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The top four medalists in each weight class qualified for the regional tourney. Petersen, now 27-6 in her junior year, won her firstround match against Cheboygan's Nick Perhai with a second-period pin at the 3:47 mark.

In the championship match, Petersen lost an 18-5 major decision to Roscommon's Dustin Verbeke (23-13).

Five other Elks posted wins during the tournament, which had 14 teams represented, although Petersen was the only Elk Rapids grappler to move on.

Jason Benak (21-13) started with two wins at 119 pounds to reach the quarter finals, but he lost his next two matches and came up short of the final qualifying place.

Erica Dopp (11-18) at 112, Zach Drogowski (16-18) at 145, Tyler Shananaquet (10-15) at 171 and Jeff Steinbeck 19-15) at 215 all recorded one win apiece.

"We kept six wrestlers in the tournament after the opening round, which was quite an improvement for us compared to the last couple of years," Elk Rapids coach Rob Petersen said. "Only one of those was able to continue long enough to secure a regional berth, though, which was disappointing."

"All of the participating wrestlers learned a bit about the level of preparedness required to go through the district level, and I expect we will see a number of them advance next year," he added.

Team district tournament
Elk Rapids came up against Grayling in the opening round of the team district tournament in Kalkaska on Thursday, Feb. 15, and the Vikings eliminated Elk Rapids, 55-24, to advance to the championship match.

Grayling then topped Cheboygan, which defeated the host Kalkaska team in the first round to claim the district title and move on to the Cheboygan regional tournament.

In their match with Grayling, Elk Rapids got wins from Maggie Petersen (103, pin 0:44), Benak (119, pin 1:56) and Derek Petersen (125, pin 0:51).

"This was not our best night on the mat this year, but it was an improvement over the last time we wrestled Grayling," Petersen said. "The score was similar, but most of the matches were much shorter last time."