STATE CHAMPIONS!

Hastings Wrestlers shock the world with an unbelievable comeback against the yearlong number one team.

By Bruce Karnick
Posted 3/9/23

It is a long day at Xcel Energy Center for the start of the 2023 State Wrestling Tournament. Wrestlers begin the weigh in process around 7:00 a.m., hit the mats to warm up around 8 a.m., start the …

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STATE CHAMPIONS!

Hastings Wrestlers shock the world with an unbelievable comeback against the yearlong number one team.

Posted

It is a long day at Xcel Energy Center for the start of the 2023 State Wrestling Tournament. Wrestlers begin the weigh in process around 7:00 a.m., hit the mats to warm up around 8 a.m., start the pomp and circumstance around 9:00 a.m. and jump right into the team portion of the meet. Hastings was just three dual meet wins away from being state champions. The first opponent was Willmar before number two seeded Waconia and finally, the number one seeded St. Michael / Albertville (STMA).

A quick refresher of the scoring for team wrestling: a decision is a win by points scored in the match. A regular decision occurs when the margin of victory is seven points or less. This gives the team three points. A major decision is when the individual points scored are from 8-14 points. This is worth four team points. A technical or tech fall is when the wrestler wins by 15 or more points. The tech fall is worth five team points. A pin, forfeit, win by disqualification or injury is worth six team points.

Hastings faced off against Willmar in the 9:00 a.m. session and the middle of the Raider lineup was a bit surprised by the Cardinals bite.

Brothers Trey and Blake Beissel gave the Raiders a 12-0 lead with two pins to start the meet. Mark Svoboda returned to the lineup at 138 pounds after an extended absence due to injury and was a little rusty the first match. In that stretch, Willmar took five matches in a row and the lead from the Raiders before Hastings bounced back. With a 12-22 score and Willmar in the lead, the Raiders kept their composure and clawed their way back with Josh Route earning a pin and Aiden Erickson a major decision. The dual was tied at 22 with five matches left.

Ian Pepple fought hard and wrestled a smart match, he just could not quite get points on his opponent, which was fine, he kept the score low and only three points went to Willmar before the heavier weights took over the match. Rico Cooper earned a smart win over his opponent to bring the team points back to even, this time 25-25. The Raiders most improved wrestler of the season, Derrick Steinke, did a great job controlling his match to earn the team three points with two wrestlers left. The junior  did a great job controlling his match to earn the team three points with two wrestlers left.

Austin Leflay quickly pinned his opponent and locked up the team win for Hastings and Blake Clemons followed suit pinning his opponent.

Here are the official results by weight class against Willmar:

106 Trey Beissel (Hastings) over Wyatt Cruze (Willmar) Fall 1:33

113 Blake Beissel (Hastings) over Lawson Anez (Willmar) Fall 3:55

120 Cavin Carlson (Willmar) over Taylon Little Soldier (Hastings) TF 18-3

126 Ivan Mares (Willmar) over Peyton Erickson (Hastings) Dec 7-4

132 Sulley Anez (Willmar) over Jack Bainbridge (Hastings) Dec 8-2

138 Eli Heinen (Willmar) over Mark Svoboda (Hastings) Fall 1:20

145 Conlan Carlson (Willmar) over Fletcher Peterson (Hastings) TF 19-4

152 Josh Route (Hastings) over Cameren Champagne (Willmar) Fall 3:48

160 Aiden Erickson (Hastings) over Mattix Swanson (Willmar) Maj 10-0

170 Braeden Erickson (Willmar) over Ian Pepple (Hastings) Dec 3-1

182 Jericho Cooper (Hastings) over Steven Cruze (Willmar) Dec 6-3

195 Derrick Steinke (Hastings) over Ramero Trevino (Willmar) Dec 9-4

220 Austin Leflay (Hastings) over Zander Miska (Willmar) Fall 0:46

285 Blake Clemons (Hastings) over Daunte Castellano (Willmar) Fall 1:51

Four straight wins gave the Raiders the team win and moved them on to face Waconia. Austin Leflay not only locked up this win for Hastings, but he also logged his 60th career pin along with his 25th pin this season and his 100th overall varsity win during this dual. The final of dual one was 40-25 and Hastings moved on to take on Waconia at 1:00 p.m.

Waconia and Hastings had met each other early in the season.

“We got humbled at the beginning of the year,” said Beissel. “We lost to Waconia early in the season and that was the best thing that could have happened to us as a team.”

That loss stuck with the Raiders, it helped them focus and train harder for an expected rematch. It set the tone for the season and the Raiders knew they were going to have to fight for everything. Waconia was ranked higher than the Raiders nearly all year long until the end of the season when Hastings finally passed them to take second in the state rankings behind STMA.

