Hilltopper wrestlers finish on top at home quad

By Kelsie Hoitomt

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City wrestling team hosted a quad last Tuesday with Baldwin-Woodville, Turtle Lake/Clayton and Unity high schools and finished 3-0.

Their first victory was against TL/C who they beat 53-34. The first three matches were forfeits, one for the Toppers at 285 and two for TL/C at 106 and 113.

Damian Hoitomt got the first pin of the night for the team against Kyler Coleman in just over a minute. Riley Knops then followed with a pin as well against Mason Gates early in the second period.

The team scores bounced back and forth as Clarence Rogers was pinned, Jake Carlson pinned Josh Campbell and then Billy Norenberg was pinned late in the third period.

With the score knotted at 24-24, the Toppers took the lead after Adam Holmquist pinned Austin Shultz in just 34 seconds and Austin Moe tech falled senior Kollin Horn in the second period.

Brennan Kessler has been a tough wrestler so far this season and he fought hard against Damion Blechinger, but lost in a 14-5 decision. Blayze Wood then wrestled Nick Stesniak and pinned him in 35 seconds.

At 195 was junior Donovan Fornal who had one of his best nights of wrestling as he pinned all three of his opponents starting with Tristan Truttman who was pinned in just 29 seconds.

Alex Little then finished the dual with a pin in 32 seconds against freshman Kevin Prinsen.

The second team to lose to the Hilltoppers was the Blackhawks in a 51-21 upset.

Again the dual started with three forfeits with Baldwin scoring points for 106 and 113 and Hoitomt received a forfeit at 120.

Then it was Knops who pinned Brandon Braun after a minute and a half. Carlson pinned Michigan Trunkel in just over a minute. Norenberg was pinned by Tom Langer in the first period.

One of the more entertaining matches of the evening was Holmquist against fellow Victory School Wrestling student, Tyler Weyer. It was an even match, but Weyer took home the win on a 5-1 decision.

With the score at 24-15, the Toppers took an even farther lead with Moe pinning Brody Peterson in just over a minute.

Then it was Jeff Kopacz against Bo Orton and with the score tied at 3-3, Kopacz got the escape and then took Orton to the mat and held on tight until the clock ticked to zero for the 4-3 win.

Wood pinned Joe Nawrocki in the final minutes of the match. Kessler got his first win of the night against Joe Jorgenson in the second period. And Fornal got his second pin in just over two minutes against Ben Mikla.

The Blackhawks would score their final points of the dual as Travis Shackleton pinned Little in just under a minute.

The dual ended when newcomer, senior Kyle Peterson, won his first match of the night after sticking Dylan Frye to the mat in just 45 seconds.

The Hilltoppers then put the punishment down on the Unity Eagles as they held them at 54-6 until the final three matches.

Both teams had forfeits at 113 and 120 so Knops started with a match against Tucker Olson who he pinned half way through the first period for his third win of the night.

Also going undefeated in the quad with a 3-0 record was Carlson who pinned Damon Bearhart in the first period. Moe pinned Colton Sorrenson in just under a minute. Kopacz pinned Dakota Lofgren in just under three minutes. Wood pinned Ty Hoffbeck in third period and Fornal pinned Brad Eley in a minute and four seconds.

Rounding out the rest of the team were Norenberg who lost to Tevin Anderson, Holmquist who pinned Zac Baxter in just over a minute, Kessler won by forfeit and Little and Peterson each were pinned for the final 54-21 victory.

The Hilltoppers were scheduled to wrestle Stanley-Boyd on Thursday evening, but due to the weather conditions the dual was cancelled. The Toppers will wrestle next at the Northern Badger Classic on December 28 and 29.