Hornets embracing the grind as the wins pile up

By Ginna Young

With their winning ways, the Cadott wrestling program is headed for the conference championship.

Jan. 20 vs. Bloomer-Colfax (W 66-9)

Acting as hosts to Bloomer-Colfax, the Hornets were at full strength in front of the home crowd.

“We had a great showing of support,” said coach Josh Spaeth. “The Pep Band played and over 70 youth wrestlers were in attendance.”

Freshman Kaleb Lodahl (106 pounds) won over Aiden Anderson, with a 7-4 decision, followed by senior Logan Harel (120), who took the win over Brison Tuschi, by fall, in 4:58.

“Logan Harel came back from injury and won a hardfought match,” said Spaeth. “Cole Pfeiffer (junior) earned best effort of the meet. He lost a one-point match to the No. 2 ranked wrestler in Division 2. This match was very electric and Cole showed how a Hornet wrestler wrestles like a true warrior, with a lot of fight and determination.”

Also winning, was junior Brayden Sonnentag (126), over James McElroy, by a 1:10 fall. Junior Tristan Drier (152) also won, taking his match in a 3:00 fall, over Luke Blanchard. Junior Dawson Webster (170) won over Ethan Rubenzer, with a 7-1 decision.

Caden Kingston (195) also won against Kendra Hamman, by fall, in 0:29. Receiving forfeit wins, were freshman Brock Nesvacil (113), junior Nick Fasbender (132), senior Kaleb Sonnentag (138), seniors Ethan Duck (145) and Gavin Tegels (220), and junior Kane Mengel (285).

The Hornets took the win by a landslide, 66-9.

“Thursday’s win earned us the opportunity to wrestle Neillsville-Loyal-Greenwood for the Cloverbelt Conference Championship…” said Spaeth.

The championship will take place Friday, Jan. 28, in Abbotsford, with action starting at 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 22 Arcadia Invitational

It was then off to Arcadia, for a day of wrestling, where Cadott competed without Mengel, and sophomores Axel Tegels and Lukas Simenson.

“It was a very strong 16-team tournament,” said Spaeth. G. Tegels, B. Sonnentag and Drier each came up with first place finishes, with G. Tegels taking the championship match over Bradyn Lockington, of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau- Melrose-Mindoro (GET), by a 5-0 decision. B. Sonnentag won his championship match over GET’s Jackson Blaken, by technical fall, while Drier won over Prescott’s Sam Murphy, with a 7-1 decision.

Coming up with a second place finish, were Harel, K. Sonnentag and Pfeiffer. Earning fourth place, were Lodahl, Webster and Kingston, while Fasbender came in fifth, sophomore Nick Goettl (132) was sixth and Duck ended in seventh.

It was close, but Cadott pulled off a 14-point win, ahead of La Crosse Aquinas, who is currently the No. 2 ranked team in Division 3.

“Our wrestlers again showed a lot of grit, and gave their best effort and were able to win the Raider Challenge,” said Spaeth. “I really felt that our wrestlers wrestled to the best of their ability. Our team is embracing the grind and continues to get better each week.”