Wrestlers prepare for post-season

PIERCE - It could be that the Mid States Conference wrestling tournament came at just the right time for the Cedar Catholic/ Hartington-Newcastle Trocats this season.

“With this being the week before the postseason I believe we started improving our weaknesses which will be crucial going forward,” head coach Justin Bartling said. “These were really tough tournaments which ultimately will benefit our guys going into the postseason.”

Kerby Hochstein was the top overall performer during the meet as he broke the school’s all-time career takedown mark during his first match at the Mid States tournament.

He posted a 4-4 record and two fourth-place medals while boosting his career win total to 126.

Other Mid States places were Conner Hochstein in third place while Tavious Pinkleman also earned a fourth-place medal.

At the Plainview Tournament, joining Hochstein as a top placer were Conner Hochstein (fourth), Cole Steffenson (fourth), Nash Albers (fifth), Keegan Carl (sixth), Tavious Pinkleman (sixth) and Kale Korth (sixth).

The top wrestlers for the Trocats heading into the SubDistrict tournament set for 11 a.m. Saturday in Oakland, are Conner Hochstein (35-16), Kerby Hochstein (28-12), Steffenson (28-21) and Carl (25-20).

“This week I liked that we were more aggressive and got after our opponents early,” Bartling said. “That will be a big need in the coming weeks to make it to Omaha.”

He said the past three weeks have been some really challenging tournaments, which should really help the team in post-season.

“We already have seen and wrestled some top talent and shown our kids that they can hang with anybody for six minutes,” he said. “Kerby, Keegan, Cole and Conner all finished the season with winning records which will give them a good seed for the tournament.”

The top four placers from SubDistricts advance to next week’s District finals.

The SubDistrict tournament will feature: Battle Creek, Bishop Newman, Central City, Lutheran High Northeast, Oakland-Craig, WilberClatonia, and Winnebago.

Bartling said a number of polls have placed Central City as the topranked team in Class C.

“I will say that I am extremely blessed to be able to coach these great kids,” Bartling said. “Their hard work and dedication have been amazing. The schools, kids, and families have done a remarkable job of keeping the COVID bug out of our building,” he said. “We are one of only a few teams that can actually say we wrestled every meet and never had an outbreak.”

MID-STATE TOURNAMENT

Team Standings

Pierce, 178; Boone Central/Newman Grove, 171; O’Neill, 167.5; Crofton/Bloomfield, 142; Battle Creek, 114; Wayne, 113; Norfolk Catholic, 84; GACC, 57.5; Cedar Catholic, 45.5.

Plainview Invitational

1 Crofton-Bloomfield, 189; 2. Plainview, 169; 3. Wayne, 134; 4. Norfolk Catholic, 124; 5. Quad County NE; 116; 6. Palmer, 91.5; 7. Ponca, 83; 8. East Butler, 82; 9. West Holt, 67; 10. Cedar Catholic, 64; 11. Lutheran High NE,48; 12. Winnebago, 42; 13. Niobrara/Verdigre, 27; 14. Creighton, 22; 15. Osmond, 13; 16. O’Neill St. Mary’s,St. Mary’s, 12; 17. Grand Island Central Catholic, 10.

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