By Bruce Karnick

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The Hastings Raiders sent four wrestlers to Fargo, ND to the Marines Junior (18U) and Cadet (16U) Nationals, part of USA Wrestling. Skylar Little Soldier, Blake Beissel, Blake Clemens and Rico Cooper were the Raiders to compete.

Skylar Little Soldier participated in two portions of the tournament, the Cadet bracket, which is the 15-16 age division and she wrestled up in the Junior bracket, the 17-18 age division, both in the free-style form. In her age group, she won the title of National Champion outscoring her opponents 58-4, earning the first National Championship for Hastings since Josh Mclay won it in 2000. In Juniors, she finished fourth. Little Soldier also earned All-American in both divisions.

“You have to place in the top eight in your bracket to earn all-American,” explained Little Soldier.

That sounds simple, but when the bracket is made up of 70+ of the top wrestlers from around the United States, that is a huge deal.

Little Soldier added, “There were 39 in my Cadet bracket and 75 in my Junior Bracket. I

was just trying to keep my cool with everything going on. It was kind of hard, but… I was excited and nervous at the same time. It was unbelievable, it had been my goal for a very long time. [to have her hand raised as a national champ]” Beissel, who placed fifth in the Minnesota State High School League state tournament wrestled in the freestyle bracket where he took sixth in the nation. The sixth-place finish earned him the title of All-American.

Cooper fought hard all weekend long and finished with two victories. Clemens earned no victories in the tournament. Both wrestlers gained the experience of a lifetime that they can bring back to the Raiders this winter.

Head Coach Tim Haneberg was very excited for his quartet of wrestlers to attend, “the training camps and all the stuff they build up to [the tournament] is huge too. You’re getting amazing coaching, you have great training partners, amazing practices, all that stuff adds up for sure.”

Haneberg was quick to point out that Beissel earning all-American with his sixth-place finish in free-style earned him and his dad, Chad, the first ever Father-Son combo to earn all-American for Hastings.

Proud dad Chad Beissel and his son Blake share a unique bond and hold an exclusive title for Hastings Raiders Wrestling. They are the first father/son duo to both earn USA Wresting All-American honors.

Photo Courtesy of Chad Beissel.

Raider Wrestling parents and fans gathered at Dugarel’s on the patio for a surprise party to celebrate Skylar Little Soldier’s National Championship along with her and Blake Beissel’s All-American Honors from the recent national tournament. Photo by Bruce Karnick