White Hawks Wrestlers Win Three More Duals, Place 2nd in Conference Tournament

The Mound Westonka White Hawks wrestling team continued their winning streak, winning three more duals, while also placing second at the Wright County Conference tournament.  The White Hawks wrestlers started the busy week with a make-up match on Tuesday, January 28, when they wrestled Dassel Cokato at Orono High School.  The White Hawks jumped out to an early lead, winning the first five matches, but the Chargers came back, taking three of the next four weights.  The White Hawks’ upper weights took over from there, as Ryder Schmidt, Bryan Tierney and Travis Peterson all pinned their opponents, and Kyle Johnson rallied late for a win to give the White Hawks a resounding 48-21 victory.  “DC is a tough squad and we have never been able to beat them, so it was great to have a decisive victory’” said head coach Todd Munsterteiger.

On Thursday, January 30, the White Hawks traveled to Wayzata to take on the host Trojans and Minnetonka in a section triangular meet.  Again, the White Hawks prevailed, but had to battle to earn both wins.  “Both squads have some tough kids and give us match-up problems, so we really needed to step it up,” added Munsterteiger.  The White Hawks faced Minnetonka in the first match of the evening, and again the lower weights dominated to give the White Hawks a big lead.  After the Skippers earned a few victories in the middle weights, Junior Noah Sweet gave the White Hawks a little breathing room,  with a pin at 160 pounds.  Another pin from Tierney gave the White Hawks enough points as they cruised to a 44-27 victory.  Next up was Wayzata, a team that has been to the section finals the past two years and one the White Hawks had never beaten.  The dual and many individual matches were tight, as 106 pounder Neil Schmalz started it out with a narrow 3-1 overtime win.  The White Hawks had a small lead heading into the 182 pound match, as senior Bryan Tierney, rated 6th in state, took on 5th rated Collin Sohn.  Tierney won 3-2 in a wild match that excited fans and coaches, and sealed the dual for the White Hawks.  Kyle Johnson added a pin to give the White Hawks a 42-24 victory.  “These were big section wins for us as we look forward to the post-season,” commented assistant coach Eric Rodelius.

The White Hawks completed a hectic week with a second place finish at the Wright County Conference tourney on Friday, January 31 at New London-Spicer High School.  Earning all-conference honors by virtue of their top two finish were runner-ups Neil Schmalz and Luke Schmalz, as well as champions Sam Bennyhoff, Ryder Schmidt, and Bryan Tierney.  Also placing for the White Hawks were: John Byers and Travis Peterson, sixth place; and Lee Schmalz, Ryan Reid, Drake Heath and Kyle Johnson, fourth place. 

 The White Hawks will complete the regular season this week with a dual at Litchfield on Thursday, February 6, and will host the Leopold Haglund Invite on Friday, February 7.  First round action starts at 5:00 p.m.