Mound Westonka climbed to No. 9 in Class 1A and will look to remain in top-10 conversation with a win over Minnehaha Academy.
The White Hawks had a nine-game unbeaten streak foiled in a 4-3 loss to Park of Cottage Grove Dec. 29. During that run, Mound Westonka (8-2-1, 1-0-0) picked up impressive wins over No. 10-2A Delano (4-3 on Dec. 22) and Apple Valley (8-3 on Dec. 28). Aleksi Partio (5-5-10) proved vital in both games, tallying two points against the Tigers and a hat trick against the Eagles.
The Redhawks are coming off a 7-2 loss to defending Wisconsin state champion Hudson last Thursday. Reed Bartelings (7-11-18) has been an offensive catalyst for Minnehaha Academy (7-3-1, 0-1-0), tallying six assists on the power play. The Redhawks lead the state in penalty minutes and have proven to agitate their competition into committing similar penalty minutes.