The “Hammers” look to lead Toppers in senior year

By Kelsie Hoitomt

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City wrestling team looks to have another solid year under the leadership of senior “Hammers” Austin Moe, Riley Knops and Adam Holmquist.

Moe and Knops return to the team as 2011-2012 state champions and Holmquist placed third at the state championship.

The Hilltoppers have had a shorter start to their season due to football, but coach Shane Strong still believes the team will peek at the right time come February.

The wrestling team lost three seniors to graduation, heavy weight Colton Doornink, state qualifier Alex Holmquist and Kyle Branham.

However, the team has gained freshman Quinton Rogers, Paul Anderson, Damian Hoitomt, Kole Smith, Cody Bonte and Hogan Chouinard.

Also new to the team this year and to the school district is junior Blayze Wood who has plenty of wrestling experience and looks to be a great addition.

Seniors Alex Little and Nick Peterson are both new to the team and will be filling in the heavy weight position since Doornink has graduated.

“We are inexperienced in our upper weights, but we love the attitude of our new kids. Our kids have a great work ethic and a focus to compete at a high level which is a strength of our program,” shared Strong.

Along with the “Hammers”, the team also returns letter-winners, Brennan Kessler, Donovan Fornal, Jeff Kopacz, Charlie Shackett, Skylar Peterson, Jacob Carlson, Hunter Chouinard and Billy Norenberg.

The Hilltoppers were 19-9 overall last season and finished 1-3 in the Dunn-St.Croix Conference.

“We only focus on two things during our season. Great attitude and effort in our preparation to compete at a high level. We focus on peaking at the right time come regional competition time in February,” explained.

The Hilltoppers are still working on finding their permanent place on the roster due to the lack of practice and the ability to cut or gain weight.