Guelph court hears of assault by 265-pound football player

A Guelph court heard Monday about the morning when 265-pound University of Guelph football player and strongman Karl Hjelholt allegedly tossed a fellow student over a rail and onto the hard ground, causing him a severe brain injury. Christopher Freutel, a now-21-year-old environmental sciences student, was celebrating Frosh Week in downtown Guelph on September 8, 2009 when he — according to Hjelholt — called someone a pedophile. Freutel told the court he can’t remember much about the night, other than the fact that he attended a concert at the university, drank some vodka in a parking lot and then stopped off at a friend’s house before heading downtown. He also told the court how his “brain was jostled and deformed,” how it took a month in hospital and three months of therapy to recover, and how he continues to have trouble concentrating, is more impulsive, is easily fatigued and has lost his sense of smell. Geordon Avery-Cooper, 24, testified that he witnessed Hjelholt grab Freutel by the thighs, pick him up and dump him over the rail. A police officer also testified about the night when he and partner found the victim, who vomited as he regained consciousness. Hjelholt was suspended from the football team pending the trial, but has taken up the sport of Olympic Lifting instead.