Hornets pushing the pace as season rolls on

Kane Mengel, Cadott senior (285 pounds, top), pushes his opponent toward out-of-bounds, in a home invitational Jan. 7. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Cadott’s boys wrestling program is really coming together as a team, as the squad hosted two home events over the week.

Jan. 5 Home Triangular

To begin the triangular, the Hornets went up against Spencer-Columbus Catholic, winning all but two of the matches, 66-12.

“We had a great parent and fan turnout,” said coach Josh Spaeth. “The team wrestled very well.” Coming up with victories for Cadott, were sophomore Kaleb Lodahl (106 pounds) over Fletcher Post, by fall, in 1:28; senior Brayden Sonnentag (145) over Drew Lang, with a 0:41 fall; and senior Tristan Drier (152) over Alessandrao Mercati, in a mere 0:15 fall.

Also coming up with wins, were senior Cole Pfeiffer (160) over Sam Helgestad, with a 0:51 fall; junior Caden Kingston (170) over Chris Schmidt, with a 1:45 fall; senior Levi Lindsay (195), by fall, in 3:02; and junior Axel Tegels (220) over Cole Hanson, by fall, in 4:30.

Picking up additional wins through forfeit, were junior Lukas Simenson (113); freshman Monte Lodahl (120); senior Nick Fasbender (138); and sophomore Tucker Salzgeber (285).

Jan. 5 Home Triangular

The next team Cadott faced, was Abbotsford-Colby, who offered more competition, but the Hornets still rolled, taking the win, 60-21.

Winning for Cadott, were junior Nick Goettl (132) over Eddy Monroy, by fall, in 5:23; Sonnentag over Alex Sundermeyer, with a 2:26 fall; and Fasbender over Christian Fuentes, in a 0:35 fall.

Also bringing in victories, were Drier over Brayden Meyer, by fall, in 0:42; Pfeiffer over Jacob Hoppe, by a 1:27 fall; and Tegels over Levi Dommer, with a 3:01 fall.

Picking up wins by forfeit, were K. Lodahl, Simenson, Kingston and Lindsay. “We are doing a good job pushing the pace,” said Spaeth. “We are doing a good job pinning and not getting pinned. These are very important aspects of being a good dual meet team.”

Jan. 7 Home Invitational

With no time to rest, the Hornets then welcomed multiple schools to their home mats, with close to 700 athletes competing under Cadott’s roof.

“It takes a lot of commitment from many people to make this weekend a success,” said Spaeth. “I am very thankful for all the coaches, parents and wrestling fans, who volunteer to make this a great experience for all athletes.”

Although the day wasn’t without its challenges on the technology side of things, despite delays, the Hornets came away with three champions at the end of the event – Sonnentag, who won over Jackson Blaken (Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau-Melrose-Mindoro), with a techical fall; Drier over Regis-Altoona’s Tommy Tomesh, by a 3:58 fall; and Pfeiffer over Brandon Myher, of Regis-Altoona, in a 1:32 fall.

“We had some starters out this weekend, which slid us out of contention to win the tournament,” said Spaeth.

Bringing in third place for the Hornets, were Lindsay over Alex Wieczorek (Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau-Melrose-Mindoro), in a 9-3 decision; and Tegels over Hayward’s Bradey Gottwald, in a 12-3 major decision.

Other Hornets placing high on the day, were freshman Mitchell Reinke (182) in fifth; M. Lodahl in sixth; and Goettl and Salzgeber in seventh. Also placing for Cadott, were K. Lodahl (eighth); senior Kane Mengel (285) and Fasbender in ninth; Simenson in 11th; and sophomore Jimmy Carranza (170) and junior Alex Jackson (285) in 12th.

“Overall, I feel our team is coming together,” said Spaeth. “Our wrestlers are learning to fight through situations and are developing the never surrender attitude.”