By Bruce Karnick and Derek Simon

Hastings wrestlers travelled to Henry Sibley for the first two meets of the season. A three-team triangular against Henry Sibley and Simley. The three teams would rotate through and wrestle in a dual meet format. The Raiders would square up against the Warriors in their first dual of the season, have a 30-minute break, then take on Simley. The Warriors were able to relax some before the third dual meet of the night where they would face Simley later in the evening.

Hastings versus Sibley ended up looking very lopsided on the scoreboard with the final being 78-3 in favor of the Raiders. Hastings would win 13 of 14 matches, winning all 13 by fall or forfeit: 106 Blake Beissel won by fall at 1:42.

113 Mark Svoboda won by forfeit. The talented seventh grader would have to wait for his first varsity match.

120 Creed Peterson won by fall at 1:27.

126 Jack Bainbridge won by fall at :34.

132 Skyler Little Soldier won by fall at 5:18.

138 Isiah Lavergne lost a tough match in OT 12-10.

145 Josh Route won by fall at 3:26.

152 Aiden Erickson won by fall at 3:23.

160 Nolan Myers won by fall at 5:04.

170 Rico Cooper won by fall at 1:24.

182 Sam O’Connor won by fall at 2:40.

195 Blake Clemons won by fall at 3:41.

220 Austin Leflay won by forfeit.

285 Dylan Bartz won by fall at :38.

During the break, we spoke with Head Coach Tim Haneburg.

“The First one went pretty good I thought. With only a week and a half of practice, we had a little shorter week, the first one, compared to what we usually do, I thought our kids were in pretty good shape,” he said, describing the start of the practice season and the first chance to wrestle another team.

“We had a pretty wide variety of attacks on our feet. I thought on bottom, we are looking pretty good on bottom and a lot of motion on bottom and we got away. On top, we were looking really tough, too. So, all three areas of wrestling, I think we are looking pretty good so far,” Haneburg explained.

When given a chance to talk about the performance of his wrestlers, he kept the focus on the team aspect given it is so early in a weird season.

“I think from top to bottom, we were looking pretty solid. This next one’s gonna be pretty tough. So, we will get kind of better read after this next one,” he said.

What was Haneburg looking for going in to the dual with Simley?

“Oh, man, well, I think just taking on the challenge, you know, they’re probably the best, they are the best teams in the state. And, I mean, they are one of the best teams in the country too. So, I want to see if we got some fight in our kids, you know, if our kids are willing to step up to the challenge and take the fight to them.”

Simley started the season ranked number one in Class AA. They also have three wrestlers in their lineup that are ranked in the top ten in the nation at their weight class.

How are the kids handling the mask situation?

“Yeah, it’s not slowing us down at all. With every kind of precaution or every kind of protocol, we are just taking it and we are just going through it and it is not slowing us down at all. They’re doing great with it,” Haneburg said.

“We’re lucky to be and grateful to be back on the mat,” he added.

Nolan Myers, the 160-pound weight class wrestler, stepped up to the mic next to give a recap of his first match of the season.

“Well, right away I knew I was able to control his movement, so I was just trying to get good setups. Later, in the period, I got a nice set up on him, hit a single. I had to transition to a double A and took him down at the end of the period. The second period, I was down, I got out, took him down and then I am pretty sure I rode him out from then on. The third period, I took him down and put him to his back for the pin.”

Myers reinforced what Coach Haneburg said about the COVID restrictions, “I’m just happy that we’re able to do something.”

Looking ahead to the Simley match, Myers was looking for payback.

“Just rematch against a kid I wrestled last year. He me worked pretty hard last year. I’m hoping to put together a closer match,” he explained.

Myers match would go the distance, unfortunately, he would lose by a major decision. The final score was 15-5.

Two wrestlers did win their match against Simley: 106 Blake Beissel won 3-2 145 Josh Route won 3-2.

Raider wrestler Skylar Little Soldier has been one of a few female wrestlers in the state of Minnesota. Here she is working for positioning on her opponent in the first match against one of the best teams in the state, Simley. The score of this match ending 15-0 in favor of Simley.

Photo by Bruce Karnick