Four Cedar wrestlers book trip to State

BATTLE CREEK - A strong team performance in Battle Creek for the Cedar Catholic wrestling team finished with the team advancing a school record four wrestlers to the NSAA State Championship Tournament starting on Thursday.

Ethan Koch and Turner Korth will be returning to state for the second time, while Eric Hoesing and Kerby Hochstein will make their first trip to Omaha.

After losing in the heartbreak round in both his freshman and sophomore year, Hoesing did not hold back in terms of what his District performance meant to him.

“Honestly, I think back to every time I thought ‘this sucks’ through all of my training, and it is all worth it when it comes down to this,” said the Cedar junior.

As a team, Cedar Catholic finished in seventh out of 16 teams. Two Trocat wrestlers lost in the heartbreak round this year. Junior Morgan Koch and freshman Carson Jones each fell one match short of making the trip to Omaha.

“I think it is going to ignite a tremendous fire,” said Cedar head coach Justin Bartling. “The one thing you have to look for, to me, is when they come off that mat from the heartbreak match some kids think ‘okay I knew I was going to lose’ but both of them were mad and upset about it. That is what fuels the fire, and again they get to talk to Eric and Kerby who have experienced that. Next year, I don’t expect they will make the same mistakes.”

Eric Hoesing was District Runner-up at 182 pounds, and Ethan Koch earned the same honor at 152 pounds. Both Korth and Hochstein finished in third place at 145 and 126 pounds, respectively.

The most Cedar Catholic had previously sent to the State Tournament was three, all seniors, but Bartling thinks having four will be great for the team, especially with Hochstein and Hoesing returning next year.

“Having teammates there is huge. You are warming up with your guys, you have them with you at the hotel, and then it is a motivator.”

Ethan Koch cracked a joke, saying it will be great to have more teammates down there, but it may also be a little tighter of quarters.

“My hotel room will be a little fuller so that sucks since I won’t get my own bed,” joked Koch. Sending four wrestlers down wasn’t the only Cedar record to be set at Districts. Hochstein became the youngest Trocat to ever qualify for State, being a sophomore.

“It is a dream come true, but you have to just keep thinking about next week going for the State Championship and going for that gold medal. Just have to keep going,” said Hochstein.

The sophomore isn’t shying away from the ultimate goal, keeping his eyes fixated on the prize. Bartling teaches his guys to focus on one match at a time but admits Hochstein may have the tougher draw in the first-round.

“Kerby will probably have the tougher match just because he is the youngest, but he beat a kid who earlier this year beat him twice. So to get that payback helps a lot.”

Hochstein continued by saying, “it is huge beating a guy I lost to twice because it gives me some confidence going into State and it has just been an amazing season.”

Last year, Korth and Koch kept with the tradition of dyeing their hair blonde before heading to State. This year there are some split ideas on the matter.

“First off, we need to decide if we are going to dye our hair or not, and after that, like coach Bartling says to take it one match at a time,” said Hoesing.

Koch contested, “Absolutely not. Never again, never going to happen.”

It has been a landmark season for Cedar Catholic so far. At Districts, Korth broke his own record for most wins in a season, Hochstein became the fastest to 50 wins in the program's history, Hoesing broke his older brother’s record for the quickest pin, and the team will send the most state qualifiers to State than ever before.

With the momentum this team has gained late in the season, Bartling knows a run can be made down in Omaha.

“I think Ethan can nd himself very easily in the Finals,” said Bartling. “He lost to the returning second place guy in overtime twice. So he doesn’t have a ceiling, and they will be on opposite sides of the bracket. Eric just about beat the number two kid in the state. The way he is wrestling right now, the sky is the limit for him as well. Turner had one bad match, but since Christmas, that is only his second or third loss since Christmas. Kerby will probably have the tougher match just because he is the youngest, but he beat a kid who earlier this year beat him twice. So to get that payback helps a lot.”

Cedar travels down to Omaha Thursday for the first day of the three-day State Championships. Being in Class C this year, the Trocats compete in the second session, starting with the first round at 4 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, first and second round consolation matches begin at 12:30 p.m., with Semifinals and third round consolation matches for all classes beginning at 5 p.m. On Saturday, all classes will compete at once with consolation semifinals starting at 8:30 a.m. with third and fifth place matches following.

The Championship Finals begin at 2 p.m.

Team Results

Battle Creek, 181; St. Paul, 125.5; Malcolm, 118.5; Centennial, 106; Oakland-Craig, 99; Bishop Neumann, 88.5; Cedar Catholic, 78.5; Louisville, 70; South Central Nebraska Unified District #5, 65; Cross County/Osceola, 63; Winnebago, 50; Doniphan-Trumbull, 48.5; Ponca, 48; Wakefield-Allen, 47; Madison, 17; Yutan, 12.

