The Hastings Raiders Boys Swim and Dive team had an abbreviated sectional because of weather. The prelims were scratched and timed finals only were held instead. Coach Katie McAlpin said that the Raiders held their own “mini section meet” on Wednesday to replace the prelims.
The Raiders swam on Friday and dove on Saturday finishing 5th in the section.
The team set over 90% best times and had 18 Top 16 finishes, while Charlie Jensen and Thomas Foss both finished Top 8 with personal best scores, according to Coach Katie McAlpin.
Coach McAlpin mentioned that the team is very young, and only 15 strong, with half of them 7th, 8th or 9th graders. Coach McAlpin mentioned she was excited about the opportunity for growth in the years ahead.
The Prescott Girls Basketball season came to an end in the regional final as the Cardinals fell to Saint Croix Falls 56-48. The game was tied at the half at 27 but the Saints pulled away late to secure the victory. The Cardinals finish the year at 17-9 overall, Middle Border champs yet again. The team says goodbye to six seniors: Katrina Budworth, Izzy Matzek, Maddie Rundquist, Rhi Stutz, Rylie Radloff and Addison Huppert. The Cardinals beat Bloomer one night earlier 72-44 to advance, with Violet Otto pouring in 27 points.
The Prescott boys, a 2 seed themselves, open playoff competition Friday night to try and begin a run at the Kohl Center.
The Hastings Raiders boys wrestling team dominated section individual wrestling tournaments, as 12 of the 14 participants qualified for the individual state tournament, with the addition of the four girls wrestlers making it a total of 16 who are there on the individual side. The following wrestlers qualified:
– Trey Beissel, 106 lbs
– Blake Beissel, 113 lbs
– Peyton Erickson, 126 lbs
– Jack Bainbridge, 132 lbs
– Josh Route, 145 lbs
– Creed Peterson, 152 lbs
– Aiden Erickson, 160 lbs
– Ian Pepple, 170 lbs
– Rico Cooper, 182 lbs
– Derrick Steinke, 195 lbs
– Austin LeFlay, 220 lbs
– Blake Clemons, 285 lbs
The Raider wrestlers first get to try and win a team state tournament this week inside the XCEL Energy Center in Saint Paul before the Individual Tournaments take place Friday and Saturday. The Raiders are seeded third and will face unseeded Willmar in the first round. Should the Raiders win they would then face either 2nd seeded Waconia or Rochester Mayo in the semifinals. Waconia defeated Hastings in the regular season.
On the individual side, Skylar Little Soldier will wrestle for the title at 145 after winning the 132 title last year, while Blake Beissel who was a 106 champion last year moves up to 113. According to the MSHSL’s Wrestling State Preview, Little Soldier could face a fellow defending champion from Eastview for the 145 title.
The Hastings Raiders Hockey team had one last free skate to wrap up the 2022-23 season earlier this week at Hastings Civic Arena. The Raiders also learned of their all-conference awards that were handed out. Kody Niederkorn, Brody Larsen and Blake Vandehoef were named as all-conference performers, while Eddie Peine, Mark DeNoyer and Jon Harris were named as honorable mentions.