Quincy's Reif and George earn All State Wrestling honors; Reading's Westfall wins 285 pound crown

Troy Tennyson, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·4 min read
Quincy's Davin George finished off a stellar wrestling career with a 7th place finish in the D3-190 pound Division at the MHSAA State Finals.
Quincy's Davin George finished off a stellar wrestling career with a 7th place finish in the D3-190 pound Division at the MHSAA State Finals.

DETROIT, MI. - Nearly 2,000 of the best wrestlers in the state of Michigan descended on the home of the Detroit Lions this past weekend, making the trip to Ford Field to compete on the biggest stage for high school wrestling in the state, the MHSAA Individual State Wrestling Finals.

An impressive total of 23 wrestlers from the Branch County coverage area earned the right to wear their school colors at the state finals, with 14 from Bronson, two from Quincy and seven from Union City making the trip. In all, seven Vikings, five Chargers and two Orioles earned All-State honors, a number that includes two state champions and one runner-up finish.

In an effort to give each school their fair amount of coverage the results from each individual school will appear in their own story. This story contains the results for the Quincy Orioles and their two all-state wrestlers.

Earning the right to represent Quincy at Ford Field were the senior duo of Jacob Reif and Davin George, both of whom earned a spot on the podium in the Division Three Individual State FInals in their final high school matches.

Quincy's Jacob Reif capped off his four year career as an Oriole with an 8th place finish in the D3-132 pound division at the MHSAA State Finals
Quincy's Jacob Reif capped off his four year career as an Oriole with an 8th place finish in the D3-132 pound division at the MHSAA State Finals

In booking his trip to Ford Field, Reif (42-5) became just the second wrestler in Quincy history to advance to the individual state finals all four years of his high school career. Reif capped off that tremendous run with an All-State effort, taking eighth place at 132 pounds.

Reif kicked off his run to the podium at 132 pounds with a first-round decision win over Ryan Woods of Belding by the score of 5-3. Round two saw Reif drop a tough 3-1 decision to Donny Beaufait of Dundee, sending the Quincy senior to the consolation bracket. In the first round of the consolation bracket Reif assured himself all-state honors with a decision win over Lukas Leonard of Madison, winning by the score of 4-2. In the third round of the consolation bracket Reif fell to Dominic D’Ambrosio of Imlay City via pin fall in 2:08, setting up a seventh-place match up with Drew Miller of Portland. In another heart-breaker it was Miller defeating Reif by a 5-3 decision, giving the Quincy senior eighth place honors.

George (38-6) made his second trip to the MHSAA State Finals and capped off a stellar career with a seventh-place finish at 190 pounds. George kicked off his run to the podium with a first round 7-0 decision win over Brady St. John of Richmond, sending the Quincy senior to the quarterfinals. There George fell to Jack Ward of Belding by an 8-4 decision, sending the Oriole to the consolation bracket. In the first round of consolation action George took an exciting 7-5 sudden victory win over Mikey Brooks of Laingsburg, assuring George an all-state honor. In the third round of the consolation bracket George fell to Sam Goethals of Kingsley via pin fall in 1:34, sending the Oriole senior to the seventh-place match. There George took a hard-fought decision win over Branson Goodman of Portland to cap off his high school career, winning 8-6 and claiming seventh place.

Both wrestlers will now move on to the collegiate ranks of wrestling, with Reif committing to Ohio Northern Wrestling while George will be attending Trine University.

Other Wrestlers of Interest

Reading senior Eathan Westfall capped off an undefeated season at 285 pounds, winning the D4-285-pound state championship. With the victory Westfall becomes the first wrestler in Reading history to win a state title. Westfall finishes his season with a record of 45-0.

Eathan Westfall earns the D4 Heavyweight championship in front of thousands in attendance at Ford Field.
Eathan Westfall earns the D4 Heavyweight championship in front of thousands in attendance at Ford Field.

Westfall’s trip to the finals included three pin fall wins, defeating Caleb Gepford of Pine River in :54 seconds, followed by a pin fall win over Braydon Ross of Decatur in 1:51. Westfall punched his ticket to the championship bout with a pin fall win over Noah Iobe of Mendon in 1:44, setting up a championship match with Grayson Orr of New Lothrop. Orr was injured in the closing seconds of his semifinal match and was unable to compete in the championship match, giving Westfall the injury default win.

The Homer Trojans had two wrestlers earn All-State honors as Alex Miller took eighth place at D4-144 pounds while Zionah Gardner took fourth place at 115 pounds in the girls' tournament.

For the Jonesville Comets Derek Ballinger secured a sixth-place finish in the D4-144-pound weight class.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Quincy's Reif and George earn All State Wrestling honors; Reading's Westfall wins 285 pound crown