Escanaba Wrestlers Win District Championship The Escanaba High School wrestling team had to battle illnesses and weight issues, but managed to win another district championship Wednesday night in Sault Ste. Marie. The Eskymos beat the Sault, 45-29, in the semifinals, and then slipped past Marquette, 40-36, in the championship game. Tyler Larson, David Falish, Jake Drage, Devin Olsen, Dalton Spear, and Mike Dombrowski all posted victories for the Eskymos. Kaleb Rahoi and Travis Heller both won by forfeit. Pictured above: Jake Drage (left) battles Gladstone's Jack Cronick during a recent match. The Eskymos advance to the Division Two Team Regionals next week at Bay City Western High School. Gladstone will wrestle on Thursday. (Linda Bockman photo)

Eskymo Wrestlers Win GNC; Gladstone Is Third                       The Escanaba High School wrestling team won the Great Northern Conference championship for the second straight year on Saturday, going undefeated against the other four conference teams. While the Eskymos went 4-0, the Gladstone Braves ended up in third place with a 2-2 record. The Eskymos beat Gladstone, 42-33, in a semi, then beat Marquette, 48-18, to win the championship. Marquette also beat Gladstone, 36-29. Pictured above: Escanaba 145-pounder Jared Maycunich won a GNC individual championship Saturday. In this photo, he beat Gladstone's Keenan Barron during a match last Thursday night in Gladstone. (Linda Bockman photo)

Eskymo Wrestlers 'Three-Peat' As U.P. Champs                 The Escanaba Eskymos won the Upper Peninsula Wrestling Championship for the third straight year on Saturday, easily outdistancing the other 18 U.P. teams at the U.P. Finals in Marquette. The Eskymos won with 246 points and four individual U.P. championships. Escanaba's champions included freshman 125-pounder Kaleb Rahoi, and senior heavyweight Dalton Perron-Spear. Both boys had four pins in their four matches. Eskymo sophomore Travis Heller won at 140 pounds on two decisions, one pin and one bye; and senior 189-pounder Jake Drage had one pin, one decision, and two major decisions. Escanaba's David Falish, Jared Maycunich, Eddie Terres, and Zach Priebe all had third place finishes. Gladstone finished fifth with 142 points. Brandon Gagnon made the finals, but dropped a 3-1 decision. Five other Braves wrestlers made the semis. They all finished fourth. Pictured above: Travis Heller gets a victory at the U.P. Finals. (Linda Bockman photo)

Esky Wrestlers Take 3rd; Braves 9th, In Gaylord The Escanaba High School wrestling team finished in third place Saturday at the Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships in Gaylord. It's one of the largest invitationals of the year, with 32 teams from both the U.P. and northern Lower Michigan. Escanaba had 110 points, behind first place Traverse City St. Francis (178) and runner-up St. Ignace (126). Gladstone, meanwhile, finished ninth with 68 points. Escanaba had three boys make it to the final round, and all three of them lost heartbreakers. Escanaba Freshman 125-pounder Kaleb Rahoi lost to St. Ignace's Richard Bentley on a pin 33 seconds into overtime. Esky sophomore Travis Heller lost to Jared Fekete of Benzie Central, 2-0, in their 135-pound title match. And EHS senior heavyweight Dalton Paron-Spear lost a 3-2 decision to Ryan Prescott of Whittemore-Prescott High School. Gladstone's top finishers were 140-pounder Josh Kadish (third place) and 152-pounder Brandon Gagnon (fourth place). Heavyweight Tommy Bailey took seventh place. CLICK HERE  to see the final N. Mich. Championships team standings. CLICK HERE for individual brackets....just click your weight class.

Eskymo Wrestlers Beat Negaunee, Kingsford                   The Escanaba Eskymos had their final home meet of the season Thursday, and the boys went out on top by beating Negaunee, 57-24, and Kingsford, 54-21. In match against Negaunee, Tyler Larson, Travis Heller, Mike Dombrowski and Dalton Spear all had pins. In the match against Kingsford, Jared Maycunich (140), David Falish (152), Jake Drage (189), Kaleb Rahoi (125) and Kyle Barron (135) got pins for the Eskymos. Eddie Terres (171) beat the buzzer to top Alex Warf, 3-1. Tyler Adams (130) also won by decision over Keaton Parent, 5-2. Pictured above: Eskymo Jake Drage pins Flivver Mike Ourodnik in 5:16. Pictured at left: Coach Jamie Segorski congratulates Tyler Adams on his victory at 130 pounds. WATCH ESKYMOS vs FLIVVERS WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS CLICK HERE  to watch David Falish get a pin over Kingsford's Drake Griggs. CLICK HERE  to watch Eddie Terres get a buzzer-beater over Flivver Alex Warf. CLICK HERE  to watch Kaleb Rahoi get a pin over Kingsford's Tyler Jones.                 Left photo: Kingsford's Tyler Merrill picks up Eskymo 160-pounder Joe Waller. Right photo: Escanaba's Jared Maycunich scores two points just before pinning Kingsford's Travis Cudnohusky during Thursday night's triangular meet in Escanaba.

