Three Cedar wrestlers are crowned Mid State Conf. champs

WAYNE — Three Cedar Catholic wrestlers were crowned last week as MidStates Conference champions.

Turner Korth at 145, Morgan Koch at 160, and Eric Hoesing at 182 each became conference champions at their respective weight classes.

It was the second Tournament in a row that three Cedar wrestlers earned first place finishes.

As a team, Cedar Catholic placed third at the MidStates Conference Tournament on Thursday in Wayne, scoring 105 points.

Battle Creek won the team title for the fourth consecutive year, and Pierce followed in second.

Ethan Koch also made it to the first-place match, but he lost to Battle Creek’s Ty Heimes in a match that required two extra periods to decide.

Cedar Catholic Coach Justin

Bartling was proud at the success the team saw at the match.

“It just shows how much work some of these older kids have put in,” Bartling said. “For Turner that is his sixth consecutive finals match. Ethan has been in the Finals of every meet except for his first one. Eric has been in there, Morgan has had some tough losses, moved up a weight class, and to come away with a win there was huge.”

For Hoesing, he pinned Battle Creek’s AJ Hawthorne in the finals to win the 182-pound title.

The Cedar junior had lost to Hawthorne earlier in the season, now the two have each won a match against each other and are set for a potential third matchup at Districts on Friday.

“He beat us at Battle Creek. He threw us and stuck us in the first period. That is a kid we will face at Districts, and now we have beaten him so we are split and now that he knows we can beat that kid, Eric’s confidence will go through the roof,” Bartling said.

For Ethan Koch, he could also see Heimes again on Friday. The two will be the top two seeds at 152 pounds, and battle for seeding at State in Omaha if they clash at Districts.

“We can beat [Heimes],” said Bartling. “We can take him down and we showed we can take him down.”

Korth earned his championship over Norfolk Catholic’s Francisco Mendez, an opponent he has now beaten twice.

Morgan Koch pinned Wayne’s Reid Korth in 1:10, to secure his first championship of the season at 160 pounds.

“We are definitely hitting our stride,” said Bartling. “Some of these kids we have seen before and so we are not making the same mistake twice. That happened big time in that 182 match with Eric [against Battle Creek’s AJ Hawthorne]. Top to bottom they are coming to practice ready to work and it is showing.”

At 126 pounds, Kerby Hochstein finished in third place, going 3-1 on the day. Hochstein was pinned by Pierce’s Carter Jensen in the semifinals, sending him to the consolation bracket. Hochstein rebounded by pinning both of his next opponents to end his day.

The Trocats finishing in third place as a team is more impressive when considering the fact Cedar does not have a full team. Not once this season has Cedar Catholic filled all 14 weight classes, topping out with nine competitors at most.
Despite the lack of depth, the team has consistently produced results. “We only brought eight today, actually seven of them are varsity and two didn’t even score any points. We can wrestle with anybody. With the kids we have, I have no doubt we can go on the mat and wrestle with anybody. We are not a full team but we are de nitely showing everyone in this conference that we are a force. No matter how small of a team we are we can compete.”

The third-place finish for Cedar Catholic sent the Trocats into the weekend with momentum.

Cedar traveled to the Norfolk Catholic Invite on Saturday for the team’s final Invitational before competing at Districts this Friday in Battle Creek.

Team Results

Battle Creek, 224; Pierce, 175; Cedar Catholic, 105; Boone Central/Newman Grove, 99; Norfolk Catholic, 96; O’Neill, 82.5; Wayne, 72.5; GACC, 58; Crofton-Bloomfield, 33.5

Cedar Catholic Individual Results

106 Carson Jones (9-25) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal - Gavin Dozler (Boone Central/Newman Grove) 30-15 won by fall over Carson Jones (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 9-25 (Fall 0:55)
• Cons. Round 1 - Carson Jones (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 9-25 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Semi - Hudson Barger (Crofton-Bloomfield) 23-20 won by tech fall over Carson Jones (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 9-25 (TF-1.5 3:00 (17-1))

126 Kerby Hochstein (28-14) placed 3rd and scored 18.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Kerby Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 28-14 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Kerby Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 28-14 won by fall over Christopher Thiem (Boone Central/Newman Grove) 6-23 (Fall 1:25)
• Semifinal - Carter Jensen (Pierce) 30-16 won by fall over Kerby Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 28-14 (Fall 1:15)
• Cons. Semi - Kerby Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 28-14 won by fall over Lio Dominguez (O`Neill) 10-9 (Fall 2:39)
• 3rd Place Match - Kerby Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 28-14 won by fall over Dylan Ahlman (Battle Creek) 18-13 (Fall 4:43)

138 Conner Hochstein (6-21) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - William Poppe (Crofton-Bloomfield) 28-19 won by fall over Conner Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 6-21 (Fall 3:00)
• Cons. Round 1 - Conner Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 6-21 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Round 2 - Ethan Baumert (Guardian Angels Central Catholic) 20-16 won by fall over Conner Hochstein (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 6-21 (Fall 2:26)

145 Cole Steffensen (7-14) place is unknown.

• Champ. Round 1 - Cole Steffensen (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 7-14 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Turner Korth (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 33-7 won by fall over Cole Steffensen (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 7-14 (Fall 1:07)
• Cons. Round 2 - Cole Steffensen (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 7-14 won by fall over Kaleb Kummer (Battle Creek) 10-18 (Fall 2:08)
• Cons. Round 3 - Tanner Storjohann (O`Neill) 21-14 won by fall over Cole Steffensen (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 7-14 (Fall 1:21)

145 Turner Korth (33-7) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Turner Korth (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 33-7 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Turner Korth (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 33-7 won by fall over Cole Steffensen (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 7-14 (Fall 1:07)
• Semifinal - Turner Korth (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 33-7 won by decision over Ashton Schweitzer (Pierce) 32-16 (Dec 6-1)
• 1st Place Match - Turner Korth (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 33-7 won by fall over Francisco Mendez (Norfolk Catholic) 37-11 (Fall 5:53)

152 Ethan Koch (13-3) placed 2nd and scored 19.0 team points.

• Champ. Round 1 - Ethan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 13-3 received a bye () (Bye)
• Quarterfinal - Ethan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 13-3 won by fall over Cooper Zara (Wayne) 9-19 (Fall 3:09)
• Semifinal - Ethan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 13-3 won by major decision over Servando Gonzalez (O`Neill) 15-15 (MD 14-6)
• 1st Place Match - Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) 43-3 won in tie breaker - 1 over Ethan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 13-3 (TB-1 5-2)

160 Morgan Koch (25-9) placed 1st and scored 22.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal - Morgan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 25-9 won by fall over Cale Schwer (Guardian Angels Central Catholic) 3-13 (Fall 0:38)
• Semifinal - Morgan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 25-9 won by decision over Nelson Emerson (Pierce) 20-11 (Dec 6-2)
• 1st Place Match - Morgan Koch (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 25-9 won by fall over Reid Korth (Wayne) 19-13 (Fall 1:10)

182 Eric Hoesing (26-8) placed 1st and scored 22.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal - Eric Hoesing (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 26-8 received a bye () (Bye)
• Semifinal - Eric Hoesing (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 26-8 won by fall over Riley Davis (O`Neill) 17-14 (Fall 3:07)
• 1st Place Match - Eric Hoesing (Hartington Cedar Catholic) 26-8 won by fall over AJ Hawthorne (Battle Creek) 32-12 (Fall 3:28)

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