The dual against Waconia was a completely different dual the second time around. Trey Beissel earned a major decision and Blake Beissel pinned his opponent to give the Raiders the early 10-0 lead.

The middleweights, Gavin Lambert and Peyton Erickson put up a solid fight for the Raiders, but Waconia was just too much for them and the Wildcats earned two major decisions to close the gap 10-8. Jack Bainbridge made quick work of his opponent, earning the pin in 55 seconds and extending the Raider lead 16-8. Svoboda stepped up again and his injured shoulder was not quite up for the task. He fought valiantly but lost in the end and the team score was 16-13.

It looked as though Svoboda’s efforts ignited the team and the next four Raiders won their matches. Route earned a decision, Creed Peterson earned a decision, Pepple earned a major decision and Cooper locked in the team win with his 9-2 decision at 182 pounds. The meet was mathematically over at that point and Hastings was headed to the championship match against STMA.

Here are the official results by weight class:

106 Trey Beissel (Hastings) over Gabriel Witschorik (Waconia) Maj 19-5

113 Blake Beissel (Hastings) over Wesley Hammarsten (Waconia) Fall 0:50

120 Carter Katherman (Waconia) over Gavin Lambert (Hastings) Maj 16-7

126 Maverick Mueller (Waconia) over Peyton Erickson (Hastings) Maj 12-4

132 Jack Bainbridge (Hastings) over River Aamold (Waconia) Fall 0:55

138 Lincoln Vick (Waconia) over Mark Svoboda (Hastings) TF 24-7

145 Josh Route (Hastings) over Bradee Dwinell (Waconia) Dec 3-0

152 Creed Peterson (Hastings) over Alex Torres (Waconia) Dec 8-7

160 Aiden Erickson (Hastings) over Levi Mueller (Waconia) Dec 5-2

170 Ian Pepple (Hastings) over Andrew Torres (Waconia) Maj 14-3

182 Jericho Cooper (Hastings) over Cooper Jahnke (Waconia) Dec 9-2

195 Max McEnelly (Waconia) over Derrick Steinke (Hastings) TF 25-10

220 Alex Riley (Waconia) over Austin Leflay (Hastings) Dec 7-0

285 Blake Clemons (Hastings) over Vincent Halliday (Waconia) Fall 3:01

The final was Hastings 38, Waconia 21. The win gave the Raiders a few hours of rest time before the 7:00 p.m. match against the best team in the state, STMA.

The state wrestling meet is an amazing sight to see in person. Six teams wrestle for three state titles. Class A saw Jackson County Central (JCC) take on Caledonia-Houston with JCC winning. Class AA had New Prague versus Simley with the Spartans taking that championship, and for Class AAA, Hastings versus STMA. There were three active mats out of eight and the lower bowl of Xcel Energy Center was near capacity.

The Knights had an air about them, they had beaten Hastings twice this year and they had zero reason to expect anything different this time around. STMA has controlled nearly every dual they were part of, and they were going to control this one.

The meet opened as expected, if you are a Hastings fan. Trey and Blake had control of their matches, winning each as a decision. Then the script went as STMA expected. First the second-place individual, Mason Mills pinned Gavin Lambert, then Erickson fell in a major decision. Donavin Ward, who normally wrestles at 120 pounds, saw his fourth week of varsity action in place of the injured Svoboda at 138. Ward was pinned and Bainbridge lost by tech fall. The team score quickly went from 6-0 Hastings to 21-6 STMA. Route took down Eli Davis to give Hastings nine points.

Creed Peterson stepped to the mat and quickly found himself in the one spot he was trying to avoid, a pin. His opponent did a great job shifting around to earn the pin, but now Hastings was down 27-9 and nearing the point of no return. Aiden Erickson did everything he could to not be pinned and give the Raiders a fighting chance. Erickson lost by tech fall and now the team score was 32-9 and STMA fans were really giving it to the Raider fans, some even thought the contest was over, and rightfully so, the Knights had dominated the middleweights and six out of nine matches went their way.

What people did not realize at that point in time was that Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center was about to become the stuff dreams are made of. Kids grow up watching their sports heroes perform at the highest levels. They dream of the grand slam in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, the sixty-yard Hail Mary to win the Super Bowl as time expires. But no one could have dreamed up this scenario for the Hastings Raiders.

Nobody except the Raiders.

“Every single time I went back to the tunnel, I was going back and forth every single match. I said, ‘Believe in yourself. Believe in your training. Know that you guys are here for a reason and you guys are going to win us a state title.’ I kept telling them that they are going to win us a state title and I really believed it,” explained Blake Beissel. “We are a team first team and our mentality going in is to never say die. You know, it was kind of funny. Everyone was like saying “shocked the world” in their newspapers. Before our prayer Pepple led it and he said we're going to shock the world.”

