Campbell, Dangerfield and Westfall win wrestling district titles for Reading

LESLIE — The Reading Rangers traveled to Leslie High school to participate in the individual district tournaments. The Rangers walked out of the Feb. 11 championships with three district titles and multiple medalists who will move on to the regional tournament.

Joey Campbell, Donivon Dangerfield and Eathan Westfall each won district championships in their respective weight classes. Jeremiah Bedford took fourth overall in his weight class. Lukas Strine took second place in his weight class. Caleb Willoughby took second place. Hunter Dewy took second place. Lukas Selph took third place. The team will also have a regional contender when Delanie Youngs competes at the girls regional tournament.

Youngs will compete in the MHSAA girls regional Blue 1 tournament at Birmingham Groves High School on Feb. 19.

The first district championship saw Lukas Strine battle teammate Joey Campbell for the 175-pound district championship. Strine had two pinfalls to earn his title shot. Campbell had two pinfalls to earn his chance for a title. Campbell and Strine battled through two rounds, before Campbell found a pinfall opportunity to win the match after 03:31 of match time. Campbell won the championship, and Strine took second.

This was the senior's first district championship, and while battling a teammate was tough for both wrestlers, Campbell emphasized that he wasn't done with his journey to win more hardware.

"It was pretty rough," said Campbell. "But we did alright. I want to thank our coaches and also my teammate Eathan Westfall. This is my senior year and I want to win."

The next district championship match for the Rangers saw Caleb Willougby battle teammate Donivon Dangerfield for the 215-pound title. Willougby had two pinfalls and Dangerfield had two pinfalls to make their way to the title match. Both wrestlers were even throughout the beginning of round one, with both wrestlers trading takedowns and escapes. Dangerfield found the right angle and pinned his teammate 02:53 into the match.

In just his second year of wrestling, the senior has brought back another piece of hardware to add to his collection. Dangerfield noted it was a physical and mental battle going up against his teammate, but the wrestler was glad to see them both make it to regionals.

"It was a hard match both physically and mentally," said Dangerfield. "He's a tough wrestler but we both make it to regionals. I want to thank our coaches and my teammates for helping me out with a lot of stuff and helping perfect my moves."

The next finals match saw senior captain Eathan Westfall cruise his way to a third district title. Westfall had a pin in the semifinals and then won by pinfall over Ethan Hardy of Perry after just 25 seconds in the first match round. After the match, Westfall had nothing but praise for his fellow teammates, adding that he knows how hard it is to wrestle a teammate. The coaching staff and Westfall figured out a strategy to try and get the most finalists on tournament day, and the strategy paid off for the program.

Westfall was grateful to have made it to a third district title this season while remaining uninjured and he was happy to see his hard work pay off for himself, which he believes was due to a combination of his coaches, practices and the people in his corner.

"I'm really happy to have made it this far injury-free," said Westfall. "I'm really happy with my practices and happy with my coaching staff. I like to stay my best mentally and physically, so I want to thank everyone who is in my corner and I'm grateful to also have God on my side."

Also wrestling to a title match was Hunter Dewey at 126 pounds. Dewey recorded a pinfall victory and a 6-0 decision in the semifinals to make it to the championship match. Dewey would lose in an 11-4 decision to David Fielder of Hanover-Horton, but Dewey would earn second place and a spot in the regional tournament.

At 150 pounds, Jeremiah Bedford recorded a pinfall win and a 6-2 decision win to make it to the third place match. Bedford would lose to Hanover-Horton's Josh Fraley Jr. via pinfall. Bedford took fourth place, earning a spot at the regional tournament. At 132 pounds, Lukas Selph recorded a pinfall victory and a 14-2 major decision to make his way to the third-place match. Selph was given an injury default victory, earning bronze and a spot in the regional tournament.

Also wrestling for the Rangers was Addison Mosley, who recorded two pinfall victories before being eliminated in the 144-pound consolation semifinals. At 150 pounds, Lukas Rhoades recorded two pinfall victories before falling in the consolation semifinals. Caiden Baker wrestled for the Rangers at 157 pounds. Baker lost in the consolation rounds. At 120 pounds, Aiden Aemisegger lost in the consolation semifinals. At 138 pounds, Jacob Hamilton recorded a 7-3 decision win before falling in the consolation semifinals.

Reading's regional qualifiers will head to Hudson on Feb. 18 for their regional tournament matches. The top four at regionals in each weight class qualify for the state finals.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Reading wrestlers win district titles and multiple wrestlers move on to the regional finals