Glenwood City grapplers have successful dual in Luck
By Kelsie Hoitomt
LUCK — The Glenwood City wrestling team hit the road last Tuesday for a dual meet in Luck against Luck/Grantsburg/Frederic.
As a team, the Toppers wrestled well and their conditioning appears to be paying off as they outscored L/G/F 42-22.
According to coach Shane Strong, several of the L/G/F wrestlers currently have records like 7-1 or 8-0 and the Hilltopper’s were able to defeat five of them.
The dual started off at 126 pounds with Riley Knops wrestling Hunter Dodds. Knops won by a tech fall 16-0 early in the third period.
Jake Carlson who had a pin last week against Cadott, wrestled Evan Ryan and earned himself another pin in just 31 seconds.
The Cardinals received their first points after Tristan Brewer pinned Clarence Rodgers late in the second period.
At 145 lbs. was Adam Holmquist against Timothy Lund. Holmquist controlled the entire match earning two points in the first period and five points in the second before he pinned Lund in 29 seconds in the third period.
Fellow Hammer, Austin Moe wrestled Tony Britton at 152 lbs. The scores were even at 4-4 going into the second period until Moe gained the upper hand and won by a decision of 12-4.
Jeff Kopacz matched up against Josh Glover and was only able to get a take down as he lost on a 2-12 decision.
Brennan Kessler had one of the most exciting matches of the night as he fought back from being down 4-10 after the second period to beating Alex Richey in a decision of 15-12.
“The other kid’s face was purple, he was so gassed going into the third period and Brennan just kept pushing the pace. He showed a great deal of heart against an undefeated wrestler and won a key match for us,” shared Strong.
Blayze Wood moved up a weight class to 182 lbs. and wrestled Colton Branville, who he pinned at 24 seconds into the second period.
Donovan Fornal continued the winning streak for the Hilltopper’s as he pinned Logan Burch halfway through the second period, which put the Toppers ahead 36-10.
The Cardinals would score their final points after Blain Clemons pinned Skylar Peterson and Ryan Strenke pinned Alex Little.
Damian Hoitomt would wrap up the evening at 126 lbs. with his first varsity pin of the season against Cole Britton.
“Our kids showed great improvement from our last dual meet. It is evident that our conditioning is improving each day and I was pleased with our effort,” said Strong.
The Hilltoppers’ next dual meet, excluding tournaments or quads, will be on Thursday, December 20 at home against Stanley-Boyd starting at 7:00 p.m. They hosted a quadrangular on Tuesday.