White Hawk Wrestlers Place Ten at Sections; Advance Five to State

The Mound Westonka/Holy Family wrestling team placed ten of thirteen wrestlers in the top six at the Section 6AAA wrestling tournament in Hopkins on February 24 and 25. Of those ten, five placed in the top two, and will advance to the state tournament this Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3. 

“We had an outstanding tournament and are excited to be sending five kids. For the most part, we beat the kids we should have and had a few upsets as well,” said head coach Todd Munsterteiger. 

Sam Bennyhoff, Bryan Tierney, and Will Van Sant all dominated their weight class, earning section titles; while Ryder Schmidt and Tyler Hebig battled to second place finishes. Schmidt avenged an early season loss to his Wayzata opponent in the semifinals to earn his first trip to state. 

“Ryder’s upset in the semi’s was awesome, and we just kept rolling after that,” Munsterteiger said. 

Also placing for the White Hawks were: Ryan Reid and Travis Peterson, 6th place; Tyler Ihli, 5th place; John Byers, 4th place; and Ben Rogers, 3rd place. 

Rogers beat a two-time state entrant in the third place match, then narrowly missed going to state in an exciting true-second match. 

“Ben wrestled a great tournament, and I can’t be more proud of his effort. He left everything he had on the mat and had a great season,” said assistant coach Eric Rodelius. 

Lone senior Tyler Ihli ended his career on a high note, with a dominating 12-0 win in the fifth place match.

 “Tyler was a great leader for this team, and will certainly be missed,” said freshmen coach John Wardlow.

Bennyhoff, Hebig, Schmidt, Tierney, and Van Sant will wrestle in first round action on Friday at 9:00 a.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. Quarter finals will start at 5:00 p.m., with wrestlebacks slated for 8:00 p.m. 

“We’re excited to see what we can do down there. Sam and Tyler have been there before, and the other guys have the potential to win some matches as well,” Munsterteiger said.