Home Sports Ayden Hoag Wins 100th Match as Bulldogs Place Third at Home Tournament

Ayden Hoag Wins 100th Match as Bulldogs Place Third at Home Tournament

The Le Mars boys placed third at their home tournament on Saturday getting the same pair of individual champions from a year ago with some new faces in the ranks as well. The Bulldog roster was depleted and needed guys to wrestle in situations that they may not have been comfortable in. Head Coach Shane Hessenius says these kinds of tough tests will be beneficial down the road.

The bright spot for the Bulldogs was their ability to have guys step up and still be competitive in brackets and classes they were not used to. Coach Hessenius says that is a testament to the coaches who work hard with the younger wrestlers to get them ready.

There were a number of highlights throughout the day including Camden Feuerhelm defending his title at 195 pounds and winning his second consecutive title in his home event. Coach Hessenius says he used his length and movement to repeat as champion.

Another highlight of the day was Ayden Hoag not only winning the 220 pound title for the second year in a row, but also recording his 100th career win as a Bulldog wrestler. Hoag says he has some bigger milestones on his mind than just 100 wins.

Hoag says that career wins record is motivating considering he is reminded of it every day.

Coach Hessenius knows a thing or two about his brother and career wins record holder Brian Hessenius. Shane Hessenius says it is a very attainable record for him especially with the improvements he has made.

The Bulldogs now turn their attention to the rest of the season where they will try and crack the top 24 in the dual rankings and wrestle in regional dual action. The Bulldogs have a pair of important duals at Spencer on Tuesday that Coach Hessenius says will be vital in determining if they will wrestle in regionals.

On the individual side, Hoag is Le Mars’ only returning state qualifier from last year. His goal is to get back there and do better than he did last season. To do that, he says he needs to work on his endurance to give him more energy down the stretch.

The Bulldogs finished with four wrestlers in the title bout at their weight class. Keegan Kayser and Alex Allen both finished runner-up at 145 and 160 pounds respectively.