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Cedar mingles with elite company, finishing third at State
Trojans claim two individual titles and four state finalists
OMAHA —The Cedar Catholic wrestling team continued its trend of smashing school records last week.
Cedar came home with the first-ever wrestling state champions as sophomores Easton and Bodie Hochstein both picked up the gold medals in their respective divisions.
Cedar had three other wrestlers earn medals at State.
Brady Hochstein and Maverick Heine both earned silver medals, while Braeden Klinschmit settled for fourth.
Kleinschmit ends his high school wrestling career with a boat-load of honors. He is the school’s first four-time State qualifier, is the school’s all time career wins leader, and has the school record for most near falls and most technical falls. He’s also the first to reach 150 career wins.
In the girls tournament, Cedar’s Evie Freeman earned the school’s first-ever medal, claiming the bronze.
Those four days will result in a lifetime of memories and the start of even bigger things to come as a great nucleus remains for next year’s team.
“We have six wrestlers coming back from this year with state experience,” Cedar Catholic coach Justin Bartling said after the dust settled on the tournament late Saturday. “Now we just need to fill in the blanks and add some depth. We competed with the Battle Creek’s and Minden’s, the David City’s, the O’Neill’s, now if we develop some depth, we’ll be loaded to compete and beat them.
“Hats off to Battle Creek and Minden, they are both great teams and deserved what they earned, they simply had more depth than we did, but we were sure right there.”
Battle Creek won it second consecutive Nebraska Class C Individual Wrestling Tournament Championship 119.5118.5 over runner-up Minden with the Trojans third at 108. Crofton-Bloomfield was a distant fourth with 73 while St. Paul rounded out the top five with 68.5.
Here is a day-by-day recap of the boys tournament, beginning with the opening round.
DAY 1
The Trojans have made program headway all season long on the wrestling mat and the Nebraska Class C State Wrestling Tournament has coach Justin Bartling and the Trojans on the cusp of a few more “firsts” as they headed into Friday’s action.
Cedar advanced four wrestlers to the semifinals, and according to Bartling, if just one of them won in the semi’s it would be the first Trojan to compete in a state final.
“We have never had a wrestler wrestle on television on Saturday,” said Bartling after Thursday was finished. “It’s far from a given, the competition is beyond fierce, but if we wrestle the way we did all season, I like our chances.”
Still alive for a gold medal were Maverick Heine at 126 pounds, Bodie Hochstein at 138, Easton Hochstein at 144 and Brady Hochstein at 165.
Easton and Brady Hochstein took unbeaten records into Friday’s semifinals with Easton sitting at 49-0 and Brady sporting a 47-0 record.
Heine is 40-5 and Bodie Hochstein is 32-2. In addition to the individual accomplishments, the team was in second place behind Battle Creek which had 47.5 points. Minden was third with 39.
“We’ll need to get some guys out of the consolation rounds, but we can really score a bunch of points in the semifinals,” Bartling said. “It’s a state tournament, you never know what is going to happen, it can either be really good or really bad. I believe we have the mental toughness and desire to make some noise the rest of the way.”
Cedar Catholic showed that mental toughness and desire in the quarterfinals as many of the matches went down to the last minute, take down, pin, or move.
Heine was not part of the group that caused the coach some gray hair, as he pinned his quarterfinal opponent with just over a minute left in the bout and he was leading 13-0 when he stuck Kevin Pedraza of Madison.
Bodie Hochstein at 138, trailed 3-1 at the end of the opening two minutes then tied the match with an escape and stalling penalty called on his opponent, Koltdyn Heath of Minden with 1:22 left in the second period.
Hochstein grabbed the lead for good with a nearfall with 1:40 left on the clock, but Heath escaped with 1:29 remaining to make it 6-4 then the Trojan took Heath down and pinned him right at the final buzzer with a 9-4 lead.
“He got up and hit that tilt and I kind of caught him, I think he was kind of in desperation mode,” said Hochstein. “I think he kind of gave up and just let me pin him after I got him down.” The Trojan sophomore used his experience from last year to motivate him this season.
“I went down there and got beat in the quarterfinals and I know what that feels like,” he said. “I don’t want to feel that again. I’ll be giving it my all the rest of the way.”
