Hochstein brothers start a family tradition

HARTINGTON — Three brothers have played a big part in the evolution of the Cedar Catholic wrestling program’s continued rise to the upper echelon of the sport.

Last weekend, the Trojans finished a school-best seventh at the Class C finals and had five boys medal – all of which return in 2024-25 – and three of them share the same last name of Hochstein.

Freshman Bodie Hochstein (132 pounds) finished third, his twin Easton (126) ended up fourth and sophomore Brady (150) ended up sixth in their respective brackets.

This trio was dominant all season long. To further illustrate that point, the boys who have all wrestled together since they weren’t even old enough to reach the cookie jar on the kitchen counter, combined to win 128 matches against 13 losses this season.

“Cedar Catholic wrestling has always been a family affair,” Cedar head coach Justin Bartling said. “If you look at our leaderboards, or into our team’s history, we have had several families make lasting impacts on this program.”

Brothers like Chad and Austin Koch, Patrick and Eric Hoesing, Turner and Kale Korth, Weston and Maverick Heine, Kerby and Conner Hochstein, and Brady, Bodie and Easton Hochstein have all been contributors over the years.

This year not only did Brady, Bodie, and Easton go to state together, but all three brought home medals.

“The three Hochstein brothers coming in have the most combined experience of any family we have had together. The best part is all three have different personalities and wrestling styles. They are great teammates and kids to work with and even though they are young, they lead by example for everyone else in the room. It’s rare to have that so young but to find that in all these kids is amazing.

It’s almost like Maverick Heine, who also medaled at State, is a brother, too. “Maverick has been with the brothers almost every step of the way and is also a sounding board for the kids with less experience. It’s been a pleasure watching so many of these kids and getting to work with so many families. As a coach, I have been blessed to work with some amazing kids and parents and this core group we have now is just amazing and I look forward to what’s yet to come.”

The elder of the bunch, Brady, says the love of the sport started during their younger days on the mats in Crofton, as they started around the age of six.

“We just decided to try it out and realized we were pretty good,” Brady said. “So, we started going to tournaments and managed to start winning. We were good enough to make our own team. Having three brothers there to help kept us getting better every day.

Wrestling wasn’t exactly passed down to the boys from their parents, who both excelled at other sports in high school.

“We didn’t really have anybody else that really wrestled. My dad was friends with the Crofton coach at the time and he just recommended us trying a physical sport because we were always boys that were in the house fighting and wrestling around. It was a good thing to try and beat each other up.”

Brady said he still has the edge on his younger brothers when they decide to take things to the mat.

“I knew they were going to be something special the way they’ve been the past couple of years,” he said of the twins’ freshman year. “They were hanging right there with me the entire time. I knew they were gonna do something big. They’re known for winning. They’re studs.

“I don’t think (they can beat him) and they’re still falling a little short. They won’t beat their big brother for a while yet,” their coach said.

Easton said having his brothers around wherever they go also helps them enhance their abilities on the mat.

“Just having two other brothers who are really good athletes just pushes each one of us to be better,” Easton said. “If one becomes better than the other, you want to catch up to them and be the best. We’re definitely pretty competitive. There’s a lot of fights that go on at home.”

Easton said he and his twin may look alike in appearance, but their approaches on the mat are dissimilar.

“Bodie just takes it conservative going into a match and I just think going into the match to be aggressive and get the first take down,” Easton said. “Bodie likes to set up his moves more. I am the most aggressive of us three boys. I bring that into my matches.”

He added that having all three go to state and medal was exciting and special. “I think it makes it a little bit easier and less stressful knowing that we’re all three down there together and I think it made my parents pretty proud,” Easton said.

As for Bodie, he admits to being the more calculating of the three wrestlers. He also said the transition from youth to high school wrestling is difficult just because the matches are divided by weight class and less about age. Youth wrestling will go by age and weight.

“It’s freshman through seniors, so people can be way bigger than you and stronger,” Bodie said. “It’s been a really fun experience and we’ll do it for the next few years. This is the first one and it will be a good one to remember.”

Bodie’s success comes from seeing his strength limitations and deciding he would out think and beat his opponents to the first and second moves.

“It’s just a natural way that I did things because I was always the younger one and I’m not as strong (as his brothers),” Bodie said. “I like to attack my opponent’s mistakes and when they shoot, I counter and score from there. I see what they’re doing and adjust to it.”

That might be something opponents of Cedar may try to do for the next few years and likely with little to no success as long as the Hochsteins are around.

“I think we can all definitely win a gold medal in these upcoming years as we grow older,” Bodie said. “That would be really cool and I think it will ha ppen too.”