Topper wrestlers finish with 8 in top 5 at Hopkins invite

By Kelsie Hoitomt

HOPKINS — The Topper wrestlers had a brief rest after two days at Northern Badger before they were back on the mat.

They traveled to Hopkins, Minnesota on Saturday for an individual tournament that ended with eight wrestlers in the top five.

Taking second place in their weight classes were Jake Nadeau and Hogan Chouinard; Jake wrestled 106 and Hogan was at 220.

Marcus Ullom wrestled at 132 and placed third. Jake O’Meara was up to 152 and placed fourth. Logan Smith also placed fourth in the 182 pound bracket.

Finishing fifth was Spencer Peterson (145), Cody Bonte (138) and Brad Kessler (113).

Nadeau wrestled two matches with his first one won by a decision of 6-5 over Willie Bastyr of Lakeville South.

He was close to being crowned champion, but he lost the match to Patrick Lockwood of Minneapolis Washburn by a decision of 4-3.

Chouinard started the day off with a win over freshman, Jimmy Lennon of St. Thomas Academy by a 2-1 decision.

He then had to face off against junior, Adam Lucast of Lakeville South and he lost by a pin in that championship round.

Ullom started the day off with a loss to sophomore, Carson Lesher of East Ridge by a fall in 2:47.

He bounced back with a win over Kyle Finken on Minnetonka, which ended by a pin nearly five minutes into the match.

That win put him up against Willy Rohweder of Hopkins and Ullom won by a 9-4 decision, which gave him the third place honors.

O’Meara’s road to fourth place started with a win by a major decision over Ricky Kruse of Minneapolis Washburn. He then had to wrestle junior, Ian Smith of Hopkins and lost by a fall in 1:58.

That loss put him down in the bracket against D’Vante Johnson of Lakeville South. Their match ended with Ullom winning by a 7-0 decision.

The win put him in the fight for third place, but he lost in that match by a 4-0 decision to Conor Leech of Minneapolis South.

In Smith’s bracket, he had to wrestle first against senior Jim Almquist of Lakeville South. That match did not end in Logan’s favor as he lost by a tech fall of 19-4.

The bracket was set up in a way that that loss put Smith in the fight for third or fourth place, which ended with him losing to Oscar Ramirez of Hopkins by a pin at 1:45.

At 145, Peterson wrestled against junior, Kelby Johnson of Lakeville South for his first match. That ended in a fall with Peterson losing quickly in the first period.

Peterson then had to face off against John Drumm of Minnetonka and lost by a 5-2 decision, which put Drumm in the running for third place.

Peterson wrestled the fifth place match against Sean Follega of Minneapolis Washburn and won by a big decision of 11-4.

Bonte finished with the same route. He lost his first match to Tha Dah of Como Park by a fall in 1:37. He then had to wrestle Conor Vitt of East Ridge and that match ended in a tech fall.

Vitt went on to win third place and Bonte dropped to the fifth place, which he clinched after beating Justin Grunseth of Hopkins by a fall in 2:23.

And last, but not least, Kessler finished in fifth place after he lost to Grant Hendren of Lakeville South by a fall near the four minute mark. He then went on to wrestle Logan Renninger of Minnetonka and lost by a fall to the junior in 3:07.

Kessler went out strong after he faced off against sophomore, Khalid Ali of Minneapolis Washburn and won by a pin in 2:52.

There were nine total schools there and the Toppers placed sixth overall with 80 team points.

First went to Lakeville South with 243 points, then it was Minnetonka with 199, Hopkins with 147, Minneapolis South and St. Thomas Academy each had 85, East Ridge had 78, Minneapolis Washburn had 50 and last was Como Park with 24.

The Toppers were at home Tuesday night against Cadott and then they will be back at home this Thursday, January 8 against Mondovi. Both duals have a 7:00 p.m. start time.