Bodie’s twin brother Easton, trailed Kyler Vincent of Gordon-Rushville. Both wrestlers started in the neutral position to open the second and Hochstein got the take down to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.
Hochstein started on the bottom in the final two minutes and escaped right away to go up 5-3 then took Vincent down with just 46 seconds on the clock to claim an 8-3 win.
Brady Hochstein was on the ropes against Zane Cullers of Chadron before coming back with a reversal and a takedown to take an 11-10 lead with 48 second left. Cullers was called for stalling with 11 seconds left to get to a 12-10 final score.
Cedar Catholic 106-pounder, Grady Lammers lost in the quarterfinals earlier in the evening and Braeden Kleinschmit fell to 39-2 with a loss to Cade Harsin of Minden, 7-5.
“We need to get those two going in early tomorrow,” Bartling said. “Then we’ll get after it and see what happens.” DAY 2
Day two of the Class C Nebraska Boys Individual State Wrestling Championships had its usual twists and turns, ups and downs and even a little sideways on occasion, and the talk about Cedar Catholic “breaking new ground” after day one was correct, the Trojans put in a sub-division on day two.
Cedar Catholic was at the top of the heap after the second day with 92.5 points, Battle Creek and Minden were right behind with 90.5 “We had a great day today, I’m not sure how it could have been any better,” said Cedar Catholic coach, Justin Bartling at the time. “We only lost one match today and got all four of our semifinalists into the finals, what a day.”
It was somewhat uncharted waters for the Trojans, as they have never had a wrestler qualify for a state wrestling final and technically, Maverick Heine was the first-ever, but even he knew he wouldn’t be the only first, three teammates were going to join him.
In the hallways of the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha behind the scenes, the winners of Friday’s semifinals were subject to an impromptu conference with cameras, microphones and lights staring them in the face.
Heine, a junior in his first state interview, was asked, “What does it feel like to be the first state finalist for your school?”
The 126-pound wrestler was the first semifinal of the night for the Trojans and looked at the person who asked the question and graciously answered.
“I’m not the first, stick around and there will be three more Cedar Catholic guys stopping by here tonight for you to interview, we are the first,” Heine said. “I was just the lightest.”
As the night went on, truer words were never spoken.
Heine defeated Cash Stanek of North Bend Central in the semifinals by a major decision, 8-0 to add to Cedar Catholic’s point total before the three Hochstein brothers paraded through the interview room a couple of weight-classes later.
Bodie Hochstein grabbed a ticket to the state finals at 138 with a 10-6 decision over Ethan Elliott of Hershey to improve to 33-2 and would take on Mason Nitz of Elkhorn Valley.
In the semi’s, Hochstein got a takedown early, but Elliott got a reversal just seconds later.
At the end of the first period, Hochstein got his own reversal then a nearfall at the end of the two-minute session to take a 9-2 lead into the second.
The wrestlers started the second in the neutral position and Elliott took Hochstein down to get back to within 9-5, but Hochstein got another reversal just six seconds later to make it 11-5 after riding his opponent for the remainder of the period.
Hoschstein gave away a penalty point for stalling with 15 seconds left and posted the 11-6 final score.
Next up for the Trojans was Bodie’s twin brother, Easton, who remained undefeated with a 7-2 decision in his semifinal match to improve to 50-0 then the older brother, Brady, hit the mat for a dandy at 165.
Brady Hochstein trailed 3-0 in the first period then escaped to make it 3-1 early in the second.
His opponent, Wyatt Jelinek took Hochstein down again after the escape to go up 6-1 with 1:21 left in the second period.
From there, the elder Hochstein got busy and earned a 2-point reversal and a 4-point nearfall to head to the final period with a precarious 7-6 advantage.
Another near-pin with less than a minute left allowed Hochstein and his younger brothers to make Heine a bit of a prophet and put the Trojans in the lead for a team title.
Meanwhile, prior to the semifinals, Kleinchmit and Lammers were wrestling in the consolation brackets.
Lammers won his first consolation match, after dropping his match in the opening session, Lammers defeated Sean Schultz of Raymond Central with a major decision, 12-3.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period, but Lammers got it going in the second with a takedown with 1:32 remaining.
Schultz earned a reversal later in the period and they went to the final session with Lammers in front, 3-2.