And what happened next did shock the world. Hastings was down 32-9 at this point, 24 points needed to win. Any one individual loss could spell doom for their chances to win their first state title since 1996. The max they could score was 30 points if all five remaining wrestlers pinned their opponents. That would give Hastings the win 39-32, so there were a few points to spare in there.

The issue at hand? The next three matches could go either way as Pepple, Cooper and Steinke had all lost to their opponents previously, so the boys were going to have to pull out some gutty performances.

Pepple came out to face a guy who had beaten him twice before, and that did not seem to bother him at all. Pepple fought the full six minutes to kick off a potential comeback for Hastings. At the end of his match, the normally reserved Pepple exploded off the mat having won 3-1 which gave the Raiders three much needed points. The score was now 32-12.

Rico Cooper stepped up next and had control of his match the entire time. A few questionable calls by officials flustered Cooper and the Raiders and ultimately changed the outcome of the match. Cooper won by decision whereas he should have won by either major decision or tech fall. Still, he earned the Raiders three more team points to close the game 32-15 with three wrestlers left.

That is when Hastings’ three heavy hitters knew they could win this, they knew they were going to be state champs. They looked at each other and the coaches and collectively realized, if they pin out, they win. The coaching staff summed it up with a simple ‘yeah’ and they put it in their minds they were going to do it.

Derrick Steinke had the 195-weight class for Hastings and he had wrestled his opponent at the winter clash previously.

“Derrick was winning at the Clash,” explained Beissel. “He got reversed to his back and pinned. He went into practice everyday thinking of that moment and how to get better opportunities. He went out today and handled the pressure better, he wrestled calm and cool.”

Calm and cool was a great way to describe Steinke’s performance on the mat. He was methodical and calculated in his moves and at 49 seconds into the second period, the official’s hand hit the mat signifying Steinke earned the pin and the entire arena erupted, Hastings was on the verge of the impossible. The score was now 32-21 with two wrestlers left.

At the start of the season, Austin Leflay’s goal was that people around the State of Minnesota knew his name. As a junior, he fell short of his goal at the state tournament last year and with this being his last year to wrestle, he knew he needed to make a splash.

As he walked to the mat after seeing Steinke get a pin, what was he thinking?

“At that point, I think I stopped thinking, my mind kind of went blank. I knew the team needed me, I had to get a pin,” Leflay simply stated.

Leflay, the one they call Frankenstein, went out and did just that, 44 seconds into the match and it was 32-27 with one more wrestler to go. The entirety of Xcel Energy Center was on their feet, focused on the Class AAA mat to see who was going home Champions. The bench for STMA knew it was not going to be them this year. They knew that Hastings was about to do the unimaginable, their faces said everything before the last match started, they were done.

Before the pin, what did Leflay see for him to get the pin?

“I was working for an escape and as soon as I had his right hand, I knew he was done,” he explained. “I’ve been in that position countless times, especially on him and I knew he was done.”

How does it feel to be a state champion?

“I can't put it in words. It's unimaginable, something they can never take away,” said an emotional Leflay.

Blake Clemons came out of the tunnel at section 107 and marched across the mat and a quick glance at his opponent told fans to get ready for fireworks. Clemons had faced Logan Thorkelson previously at The Clash and won 3-1 and he also won in the dual at STMA 5-1, but he had yet to pin him. The coaches of STMA had to have told him, if you lose, nothing more than a major and we still win. Do not get pinned and do not let him score 15 on you.

It sounds simple, but in this version of the story, it went like this.

Clemons and Thorkelson shook hands and, in that moment, Clemons did his best impersonation of Ivan Drago from Rocky, looked him square in the eyes and said ‘I must break you.’ Thorkelson looked scared out of his mind and Clemons was ready.

Of course, Clemons did not say that, but it sure looked like he did, because the fear in Thorlkeson’s eyes said everything, Hastings was about to be state champions and there was nothing he could do to stop Clemons.

The big men pushed and shoved and pulled but neither could gain an advantage over the other. Then with 60 seconds expired in the first period, Clemons took Thorkelson down to the mat earning the pin at 1:04 in the first. Xcel erupted with cheers with the Raiders defeating STMA 33-32 in unbelievable fashion.

Down 32-9 at one point, to come back with the final five wrestlers and get a 3-point decision, a 3-point decision, a 6-point pin, a 6-point pin and a 6-point pin to win by one point. It is truly unbelievable; the stuff movies are made of.