Escanaba, Gladstone, BR-H Wrestlers Succeed  The Escanaba and Gladstone High School wrestling teams both competed in tough tournaments on Saturday. And while neither team took home an overall championship trophy, both wrestled teams well and had some individual success. The Eskymos competed at the Peshtigo (Wis.) Invitational, and finished in second place in the team competition. Freshman 119-pounder Kaleb Rahoi (pictured at left from an earlier match) and senior heavy weight Dalton Perron-Spear both won their individual weight class trophies. Meanwhile, the Braves were at the 13-team Ray Mariucci Tournament in Kingsford and finished third overall, behind Bradley Tech of Milwaukee, and Iron Mountain. Jeremy Kadish (130 pounds) and Josh Kadish (140) both won championships. Jared Syverson (119), Sam Taylor (135), and Brandon Gagnon (152) both finished as runners-up. And Bark River-Harris's new wrestling team competed for the first time and finished tenth out of the 13 teams. Curtis LaBadie (189) was BR-H's top finisher, placing second.

Eskymo Wrestlers Rally To Win Elks Invitational                     The Escanaba Eskymos trailed the Gladstone Braves entering in the semifinal rounds of the 18-team 39th annual Elks Invitational on Saturday. But the Esky boys, behind championships from Travis Heller (140) and Dalton Spear (285), and second place finishes by Kaleb Rahoi, Zach Priebe, and Mike Dombrowski, rallied to win. Escanaba had 198 points. Iron Mountain finished second with 190, and Gladstone was third with 178. The Braves' lone individual winner was Jack Cronick, who beat Dombrowski in the 215-pound final. St. Ignace finished fourth, Norway took fifth, and Benzie Central was sixth in the team score. Pictured above: Eskymo freshman Kaleb Rahoi battled Iron Mountain veteran Ryan Gauthier before losing in the final, 16-10. Left photo: Eskymo heavyweight Dalton Spear is the champion over Westwood's David Lancour. (Linda Bockman photos) MORE ELKS INVITATIONAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS  Iron Mountain had four individual winners: Alex Edwards (103), Jared Gauthier (112), Ryan Gauthier (125), and Chase Gendron (145).....Benzie Central had two champs: Jake Rosa (130), and Jared Fekete (135)....St. Ignace had two champs: Lou Radecki (152) and Galloway Thurston (171)....Norway had two champs: Jon Coates (160) and Billy Burkland (189)....Menominee's Steve Theurerkauf won the 119-pound title.             Left photo: Escanaba's Mike Dombrowski pins Menominee's Jake Hart in the 215 pound weight class. Right photo: Esky's Jared Maycunich (145) pins Ishpeming's Cody Johnson. Below: Escanaba's Tyler Adams against Negaunee's Mike Louma in the 130-pound weight class. Louma won the match. (Linda Bockman photos)                   ELKS INVITATIONAL TEAM SCOREBOARD 1. Escanaba 2. Iron Mountain 3. Gladstone 4. St. Ignace 5. Norway 6. Benzie Central 7. Menominee 8. Florence, Wis. 9. Manistique 198 190 178 175.5 123 111 106 91.5 90 10. Westwood 11. Kingsford 12. West Iron County 13. Gwinn 14. Negaunee 15. Munising 16. Escanaba JV 17. Ishpeming 18. Bark River-Harris 58 57 56 44 42 40 28 27 19

Escanaba Eskymo Wrestling Is A Family Affair High school wrestling is one of the only sports where a brother and sister can play on the same team.  And this season, the Escanaba Eskymos have a brother-sister tandem as the team looks to defend its 2010-'11 Upper Peninsula championship. Sophomore Brittinie Larson wrestles at 103 pounds, while her older brother Tyler is a senior who wrestles at 125 pounds. Both transferred to the Escanaba Schools from Carney-Nadeau. Tyler Larson is pictured above, wrestling against Gladstone. Brittinie is pictured below, wrestling against Westwood. The Eskymos open the 2012 schedule Wednesday at Ishpeming, then host the Elks Invitational on Saturday. (Linda Bockman photos)

Esky Wrestlers Beat Iron Mtn; Fall To Coleman                       Escanaba High School hosted a five-team wrestling meet Tuesday night, with Iron Mountain, Coleman (Wis.), Bark River-Harris, and Westwood joining the host Eskymos. Escanaba lost to the powerhouse Coleman team, 60-12, as Dalton Perron Spear and Kaleb Rhoi earned the only Eskymo wins. Escanaba then beat Iron Mountain, 56-19, and Iron Mountain blanked Westwood, 60-0. Bark River-Harris did not have enough boys in the meet to be able to keep a team score. Pictured above: Escanaba's Travis Heller, wrestling in a match from last week. (Linda Bockman photo)

Bark River-Harris Bronco Wrestling Has Arrived The newest high school wrestling team to be formed in the Upper Peninsula is at Bark River-Harris. Unfortunately, the Broncos are suffering this season with fewer boys coming out for the team than was previously expected. The Broncos had just four wrestlers in uniform at a quadrangular meet in Escanaba Thursday night, so no team scores were kept. But BR-H's Kyle Mathias and Curtis Labadie both managed to earn victories during Thursday night's meet. Pictured: Bark River's Dustin Beauchamp battles Gladstone's Zach Chouniard. Chouinard won by pin at the 2:35 mark.