Hillsdale junior John Petersen earns first place at Hudson Super 16 wrestling tournament
HUDSON — Hillsdale and Jonesville varsity wrestling teams traveled to Hudson High School on Friday night and Saturday morning to participate one of the more prestigious individual wrestling tournaments in the state: The Hudson Super 16.
Wrestling some of the top grapplers in the state, the Hornets and Comets had several wrestlers compete for a chance to medal in their weight class, but only one grappler emerged at the top of his class when the event ended on Saturday night.
Hillsdale junior John Petersen, a 2023 all-state wrestler, took home the gold medal for the 215-pound weight class. The D3 No. 5 ranked (215 - Michigan Grappler) Hornet pinned his way to the semifinals match, where he won in sudden victory against Ismael Pena of Decatur.
In his championship match, Petersen wrestled Landon King of Dundee (ranked No. 14). Petersen nearly took the pinfall in the first period, but King was saved by the buzzer. He eventually got the pinfall near the end of the second period.
"My mindset at that point was even though I thought it should be over, it isn't over," Petersen said. "It's kind of a reset but also I have that confidence that I put him to his back, so I can do it again. Might as well just go out there, wrestle harder and stick him this time."
With the win, Petersen earned his second first place finish of the season in tournaments (the first was Sand Creek). Petersen also remains undefeated this season. Petersen hopes that's something he can continue all the way to the state finals.
Also, in the 215-pound weight bracket, Jonesville senior Evan McColley competed his way to the semifinal match. He defeated Cameron Miller of Hudson 6-0 and beat Jaden Jankowski of Adrin via pinfall to get there. In the semifinals, he would face King of Dundee. King earned a pinfall in the second period of their matchup. McColley would face Pena of Decatur in the third-place match, losing in a tough 2-1 decision final. McColley took fourth place to finish as a medalist for the Comets.
The other County medalist of the day was John's brother: Stephen Petersen. Stephen Petersen, ranked No. 4 at 190, took fourth place for the Hornets. Petersen won his quarterfinal matchup in a 9-3 decision. The senior lost in the semifinals via a 6-4 decision to No. 2 ranked Maximus Goethals of Kingsley. Petersen would fall in the third place match to Isaac Kemp of Carleton Airport.
Hillsdale team results
Several Hornets wrestlers had to win their way into the Saturday championship rounds with pPrelim Friday. Ethan Wolf (132) won his way in with a 14-11 decision and then no-contest in round two. Wolf then lost in a technical fall in the championship round and lost in consolation via a 7-6 decision to Carson Playford of Jonesville.
Logan Bayer (138) defeated fellow teammate Talon Hugenall in a 5-3 decision. Bayer then fell to Landyn Crance of Union City via pinfall in round one. In the consolations, Bayer lost via pinfall.
Miles Brown (144) was eliminated in prelims. Declan Flannery (157) won his way into championship round one via pinfall. Flannery would lose via technical fall on Saturday and lose to Maddox Miller of Union City in the consolation round.
Colton Wolf (126) lost in championship round one via pinfall and fell to Samuel Adams of Adrian in the consolation bracket.
Wyatt Wahtola (185) fell to Cooper Stevens of Jonesville in round one on Saturday in a 3-0 decision. Wahtola would earn two pinfalls to compete in the consolation semifinals but would lose to Reid Hulett of Sand Creek via pinfall.
Jonesville team results
Cody Nichols (120) fell in round one via pinfall and would lose via pinfall in the consolation rounds.
Carson Playford (132) fell via technical fall in round one but would win in 7-6 and 7-5 decisions to make it to the consolation semifinals but would lose via major decision.
Tyler Milks (138) lost via pinfall in round one and fell in a major decision during the consolation rounds. Jordan VanSickle (175) fell in round one via pinfall but would win 4-2 in round one of the consolation bracket. VanSickle fell 8-1 in the second round of consolations.
Isaac Shively would win via a 6-3 decision in round one but would lose via pinfall in the quarterfinals. In consolation round two, Shively won via a 9-3 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Shively would lose via pinfall.
Cooper Stevens (285) defeated Wyatt Wahtola of Hillsdale via a 3-0 decision in round one. After falling in the quarterfinals, Stevens would lose a tough 1-0 match in consolation round two.
Hudson Super 16 Champions
106 - Mason Katschor - Dundee
113 - Haydn Nutt - Dundee
120 - Nicholas Sorrow - Hudson
126 - Julien Kimling - Hudson
132 - Cameron Chinavare - Dundee
138 - Tee Ward - Fremont
144 - Blake Cosby - Dundee
150 - Donny Beaufait - Dundee
157 - Kole Katschor - Dundee
165 - Sebastian Martinez - Gabriel Richard
175 - Jack Mills - Carleton Airport
190 - Cole O' Boyle - Alma
215 - John Petersen - Hillsdale
285 - Tanner Shugars - Decatur
Hudson Super 16 B Medalists - Hillsdale County
106 - Harrison Packer - 6th - Jonesville
113 - Blake Ryan - 5th - Jonesville
120 - Devon Carver - 4th - Hillsdale
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale junior John Petersen earns first place at Hudson Super 16 wrestling tournament
