White Hawks Wrestlers Lose Two Close Duals; Place in Top Eight at The Bunyan Invite

The Mound Westonka White Hawks wrestling team opened Wright County conference action on Thursday, December 12, dropping two close dual meets to Annandale/Maple Lake and New London-Spicer.  In the first match of the evening, the White Hawks faced the Annandale/Maple Lake Lightning and fell by a score of 38-28.  “We lost a couple of one point matches and gave up too many pins.  A couple of things here and there and we could have won,” said head coach Todd Munsterteiger.  The White Hawks experienced a similar fate against New London-Spicer, this time getting edged 39-36.  “It was our first duals of the season, and we didn’t quite seem to be in team mode yet.  It was a learning experience for us and we need to improve some things in order to beat the tough teams,” added Munsterteiger

The White Hawks traveled to Brainerd on Friday for the tough Paul Bunyan Invitational, which is a two-day, 16 team individual tournament with many of the top teams in the state.  The White Hawks fared well, ending up in the top half of the field with an 8th place finish.  “This is a great tournament to challenge our top guys, and they responded well,” commented assistant coach Eric Rodelius.  The White Hawks placed six of the nine wrestlers who competed, with two champions.  Sophomores Ryan Reid and Lee Schmalz placed 7th and 4th respectively; junior Luke Schmalz captured a 3rd place finish; senior Bryan Tierney was a runner up; while freshman Neil Schmalz and junior Sam Bennyhoff took home championships.

Two White Hawks wrestlers reached milestones over the past weekend, as juniors Sam Bennyhoff and Luke Schmalz both reached 100 career wins.  “Sam and Luke are hard workers and put a lot of time in on the mat, and it’s a great accomplishment to be where they are at in this point of their careers,” said assistant coach Jake Saatzer.

The White Hawks will return to conference action on Thursday, December 19 at 6:00 p.m., when they face Delano and Orono at Delano High School.  

Caption:  Paul Bunyan Invitational champs Neil Schmalz and Sam Bennyhoff