The Mound Westonka wrestling squad traveled to Brainerd on Friday, December 10 to compete at the Paul Bunyan Invitational.  The two-day individual tournament featured mostly outstate schools in all three classes, with a number of ranked teams participating. 

“This is a great tournament to see a lot of tough competition that we won’t face all season," said head coach Todd Munsterteiger. "We wrestled a lot of state-ranked wrestlers and competed well."

The White Hawks placed ninth overall as a team in a tightly-packed field, with Bemidji bringing home the first-place trophy. Placing for the White Hawks were: eighth-grader Mason Merritt, sixth place; eighth-grader Cooper Rowe and freshman Cole Munsterteiger, third place; junior Sam Dioszeghy, second place; and sophomore Jack Nelson, first place. Rowe, Munsterteiger and Dioszeghy all lost close matches to state-ranked opponents in the semifinals or finals; while Nelson topped Spencer Johnson of Sartell, ranked third in Class AAA, to earn the championship and remain undefeated. Nelson is the state’s top-ranked wrestler in his weight class in Class AA.

The Bunyan Invite also featured a junior varsity tournament, where eight White Hawks wrestled several matches and gained valuable mat time. “Everyone won at least one match and competed hard - it was a great weekend of wrestling for the squad,” said assistant coach Eric Rodelius.

The White Hawks will open the conference season when they travel to Rockford on Thursday, December 16, and will host a non-conference triangular on Friday, December 17 against Norwood Young America and Chaska/Chanhassen. The White Hawks will wrestle at 6 p.m. both evenings.