LESLIE — At one of the toughest tournaments in the state of Michigan, the Jonesville Comets and Reading Rangers traveled to Leslie in search of medals and experience before heading into conference championship week.
A total of six wrestlers would end up on the podium at the end of the event, and three other wrestlers would earn sixth place when the Todd Stern Blackhawk Invitational concluded.
Hillsdale County was led by Reading freshman Reid Westfall. Westfall placed third overall in the 106-weight class. After receiving a bye in championship round one, Westfall won by Major Decision 10-0 in the quarterfinals. Westfall would fall in the semifinal matchup but would bounce back with a technical fall (15-0) over Keyshawn Bean of Sexton in the consolation semifinals. Earning a bid to the third-place match, Westfall won in a challenging 4-3 decision match against Delton Haley of Perry.
Two county wrestlers would earn trips to the third-place match in their weight class. In the 175-pound weight class, Lukas Strine of Reading had a pinfall in round one and a quarterfinal 9-2 decision win to make it to the semifinals. Strine would wrestle Jayce Curtis of Kellogg in the semifinal and would ultimately come up short. Wrestling in the consolation bracket, Strine defeated Brendan Barrett of Springport 6-3 to advance into the medalist round. Strine would have a tough matchup with Malcolm Smith of Martin High School, losing by 4-0 decision.