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3 County grapplers earn district championships; 3 earn their 100th career win

Joseph Flaherty, Hillsdale Daily News
·6 min read

HILLSDALE COUNTY — Individual district wrestling championships were held throughout the state of Michigan on Saturday. Hillsdale wrestling traveled up to Williamston to take part in their Division 3 tournament. Jonesville traveled to Bronson for their Division 4 tournament.

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After a full day of wrestling, two Hornets and one Comet would walk away with district titles.

Senior Evan McColley of Jonesville won his 215-pound weight class bracket to earn a district championship. A total of six Comet grapplers earned medals and the right to wrestle next weekend in the regional tournament.

Hillsdale wrestling left District 24-3 with two champions (John and Stephen Petersen) and two medalists including Wyatt Wahtola and Miles Brown.
Hillsdale wrestling left District 24-3 with two champions (John and Stephen Petersen) and two medalists including Wyatt Wahtola and Miles Brown.

Hillsdale wrestlers and brothers, Stephen and John Petersen, both earned district championships in their respective weight classes. Senior Stephen Petersen won the 190-weight class and junior John Petersen won the 215-weight class. A total of four Hornets medaled and earned the right to move on to the regional tournament.

In addition to the district medalists this week, three grapplers earned their 100th-career win. Stephen Petersen earned his 100th win in the championship bout at Williamston. Jonesville senior Tyler Milks did not place in districts, but was able to earn his 100th-career win before the day had ended. McColley earned his 100th win earlier this week at the team district tournament.

Jonesville leaves Bronson with one district champion (Even McColley) and four other medalists including Carson Playford, Cooper Stevens, Blake Ryan and Isaac Shively.
Jonesville leaves Bronson with one district champion (Even McColley) and four other medalists including Carson Playford, Cooper Stevens, Blake Ryan and Isaac Shively.

"It's been awesome and I'm really grateful," Petersen said. "The next goal for me is to try and work on pushing the pace. If I'm in the lead, I'm going for more, trying to score as much as possible. Really, when it comes down to it, not really wrestling my opponent but wrestling against myself, my mindset. (I want to thank) my team, my brother John, Declan Flannery and my dad, all praying for me and helping me out, and just being a positive team."

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Stephen Petersen (pictured with coach Nate Spieth) wins his 100th career match that also earned him a district title.
Stephen Petersen (pictured with coach Nate Spieth) wins his 100th career match that also earned him a district title.

Hillsdale Medalist Results

Stephen Petersen reached his title bout with a pinfall of 40 seconds in the quarterfinals and an 11-2 major decision win in the semifinals. He won his finals match with a 6-0 decision.

John Petersen reached the finals with a pinfall in the quarterfinals and a 13-1 major decision in the semifinals. Petersen won via pinfall in the second period of his title bout.

Junior Hornet Wyatt Wahtola took fourth overall in the 285-weight class. Wahtola had to battle through the consolation bracket after losing by pinfall in the quarterfinals. Wahtola got two straight pinfall wins to wrestle for third place. He wrestled the same opponent as his quarterfinal loss, but this time battled his opponent through three periods. Wahtola lost on a 1-0 decision, but qualifies for the regional tournament.

Senior Miles Brown earned fourth overall in the 144-weight class. Brown had a 6-0 decision in the first round before losing by pinfall and dropping into consolation rounds. Brown then had two 8-1 and 8-2 decision wins to reach the third place match. Brown was unable to wrestle the final match due to injury. Brown wrestled fellow teammate Brody Arnold in the consolation semifinals. Arnold had two pinfall victories during his tournament run.

Also earning wins at the tournament for Hillsdale includes Colton Wolf who had a pinfall win at 126 pounds. Brody Arnold (144) had two pinfall victories during his tournament run.

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District 24-3 Winners

  • 190: Stephen Petersen of Hillsdale

  • 215: John Petersen of Hillsdale

  • 285: Logan Russel of Madison

  • 106: Nate Arntz of Clinton

  • 113: Malaki Mosher of Madison

  • 120: Logan Hartman of Napoleon

  • 126: Braylon Long of Clinton

  • 132: Connor Younts of Clinton

  • 138: Lukas Leonard of Madison

  • 144: Matt Dion of Williamston

  • 150: Cliff Jones of Clinton

  • 157: Jalonn Borders of Madison

  • 165: Tyler Schofield of Olivet

  • 175: Bryce Randolph of Clinton

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Jonesville Medalist Results

Evan McColley reached the championship bout with a pinfall of 31 seconds in the quarterfinals and then a 4-1 decision in the semifinals. McColley won the title via pinfall after just 43 seconds into the match.

Senior Isaac Shively took fourth place at 190. Shively won via major decision in the quarterfinals (13-4), but lost in the semifinals in a tough 5-3 decision. Shively won in the consolation semis via pinfall in just 29 seconds. He lost the third place match but moves on to the regional tournament.

Junior Cooper Stevens took runner up honors in the 285 weight class. Stevens won his first two matches of the day via pinfalls. He won the quarterfinal in just 29 seconds. He would fall in the first place match and take second place.

Sophomore Blake Ryan took second in the 113-weight class. Ryan won his semifinal match via pinfall in just 52 seconds. He would lose the first place match after a tough battle to take second.

Carson Playford (132) took fourth place. Playford had two pinfall victories in the second period of the quarterfinals and in the consolation semifinals. Playford lost in the third place match, but moved on to the regional tournament.

Ben Colbart took fourth in the 157-weight class bracket. Colbart had a technical fall in round one, but would fall in the quarterfinals. Colbart earned a second technical fall win in the consolation rounds and earned a spot in the third place match after a pinfall victory. He lost in the third-place battle, but moved on to the regional tournament.

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Also earning wins during the tournament was Quentin Green (215) with a pinfall win. Randall Kast (126) had a pinfall win after just 36 seconds. Tyler Milks (earning 100 wins - 138 weight class) had a 6-4 win and a 15-5 major decision win. Asher McClain (157) earned a pinfall victory.

District 31-4 Winners

  • 190: Jacob Britten of Bronson

  • 215: Evan McColley of Jonesville

  • 285: Mitchell Swift of Delton Kellogg

  • 106: Mitchell Swift of Delton Kellogg

  • 113: Mitchell Graham of Union City

  • 120: Nate Fritz of Concord

  • 126: Nate Fritz of Concord

  • 132: Logan Mears of Union City

  • 138: Landyn Crance of Union City

  • 144: Landyn Crance of Union City

  • 150: Gabriel Erwin of Bronson

  • 157: Gabriel Erwin of Bronson

  • 165: Maddox Miller of Union City

  • 175: Carson Norton of Bronson

Regional Information

The Hillsdale Hornets and Jonesville Comet medalists move on to the regional championship tournament. Medalists earn a bid to Ford Field for the state finals on March 1-2.

Hillsdale will head to Constantine for the 12-3 regional tournament. Jonesville will travel to Mendon for the 16-4 regional tourney.

All MHSAA postseason tournament event tickets must be purchased online.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: McColley and the Petersen brothers earn district gold