Petersen brothers crowned regional wrestling champions; regional tournament results
This story will be updated after girls regional finals on Sunday
HILLSDALE COUNTY — Two Hornet brothers were crowned regional champions. Seven total wrestlers from Hillsdale, Jonesville and Reading qualified for the 2023-24 MHSAA state finals.
Hillsdale senior Stephen Petersen (190 weight class) and junior John Petersen (215 weight class) have already earned district titles together. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the two brothers joined two other teammates as they traveled to Constantine for the D3 Region 12 wrestling tournament.
The two brothers walked away with regional championships in their respective weight classes, punching their tickets to Ford Field.
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Stephen Petersen had a pinfall in the quarterfinals (in under 40 seconds), a 9-1 major decision in the semis, and a 5-0 decision in the finals over Brady Warner of Napoleon to win the 190 regional championship.
John Petersen had a bye in the quarterfinals and won via a 1-0 decision in the semifinals to move on to the regional championship in 215. The junior beat Wyatt Hicks of Clinton in a pinfall of 30 seconds to win the title. He stayed undefeated at 35-0 and is now a conference, district and regional champion heading into the state finals.
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Headed to Ford Field
Joining the two brothers in punching their tickets to the individual finals were five other wrestlers.
A total of four Reading grapplers battled their way to a podium finish at the Hudson-hosted D4 regional 15 finals. Earning runner-up honors was freshman Isaac (215) Westfall. Earning the bronze medal at 165 pounds was senior Connar Rudy. At 106, freshman Reid Westfall, cousin of Isaac, took fourth place. At 175, Lukas Strine returns to Ford Field after taking fourth place. He is the only returning grappler for the Rangers from last year's state finals.
Strine may have had the most emotional and memorable match of the entire tournament. After losing in the quarters, Strine earned a 54-second pinfall in the blood rounds to advance to the consolation semifinals and punch his ticket to Ford Field.
The junior faced Joe Clark of Addison and was down 3-1 heading into the final period. Strine earned a point after a stalling penalty, and with seconds left, got a takedown call to give him the 4-3 points advantage and the win, which caused the Ranger hopeful to jump out of their bleacher seats and erupt in applause.
Isaac Westfall punched his ticket to Ford Field by being the only Ranger to advance to the championship match in his respective weight class. The freshman had a pinfall just under three minutes in the quarterfinals and earned a 4-3 decision in the semifinal to advance. Westfall faced the D4 No. 3 ranked Cameron Doody of Perry in the finals. Westfall had an early opportunity at a reverse takedown and then a pinfall but did not get a chance to capitalize. Doody won via a 5-3 decision.
Connar Rudy had a 6-3 decision in the quarters before losing via pinfall in the semifinal round. He won the consolation semis in a 15-7 major decision to qualify for states and make it to the third-place match. He earned a 5-0 decision to take home bronze.
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Reid Westfall had a 12-11 decision in the quarters but lost in the semifinals via technical fall. They won by major decision (15-0) in the consolation semis to qualify for states and earn a shot at bronze. Westfall fell to Jaxton Kimling of Hudson in a 7-0 decision, taking fourth.
Over in Mendon, Jonesville senior Evan McColley (215) qualified for the state finals at the D4 Region 16 tournament. McColley took home bronze in his weight class. McColley had a 9-1 major decision in the quarters. He battled a tough match against Gabe Reynoso of Gobles in the semis but fell in a 7-4 decision. He battled back to the medalist round with a pinfall just into the second period of his consolation semifinal. He would earn a pinfall in the third-place match over Sam Bleeker of Martin. He was the only Comet to move on to Ford Field this season.
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Roundup
Two other Hornets qualified for regionals but had their years end. Junior Miles Brown (144) fell in the blood rounds. Hornet junior Wyatt Wahtola (285) had a blood round 11-1 decision win. He fought against league rival Hamza Rafferty, dropping a close 4-3 decision. Coach Nate Spieth said that he was proud of each of his wrestlers on Saturday.
"I'm proud of all four guys and how they wrestled today," coach Spieth said. "I'm very excited for the Petersen brothers and am looking forward to them making some noise at Ford Field!"
Over in Mendon, five Jonesville Comets had their seasons end. Junior Cooper Stevens (285) had a blood round pinfall win but fell in the consolation semifinals. Senior Isaac Shively (190) lost in the blood rounds. Junior Ben Colbart (157) would also fall in the blood rounds.
Junior Carson Playford (132) had a blood round pinfall win in the third period of his match. He would fall in the consolation semifinals. Sophomore Blake Ryan (113) had an 11-0 major decision win in the blood rounds to move on to the consolation semis but lost.
Three Rangers had their seasons end. Dylan McCallister (113) lost in the blood rounds. Senior Jeremiah Bedford (144) earned a consolation semifinal spot after an 8-7 blood round win. He would lose in the semis. Cayleb Wright (285) fell in the blood rounds.
State Finals Information
The individual state finals will be held at Ford Field on March 1-2. Day one consists of the grand march, which begins in the morning before the start of all matches. The grand march will start around 10 a.m. Five rounds of wrestling will be held, with semifinal matches around 6:30 p.m. The second day will see consolation rounds commence in the morning, and then championship matches are held at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale online for All-Session or Single Session.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Petersen brothers crowned regional champs; 7 wrestlers qualify for state finals
