Hochstein is poised to hit century mark

HARTINGTON — Kerby Hochstein is ready to make wrestling history.

In the next few weeks, COVID-19 permitting, the senior Cedar Catholic wrestler should reach the 100th career win milestone and be the second such grappler to do so.

Eric Hoesing was the first person to reach 100 wins, accomplishing the feat last season.

Hochstein is 99-53 for his career and will next hit the mat at the Pierce Tournament Saturday and should have plenty of opportunities to reach the century mark, and if not, he should nail it Jan. 9 at the Winside Invitational.

“It would mean a lot, especially for the program since I would be only the second guy to get it,” Hochstein said. “It’s just about putting the work in during the offseason and to keep working at it. Since I was a freshman, I just worked hard in my spare time.”

His coach has enjoyed working with the senior.

“Kerby is a great kid who busts his tail off each and every practice and does everything we ask of him,” Coach Bartling said. “He is very quick and does a great job of attacking his opponents with that speed. 

“Overall Kerby is the kind of kid that every coach wants on his team. Great leader, hard worker and great teammate.”

Hochstein uses quickness to get some of his better shots in, and combines that with his obvious strength while not relying solely on either.

Hochstein, who has wrestled 138 but will move to 132, should have a good shot to make it to the state tournament in his final year as a prep wrestler.

“I believe he has a very good chance to make it to state,” Bartling said. “He has been there before, so he knows what it takes. We are not ranked currently, but it’s 2020, and early in the year, so we have plenty of time before we worry about rankings.”

Bartling said each member of his team gets better every week.

“Every wrestler has a chance to get better throughout the year. We will have some meets that are tougher than others, but that’s a great way to not only see all kinds of styles and towns but also gives us more mat time to continue to grow,” he said. 

Hochstein could have hit the career milestone earlier, but had to delay the start of his senior season due to quarantine.

“We are starting to find our groove. Once we find that, look out, we will be on a tear,” Bartling said.

Hochstein is confident about his final season and he feels the team could have a good campaign.

“With things going on, you don’t know what’s going to happen, but we think we are going to have a pretty good season,” he said. 

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