After wrestling in Lone Tree black and gold for three years, it was a little different for Will Hotz to take the mat in blue this year for Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union.
“Yeah at first, I …
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After wrestling in Lone Tree black and gold for three years, it was a little different for Will Hotz to take the mat in blue this year for Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union.
“Yeah at first, I thought was pretty weird and I was nervous,” Hotz said. “But then I came here, and I love it here and all the nerves went away right away.”
When the Lone Tree wrestling program combined with Columbus Community and WMU this year, Hotz was the only one to stick with the sport.
“I've known Will, he's been in our conference and we’ve wrestled him several times over the past few years,” Columbus co-head coach Andy Milder said.
“I thought I knew what we were getting. What I actually really got when he got to come into the room was a worker, he works. I sometimes call him SpongeBob because he's a sponge in the room. Stuff that we teach different than he’s had in the past, he sponges it up. He's a real coachable kid.”
At last year’s conference meet, Hotz finished fifth at 170 pounds for Lone Tree. This year, he finished third at 182 for the Wildcats.
Hotz won his quarterfinal match by fall in eight seconds, before dropping a 5-0 decision in the quarterfinals to Notre Dame’s Brett Haubrich.
Hotz faced freshman Kyle Vorwek of Mediapolis in the third-place match. He got a takedown 15 seconds in and got the pin in 1:39
“I thought it went well,” Hotz said. “I got in a bad shot, but I was able to finish it with a double leg and then just worked that all the way in and got him down.”
Last year, Hotz went 2-1 in a 1A sectional with Lone Tree. On Saturday, he’ll be at the 2A sectional at Davenport Assumption with Columbus/WMU.
And they’re happy to have him there.
“It's like he was here all along,” Milder said. “With our kids from Columbus and Winfield it’s something special. People really don't know how much these kids really get along. And the parents get along.
“That’s what makes our programs stronger, because we have kids that welcome anybody in and everybody's welcome. Will, he's fit right in, and has just been a great asset for us this year.”