Cedar Catholic Individual Results

106 Carson Jones (9-29) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Carson Jones ( Cedar Catholic) 9-29 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Josh Urlacher (Bishop Neumann) 22-20 won by fall over Carson Jones ( Cedar Catholic) 9-29 (Fall 0:33)
• Cons. Round 2 - Carson Jones ( Cedar Catholic) 9-29 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 - Carson Jones ( Cedar Catholic) 9-29 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Semi - Nick Busse (St. Paul) 18-19 won by fall over Carson Jones ( Cedar Catholic) 9-29 (Fall 2:04)

120 Nash Albers (12-20) place is unknown and scored 2.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Nash Albers ( Cedar Catholic) 12-20 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Ryan Zoucha (Malcolm) 33-11 won by fall over Nash Albers ( Cedar Catholic) 12-20 (Fall 0:50)
• Cons. Round 2 - Nash Albers ( Cedar Catholic) 12-20 won by major decision over Kevin Rodriguez (Madison) 3-27 (MD 12-2)
• Cons. Round 3 - Matthew McDonald (Winnebago) 30-18 won by fall over Nash Albers ( Cedar Catholic) 12-20 (Fall 2:31)

126 Kerby Hochstein (35-16) placed 3rd and scored 16.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Kerby Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 35-16 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Kerby Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 35-16 won by fall over Gavin Saxton (Oakland-Craig) 12-10 (Fall 2:28)
• Semifinal - Gaven Schernikau (Centennial) 35-14 won by fall over Kerby Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 35-16 (Fall 0:48)
• Cons. Semi - Kerby Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 35-16 won by fall over Jeremiah Chase (Wakefield-Allen) 14-20 (Fall 1:55)
• 3rd Place Match - Kerby Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 35-16 won by decision over Carter King (Battle Creek) 34-18 (Dec 9-5)

138 Conner Hochstein (7-23) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Gavin Zoucha (Malcolm) 37-17 won by fall over Conner Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 7-23 (Fall 2:31)
• Cons. Round 1 - Conner Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 7-23 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 2 - Chase DeVries (South Central Nebraska Unified District #5) 34-12 won by fall over Conner Hochstein ( Cedar Catholic) 7-23 (Fall 0:49)

145 Turner Korth (39-8) placed 3rd and scored 18.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Turner Korth ( Cedar Catholic) 39-8 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Turner Korth ( Cedar Catholic) 39-8 won by fall over Wil Essex (Louisville) 19-17 (Fall 1:35)
• Semifinal - Kyle Sterup (Cross County/Osceola) 46-13 won by decision over Turner Korth ( Cedar Catholic) 39-8 (Dec 7-4)
• Cons. Semi - Turner Korth ( Cedar Catholic) 39-8 won by fall over Juan Lopez (Wakefield-Allen) 24-13 (Fall 2:44)
• 3rd Place Match - Turner Korth ( Cedar Catholic) 39-8 won by fall over Grant Williams (Doniphan-Trumbull) 36-8 (Fall 3:58)

152 Ethan Koch (18-4) placed 2nd and scored 17.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Ethan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 18-4 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Ethan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 18-4 won by major decision over Taylor Lautenschlager (Doniphan-Trumbull) 27-19 (MD 10-0)
• Semifinal - Ethan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 18-4 won by decision over Isaac Verzani (Wakefield-Allen) 37-3 (Dec 9-3)
• 1st Place Match - Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) 47-3 won in sudden victory - 1 over Ethan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 18-4 (SV-1 5-3)

160 Morgan Koch (30-12) place is unknown and scored 5.5 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Morgan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 30-12 won by tech fall over Mitchell Fischer (Wakefield-Allen) 3-18 (TF-1.5 6:00 (15-0))
• Quarterfinal - Tom Maline (Oakland-Craig) 26-17 won by decision over Morgan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 30-12 (Dec 6-4)
• Cons. Round 2 - Morgan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 30-12 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 3 - Morgan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 30-12 won by decision over Josh Jessen (Yutan) 25-15 (Dec 7-2)
• Cons. Semi - Christian Eacker (St. Paul) 32-14 won by fall over Morgan Koch ( Cedar Catholic) 30-12 (Fall 2:48)

182 Eric Hoesing (29-9) placed 2nd and scored 20.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Eric Hoesing ( Cedar Catholic) 29-9 won by fall over Randall Urbanec (Winnebago) 7-28 (Fall 0:50)
• Quarterfinal - Eric Hoesing ( Cedar Catholic) 29-9 won by fall over Caleb Courter (Malcolm) 6-10 (Fall 4:25)
• Semifinal - Eric Hoesing ( Cedar Catholic) 29-9 won by decision over AJ Hawthorne (Battle Creek) 35-13 (Dec 6-5)
• 1st Place Match - Luke Fairbanks (Bishop Neumann) 17-1 won by decision over Eric Hoesing (Cedar Catholic) 29-9 (Dec 7-6)