MANSON – South Hamilton junior 160-pounder Luke Peters kicked off his wrestling season in dominant fashion, which is exactly what he and his head coach Dan Brodie expected, here on Saturday.

Coming off a state-qualifying sophomore season, the eighth-ranked (Class 1A) Peters has his sights set on making another leap up the ladder over the next couple of months. So far, so good following the Doug Wood Invitational.

Peters, the top seed, steamed through three opponents, all by fall, on his way to a tournament title. He secured the gold by flattening second-seeded Skyler Michalski of meet host Manson-Northwest Webster in 3:36 in the championship match.

Peters opened his day with a pin in just 46 seconds and followed it up with a pin at the end of the second period in his semifinal clash with South Central Calhoun’s Ashten Halvorsen.

“Luke had a really nice tournament,” Brodie said. “I really liked his approach going into each match. He showed he’s ready to take the next step.”

Peters’ efforts helped South Hamilton score 79 points and place ninth in the 12-team field. Manson-Northwest Webster secured the top honor with 219 points, followed by OA-BCIG (197) and Ogden (1941?2).

The Hawks filled just half of the 14 weights and collected six top-eight finishes.

Keaton Hetland, a sophomore 126-pounder, fell to OA-BCIG’s Jake Wulf – the eventual champion – in the semifinals, but bounced back to deck back-to-back foes on the backside of the bracket to take third.

Brian Greenfield was the busiest Hawk, as he had to wrestle five matches to take fifth at 145 pounds. He won three times, twice by fall.