Holden Boys Wrestling Team Battles At Butler Tourney
Extra Effort… Eagle wrestler Trent Stout recorded a win in ultimate tie breaker versus Warsaw wrestler Drake Murrell in the 157-pound first-place match at the Butler Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 6. Photo By Laura Brown
The Holden boys wrestling team turned in a ninth-place finish among 22 teams competing at the Butler Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 6.
Eagle wrestlers Trent Stout at 157 pounds and Aiden Christian at 285 pounds both notched first-place finishes as Daylen Greene recorded a second-place finish in the 126-pound weight class in top placings for Holden.
“Butler is always a tough tournament, but that’s what we want to see,” said Holden boys wrestling coach Matt Hertzog. “We want to make sure that we push our kids by exposing them to quality teams and people they’ll see at the state tournament.
“Aiden Christian and Trent Stout won their very first varsity tournaments this weekend which was awesome,” continued coach Hertzog.
“Unfortunately, Daylen Greene suffered an injury in the semifinals and had to withdraw from the tournament which was unfortunate. We’re hoping he will bounce back quickly.”
Stout knocked out two wins by pin before recording a win by decision to move into the first-place match. He went into extra periods against Warsaw wrestler Drake Murrell in the title match to take the gold medal win by a 3-2 score.
“Trent Stout wrestled smart all day and beat a good Warsaw kid that had actually pinned him earlier in the season,” highlighted coach Hertzog. “In the finals, Trent wrestled the kid by sticking to his game plan, pushed the match to a ride or die situation, and got the win. Very blessed to be able to share that moment with him. He has worked his butt off this season.”
Christian swept to the first place match with three straight wins and took a win by decision over familiar foe William Brown from Adrian in the first-place final.
“”Aiden Christian beat the Adrian kid again in a tough match, had a sweet overhook throw for a takedown, and ended up securing yet another win against a quality district opponent,” said coach Hertzog. “He has come so far and has done so well for a kid that was injured all last season.”
A week after recording a first-place finish and crossing the 150-wins mark of his high school career, Greene finished with a record of 3-1 at Butler in his second-place finish.
Conner Carver finished with a fifth-place finish in the 175-pound weight class. In the fifth-place match, Carver took a win by pin to finish with a mark of 3-1 on the day.
“Conner Carver was a little banged up physically and had a tough bracket to boot, but did what he needed to do and represented our school well,” said coach Hertzog.
In other finishes for Holden, Andrew Johnston placed seventh in the 215-pound weight class, Kaleb Catron placed eighth at 132 pounds, Gerard Costa placed 10th in the 138-pound competition, and Hudson Gregg placed 11th in the 190-pound weight class.
“Great for our young guys to get some experience, and good to see our upperclassmen take care of business,” said coach Hertzog.
The Holden boys wrestling team competes next in the MRVC Tournament held at Higginsville High School this Saturday, Jan. 13. Start time is 10 a.m.
