Eskymos Come From Behind To Win District Title

ESCANABA---The Escanaba Eskymos lost their first four matches and trailed the Petoskey Northmen, 18-0, in Wednesday night's district championship battle. But the Eskymos rallied to post a 43-30 win at the Escanaba High School Gym.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Escanaba Head Coach Jeff Wright said. "We knew it was going to be close, and it was. The score didn't reflect how close it really was. But our guys really came through, especially our lighter weights."

The Eskymos had a bye in the district semifinals because Marquette did not make the trip due to heavy snow in Marquette County. While Marquette forfeited, Petoskey turned back Sault Ste. Marie, 57-23, in the other Division Two semifinal.

Petoskey got the jump as Jaylin Mitchell beat Escanaba's Braden Olsen on points, 11-7, and then Julius Mitchell pinned Escanaba's Aaron Young at 171. Petoskey's Nick Plath pinned Eskymo senior CoryChenier at 189, and then Northmen 215-pounder Drew Wilson beat another Eskymo senior, Bryant Beam, by 5-0. So, the team score was 18-0 in favor of the Northmen.

But Eskymo senior Mohammed Hoque breathed some life into his team's championship chances with a pin of Kevin Tran 1:28 into their heavyweight match.

"I just knew I had to go out there and get my six for the team," Hoque said.

"You love having a senior there who's been here before and can just shut a rally down like that," Wright said. "Almost all the time, he puts six points on the board."

Escanaba got three points from 103-pounder Simon Chouinard when he beat Amanda Spearman, 6-3, but the Northmen went ahead on the scoreboard, 24-9, when 112-pounder Joey Butterfield pinned Cassi Krenek in just 35 seconds.

Escanaba got six free points when Petoskey forfeited at 119 pounds, and then at 125, Courage Krueger pinned Cal Moore in 1:25.

With his team down by three points, Escanaba senior Sergei Lamarche stepped up with a tough pin over Peter Kurburski at 130 pounds. The pin late in the third gave the Eskymos a 27-24 lead.

"We really needed those points," Lamarche said. "I knew this kid was strong, so I did my best. I usually do my takedown and then I'd let him up. But he was strong and I knew he was getting tired. I was getting tired. So, I thought I'd put him in a half-Nelson."

The Northmen then gave up another six points because Coach Nate Gross calculated this his guys could not beat Ean Bevins at 135 pounds. So, with the team score at 33-24, junior Hunter Royer put it away for the Eskymos with a 12-3 major decision victory over Matthew Aghajeri at 140 pounds.

"That was big," Wright said. "He put on points in the first period, and that really help us. We talk all the time: bonus points. Bonus points wins it. That sealed it for us right there."

The icing on the cake was Scout Wunder's quick pin at 145 pounds over Cody Wright.

"I knew I had to get some points on the board for the team, so I came out hard and I got the pin pretty fast," Wunder said. "He was trying to tie up with me, so I hit a 'high-crotch' pretty fast, and got the 'hat' and got the 'wing-in' and got the pin."

Escanaba advances to the Team Regionals next week in Mt. Pleasant. The Esky boys will also compete in the Division Two Indivudual Districts this Saturday in Gaylord.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the match, and listen to post-match interviews.

OTHER U.P. WRESTLING DISTRICT SCORES

Division Three at Kingsford
Kingsford 52, Menominee 30
Iron Mountain 52, Negaunee 15
Final: Iron Mountain 46, Kingsford 36

Division Four at Manistique
Newberry 36, Rudyard 19
Final: Manistique 31, Newberry 24

Division Four at St. Ignace
Final: Rogers City 60, St. Ignace 15

Division Four at Munising
Munising 60, Ishpeming 12
Final: Munising 57, Westwood 17