Schultz was let up by Lammers to tie the score at the beginning of the third, then Lammers took him down and got a nearfall with 1:35 remaining on the clock.
Lammers then got a nearfall at the end of the match to secure the major decision and gain an extra point for the team.
Lammers was then defeated in the second round of the consolations by a wrestler from Mitchell by a technical fall.
Kleinschmit shook off his loss in the semifinals and began a trip through the consolation brackets.
He opened Friday with a win over Jehki Williams of Valentine with a major decision then defeated Ashton Kuchar of Battle Creek with a narrow 4-3 win to advance to Saturday mornings’ consolation semifinals.
“We certainly haven’t won anything yet and we told the guys that,” Bartling said. “There is a lot of wrestling left tomorrow and we are going to need another effort like today to get this done. We did all we could to make it happen today, now we need to continue that tomorrow.”
DAY 3
Cedar Catholic added a couple of “first-ever’s” to its program’s list Saturday in the finals of the Class C Nebraska Individual Wrestling Championships at the CHI Health Center Arena.
The Trojans placed four wrestlers in the finals for the first time in school history and those four wrestlers produced two state champions.
Bodie and Easton Hochstein won titles at 138 pounds and 144 pounds respectively while their older brother, Brady at 165 and Maverick Heine at 126 both brought home silver medals.
Cedar Catholic also flirted with a big “first-ever,” the possibility of bringing home a team plaque but falling a little short, winding up third.
“I’m not disappointed one bit,” said Cedar Catholic coach, Justin Bartling. “We only had six guys down here so we knew it was going to be tough, we wish we would have had a couple more things fall our way, but that’s wrestling and this is the state tournament.”
Bodie Hochstein, used a major decision of 15-2 over previously undefeated Mason Nitz of Elkhorn Valley.
He opened the match with a takedown and nearfall to take a 5-0 lead into the second period, and earned a reversal and nearfall in the second.
Nitz got a reversal to open the final session, but Hochstein escaped and took Nitz down after being penalized a point for stalling.
“This is as good as I expected, it feels awesome,” Bodie said. “My brothers are my biggest supporters and I am theirs. We wrestle around at home but it’s not really very organized, just kind of goofing around stuff.”
The sophomore also realizes the impact this season will have on the Trojan program for years to come.
“Getting on top of the podium is very cool and it shows all the little kids around Cedar Catholic what hard work and dedication can do. It’s great to get the rewards for all the work.”
Easton Hochstein wrestled Colton Kelley of Kearney Catholic for the 144-pound title, both wrestlers were undefeated on the season.
Hochstein got a takedown early in the bout, but Kelley got away by the end of the first session.
Kelley started the second period on the bottom and escaped before getting a takedown of his own to tie the score 5-5.
The Trojan started on the bottom for the third and got away just five seconds into the final two minutes and the two remained on their feet the rest of the way.
“We’ve put a lot of work in the wrestling room to get here, it feels really good,” Easton said. “To have wrestled at this level with my brothers makes it even better. I guess all of those years beating up on each other is paying off.” Brady Hochstein, the older brother, entered his final with 39-1 Robert Nelson of Minden at 165 pounds, undefeated. Nelson took a 3-0 lead after one then added to it in the second, hitting the four-minute stop with a 7-0 advantage.
Hochstein got away early in the third but neither wrestler took the other down in the third.
“Our wrestling room has grown over the years and it has grown since we were little kids,” Brady said. “We have a group of guys that are really hard workers. Now I’ll go cheer on my brothers (in their finals). I’m their number one fan and I always want the best for them, I probably want to see them on top of the podium more than they do.”
Cedar’s other finalist was Maverick Heine and he ran into a buzz saw named Ryan Stusse, Jr. from Battle Creek. Stusse, a returning state champion, had placed second and third previously as well. Stusse and Heine were very familiar with each other as Heine gave Stusse his lone loss of the season and three of the Trojans’ losses were attributed to Stusse.
This match was all Stusse and Stusse registered a pin for the first time ever this year over Heine.
“We have established a great group coming back next year,” said Bartling. “Now we need to take the next step and fill in the roster to compete with the Battle Creeks and Mindens. We’ve got the horses, we just need to find some more guys.”
