Travis Heller and Kaleb Rahoi won district wrestling championships Saturday and two other Escanaba wrestlers were good enough to advance to regionals after the 14-school individual district tournament event at the Escanaba High School Gym. Click the above headline to read more details and to see photos.
The Escanaba High School Wrestling team dominated in the lower weight classes and held off Sault Ste. Marie, 53-30, to win a Division Two district championship Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the Gladstone Braves rolled to a Division Three district championship. The Braves got a forfeit from Menominee, and then pounded Negaunee, 72-9. Click the above headline to read all of Wednesday's wrestling details. Pictured: Escanaba celebrates with its district trophy. (Sheila Olsen photo)
The Gladstone Braves were down by five men at Saturday's Great Northern Conference Wrestling Championships, and the Escanaba Eskymos took full advantage. The Eskymos won the conference championship by 20 points. Marquette finished third. Click the above headline to read more details and to see match photos.
The Gladstone Braves dominated the upper weight classes to pull away from the Escanaba Eskymos, 41-19, in a wrestling dual meet Thursday night in Escanaba. The Braves got four consecutive pins at 171, 189, 215, and 285 pounds to beat the Eskymos for the second time this season. Click the above headline to read details. Pictured: Escanaba's Travis Heller (orange) and Gladstone's Brandon Gagnon square off in a battle between a pair of 2013 U.P. Champions. Heller won, 12-4. (Sheila Olsen photo)
The Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves both competed well Saturday at the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships in Gaylord. The Braves finished fifth overall and the Eskymos took sixth place at the prestigious 29-team event. Eskymo freshman Kaleb Rahoi upset Rogers City senior Evan Lamb in the 135-pound championship match. Gladstone's Jeremy and Josh Kadish both made the finals in their weight classes before losing close matches. Click the above headline to see how the U.P. wrestlers fared. Pictured: Rahoi (right) wrestles Lamb on Saturday. (Sheila Olsen photo)
The Gladstone Braves used their depth to win the Upper Peninsula wrestling championship Saturday night in Marquette. Escanaba had four U.P. champions and finished second overall. Click the above headline to see all of the results.
The Escanaba High School wrestling team got pins from Travis Heller, Trevor Irving, Hunter Sadler, and Teddy Peippo, and rolled to a 53-21 win over the Marquette Redmen in a dual meet Thursday night in Escanaba. Escanaba also won three matches by forfeit. Click the above headline to read the details.
The Gladstone Braves used their depth to win the Escanaba Elks Wrestling Invitational on Saturday in Escanaba. The Braves had four individual champions and three others made it to final matches before losing. The Eskymos finished second, and St. Ignace was third. Click the above headline to see the list of winners.
The Escanaba High School wrestling team finished a respectable tenth place at the huge Marquette Challenge Saturday evening at Marquette Senior High School. Eskymo junior Travis Heller finished in third place in his 152-pound weight class. The Gladstone Braves finished 12th overall, with Brandon Gagnon taking fourth place in the 160-pound class. Click the above headline to read more details from the Challenge.
United States Olympic Education Center Greco-Roman wrestler Max Nowry will be featured in “Faces in the Crowd” in the Nov. 5 issue of Sports Illustrated. Click the above headline to read more about Nowry and this recognition.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association's wrestling state finals wrapped up on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Eskymo 285 pounder Dalton Spear (pictured below on the podium, third from left) won his first two matches, but then lost his last three matches. Spear ended up finishing sixth in the state. Esky sophomore Travis Heller won two of his first three matches, then lost twice on Saturday and finished eighth at 135 pounds. Gladstone's Josh Kadish won one match and lost two others, and did not place.
The Gladstone High School wrestling team bolted to a 28-0 lead Wednesday, but the Roscommon Bucks rallied to post a 38-32 win in the Division Three regional championship match in Manistique. Chris Walters (171), Jack Kronick (215), Tommy Bailey (285), and Jake Kujala (103) all posted pins, and Jake Kronick (189) posted a major decision win as the Braves built that 28-0 lead. After Roscommon took a 32-28 lead, Braves freshman Keenan Barron won a 9-1 major decision from Bradley Briggs to tie the match at 32-32. That left a trip to Battle Creek on the line for the final two matches.
The Escanaba High School wrestling pulled out an emotional 39-36 victory over Bay City Western in the Division Two Regional semifinals Wednesday night in Bay City. Eskymo senior Jake Drage won the match by pinning his opponent with his team trailing by three points. Sophomore Travis Heller had another Eskymo highlight by winning a marathon match that went into triple overtime. But in the end, the wrestling powerhouse Greenville eliminated the Eskymos again in the final, 49-6. Heller had Escanaba's only victory in the regional championship match.
The Kingsford High School wrestling team got off to a good start Wednesday night, taking a 24-3 lead over the Roscommon Bucks in the Division Three regional semifinals in Manistique. But the Bucks had too much firepower and the Flivvers had to give away a few forfeits, and Roscommon won the semifinal match, 51-24.
The Gladstone Braves got six pins and posted a 45-33 win over the Benzie Central Huskies in the Division Three regional semifinals Wednesday night in Manistique. Chris Walters (171), Jake Kronick (189), Jack Kronick (215), Tommy Bailey (285), Sam Taylor (135), and Josh Kadish (145) all earned six points.
Bark River-Harris High School started its wrestling program this school year, and became the smallest program in the Upper Peninsula. The team lost to powerhouse Iron Mountain in the first round of the MHSAA team districts last week, but there was still the individual district tournament to be held over the weekend in Munising. And BR-H freshman Curtis Labadie became the school's first-ever regional qualifier by finishing fourth overall in his weight class at districts. Labadie will represent himself, and his school, at the Division Four Individual Regional tournament next Saturday in downstate Manton.