The Hastings Raiders truly did shock the world, upsetting the team that was number one all year long.

Here are the official results of each match individually.

106 Trey Beissel (Hastings) over Lincoln Robideau (St. Michael-Albertville) Dec 5-1

113 Blake Beissel (Hastings) over Chase Mills (St. Michael-Albertville) Dec 3-0

120 Mason Mills (St. Michael-Albertville) over Gavin Lambert (Hastings) Fall 2:11

126 Ian Schultz (St. Michael-Albertville) over Peyton Erickson (Hastings) Maj 14-6

132 Landon Robideau (St. Michael-Albertville) over Donavin Ward (Hastings) Fall 1:29

138 Parker Janssen (St. Michael-Albertville) over Jack Bainbridge (Hastings) TF 15-0

145 Josh Route (Hastings) over Eli Davis (St. Michael-Albertville) Dec 5-33.0

152 Jarrett Wadsen (St. Michael-Albertville) over Creed Peterson (Hastings) Fall 0:52

160 Jed Wester (St. Michael-Albertville) over Aiden Erickson (Hastings) TF 19-4

170 Ian Pepple (Hastings) over Noah Torgerson (St. Michael-Albertville) Dec 3-1

182 Jericho Cooper (Hastings) over Bryon Sauvy (St. Michael-Albertville) Dec 14-8

195 Derrick Steinke (Hastings) over Tyson Hentges (St. Michael-Albertville) Fall 2:49

220 Austin Leflay (Hastings) over Myles Dehmer (St. Michael-Albertville) Fall 0:44

285 Blake Clemons (Hastings) over Logan Torkelson (St. Michael-Albertville) Fall 1:04

Hastings 33 - STMA 32.

What was going through Clemons head before his match?

“I’m thinking, man oh man, I need to get the pin. I was nervous, but I knew I could get taken down and still get the pin, so I was willing to take some risks,” laughed Clemons. “I wanted the pin as fast as possible. I knew once I had him on his back, I was not going to let him go.”

“After the match, I was just so emotional, and to see all the support from the fans, I’m just so glad everyone is here to support us and see all these seniors win. I give all glory to God because he left us happy and he put me in that position to help my team win. I’m just so happy right now,” he added.

Head Coach Tim Haneberg could barely contain his excitement for his kids and coaches. We finally pinned him down for a quick interview. What had to happen for his Raiders to take down the STMA juggernaut?

“I was talking to a couple different people about it. A lot of things had to happen in the duel. They have two very good lightweights and we beat both of them and they were both tight matches. Then we knew that they're going to have a string of really good guys. We had to mix and match a lot of different people to try to save 10 points and were able to save a couple team points here and there which is huge. Then we had to flip some matches around, so Josh Route lost to his opponent earlier in the year and he flipped that around. Ian Pepple lost via a major decision; he flipped that one around. Rico Cooper just lost to that kid in our duel. He flipped that around. Derrick Steinke, earlier in the season, he got pinned by his opponent and Derrick got the pin this time. Leflay has pinned that kid every single time, and Blake's play comes as a close match with their heavyweight, and we had a pin there. So, a lot of different things that had to happen to make that a win and it all happened,” explained Haneberg.

“It is something obviously no one can ever take it away from you and these kids earned it. They earned it. We have had a lot of things we had to do this year. We have morning practices; we had a lot of hard practices. We had an extremely, extremely tough schedule. These kids were so battle tested and so ready for this and they responded every single step of the way positively and this is the results of that,” he added.

Hastings has been to the state tournament 18 times before this year. In 2007 they were Class AAA runner-up and in 1998, they were Class AAA runner-up. They have won the state title once before, in 1996.

In 1996, the head coach was Paul Vaith, who is currently an assistant coach. Pete Kranz, who is currently an assistant coach was also an assistant coach on the 1996 team. Josh McLay was a wrestler in 1996 and an assistant coach this year. The next part of this quick history lesson is neat. Chad Beissel wrestled on the 1996 championship team with McLay. Also on that team was a manager, Becky Kranz, Pete’s daughter. Chad married Becky and they are the parents of Trey and Blake Beissel which makes Pete Kranz their grandfather. Both Hastings wrestling team championships involved Beissel boys, McLay, Kranz and Vaith. Speaking of Vaith, Luke Vaith, a volunteer assistant coach this year, is Paul Vaith’s son.

As Coach Haneberg said, a lot of things had to happen. What he did not realize is, that wasn’t just for one dual, a lot of things had to happen to put the Raiders right where they wanted to be, Champions.

The Raider pre-match prayer said, “We’re gonna shock the world” and you did boys, you did.

Congratulations to the Class AAA State Wrestling team champions, your Hastings Raiders.