Bruce Karnick