Blooming Prairie and Hayfield to Team Up for High School Wrestling
Get ready for the Westfield Razorbacks to take the mat this school year. The Blooming Prairie and Hayfield school districts will combine for wrestling starting this winter.
Due to low numbers in both programs, the Awesome Blossoms and the Vikings will combine efforts on the wrestling mat starting with the 2016-17 school year. Chad Gimbel with Blooming Prairie and Brad Heydt of Hayfield will act as co-coaches for the Razorbacks.
Blooming Prairie Activities Director Ali Mach told KRFO Radio that the wrestlers came up with several ideas for team name and a nickname. The student bodies then voted. Westfield is a township between the two communities. Mach said the students liked Razorbacks as "something different."
Mach says Blooming Prairie has some strong wrestlers each season but doesn't have the depth to be competitive in the team standings. Westfield will remain in the Gopher Conference and in Section 2, but it's not certain if they will be in A or AA for sections.
Mach said the team will split practice time and home meets between the two schools. The Blooming Prairie school board approved the co-op at their April meeting. Mach says there are no current plans to combine in any other sports.