White Hawks Lose to Section Wrestling Champs

Westonka's varsity wrestling squad hosted the Section 6AAA Team Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 18. The White Hawks were seeded No. 4 going into the tourney, and faced fifth-seeded Minnetonka in the first round.  

Although they defeated the Skippers soundly earlier in the season, head coach Todd Munsterteiger said Westonka knew they would face a tougher test this time around. In a scrappy battle, the White Hawks again prevailed, winning 44-25.  

“Overall we wrestled well and got the job done, and winning is all that matters this time of year,” coach Munsterteiger said.  

The White Hawks victory set up a showdown with No. 1 seed Willmar in the semi-finals, where the White Hawks fell 57-15.  

“We had a few guys banged up and sick and were not full-strength against them, but they are a tough squad and deserve to be wrestling in state,” added assistant coach Eric Rodelius.  

Willmar went on to defeat Wayzata in the championship match and will represent the section in the state team tournament on Thursday, March 1. The White Hawks ended their dual-meet season with an impressive 19-8 record, and will look for big things next year with only losing one senior.

The White Hawks now look forward to the section individual tournament this Friday and Saturday in Hopkins, hoping to send as many individuals to state as possible.  

“We had a goal to send the team to state, and will have to put that on hold until next season," freshman coach John Wardlow said. "Now the guys are focusing on their individual goals the rest of the way." 

The first round starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and continues on Saturday with semi-finals at 11 a.m. Finals are slated for 4 p.m.