One other area Class C wrestler, Jared Doxley of Winnebago improved to 46-3 with a 2-1 decision over Zach Tarin of Chase County to claim his gold medal.
“My mind set was I was the best heavyweight out there, and no one could wrestle with me and I was going to win no matter what,” Doxley said. “In ‘Bago I feel like we have more family than anywhere, people are always there to support you, pick you up when you fall.”
He was also the first state champion for the Indians.
NEBRASKA CLASS C WRESTLING TOURNAMENT:
Team Results; 1. Battle Creek 119.5; 2. Minden 118.5; 3. Cedar Catholic 108; 4. Crofton- Bloomfield 73; 5. St. Paul 68.5; 6. David City 64.5; 7. Wilber-Clatonia 63; 8. Syracuse 55.5; 8. Syracuse 55.5; 10. Elkhorn Valley 51; 11. Chase County; 12. Broken Bow 47; 13. O’Neill 45.5; 14. Valentine 43.5; 15. Doniphan-Trumbull 42.5; 16. Amherst 38.5; 17. Kearney Catholic 37; 18. Boone Central 36; 19. Tri County 33; 20. Chadron 32; 21. Bishop Neumann 31; 21. North Bend 31; 23. Mitchell 29; 24. Alma 27; 24. Winnebago 27; 26. Wood River 26; 27. Conestoga 25; 28. Col. Scotus 23; 29. Malcolm 22; 29. Raymond Central 22; 31. Falls City 21.5; 31. Tekamah-Herman 21.5; 33. Logan View 20; 34. Hershey 19; 35. Gordon-Rushville 16; 35. Twin River 16; 37. Norfolk Catholic 15; 38. Ord 13; 39. Madison 12.5; 39. Superior 12.5; 41. Gibbon 12; 41. Johnson Co.12; 43. Milford 11.5; 44. Tri County NE 10; 45. Pender 9.5; 45. West Point-Beemer 9.5; 47. Arlington 8; 48. Stanton 7; 49. Louisville 6; 50. Ogallala 4; 50. Summerland 4; 52. Red Cloud/Blue Hill 2; 53. Bridgeport 0; 53. Centura 0; 53. Fillmore Central 0.
Cedar Catholic Individual Results 106 - Grady Lammers (38-16) scored 2 pts; Def. by Diego Juarez (OGA) by fall, 4:54; Def. Sean Schultz (RaC) by major dec., 123; Def. by Yovani Jimenez (MITC) by tech fall 1.5, 19-3 5:00.
126 - Maverick Heine 2nd (41-6) scored 21 pts; Def. Holden McDonald (SUP) 5-0 dec; Def. Kevin Pedraza (MAD) by fall, 4:55; Def. Cash Stanek (NBC) by major dec. 8-0; Def. by Ryan Stusse, Jr. (BaC) by fall, 3:48.
132 - Braeden Kleinschmit 4th (42-3) scored 14.5 points; Def. Grant Eschiti (W-C) by 1-0 dec.; Def. by Cade Harsin (MIN) by decision, 7-5; Defeated Jehki Williams (VAL) by major decision, 10-0; Defeated Ashton Kuchar (BaC) by decision, 4-3; Was defeated by Landon Sund (BN) by technical fall 1.5, 17-0 3:53.
138 - Bodie Hochstein 1st (34-2) scored 27 pts; Def. Ryan Marsh (W-C) by fall, 0:43; Defeated Koltdyn Heath (MIN) by fall, 5:52; Defeated Ethan Elliotty (HER) by decision, 11-6; Defeated Mason Nitz (EV) by major decision, 15-2.
144 - Easton Hochstein 1st (51-0) Scored 24 pts; Def. Braxton Hatch (MIN) by fall, 5:02; Def. Kyler Vincent (Go-Ru) 8-3 dec.; Def. Luis Co (ChC) 7-2 dec.; Def. Colton Kelley (KC) 6-5 dec.
165 - Brady Hochstein 2nd (48-1) scored 19.5 pts.; Def. Ben Flesner (ARL) by tech fall 1.5, 16-1 3:54; Def. Zane Cullers (CHAD) by 12-11 dec.; Def. Wyatt Jelinek (RaC) 11-6 dec.; Def. by Robert Nelson (MIN) 7-1 dec.
