The Mound Westonka White Hawks wrestling squad traveled to Hutchinson on Jan. 18 to take on the host Tigers and the Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield Dragon Chargers in Wright County Conference action.

The White Hawks came up big in the first round, upsetting the Tigers 30-29 for their first win over Hutchinson in 10 years. “We matched up great with them and wrestled really well; it was a big win for us,” said head coach Todd Munsterteiger. 

The White Hawks jumped to an early 17-0 lead with pins from freshmen Deacon Ramthun and Levi Hays, and a technical fall from eighth grader Brady Kirkpatrick. Sophomore Cooper Rowe, junior Cole Munsterteiger and senior Jack Nelson all grinded out decisions over their top wrestlers, and junior John Seemann put it out of reach with a major decision. “We won some big matches and didn’t get pinned, and that was the difference,” said assistant coach Eric Rodeius.

The White Hawks capped off the evening with a 43-24 win over Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield, highlighted by two overtime wins from juniors Al Zuniga-Lopez and Eric von Holtz.

The White Hawks wrestlers traveled to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School for an individual tournament on Jan. 20 and placed seventh out of 14 teams. “There were some tough Class A, AA and AAA teams there, so overall we faced some tough competition and fared well,” said assistant coach Eric Hensel. 

Placing for the White Hawks were: von Holtz, sixth place; Ramthun, fifth place; Seemann, third place; Cole Munsterteiger, second place; and champions Nelson and Rowe.

The White Hawks will travel to Irondale High School on Thursday, Jan. 25, to compete in the Iron Rumble dual tourney. First round action begins at 3 p.m.