Spear Takes 6th; Heller 8th; In States At Palace  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 (pictured at left with his medal) won two of his first three matches, then lost twice on Saturday and finished eighth at 135 pounds. CLICK HERE to see Spear's results. CLICK HERE to see Heller's results. Gladstone's Josh Kadish won one match and lost two others, and did not place.

Esky Wrestlers Beat Bay City; Fall to Greenville  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. Individual regionals are on Saturday.

Seven Eskymo Wrestlers Advance To Regional The Escanaba High School wrestling team will send seven boys to next week's Division Two individual regional meet, the most in school history. The boys all qualified during the district tournament on Saturday in Gaylord. Amongst the winners: Travis Heller, who beat three wrestlers from Bay City to win the title and improve his record to 41-4. Dalton Spear (pictured at left) pinned all three of his opponents to improve his record to 41-1 and win a district championship. Other boys who qualified: Mike Dombrowski, Kaleb Rahoi, Zach Priebe, Devon Slaga, and Eddie Terres. CLICK HERE  to see all of the Escanaba Eskymo wrestler results.

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 Top Gladstone in Dual Meet                    The Escanaba High School wrestling team swept its season series from the Gladstone Braves, posting a 45-30 win in a dual meet Thursday night in Gladstone. Amongst the Escanaba winners: Zach Priebe (over Jared Syverson), Jake Drage (over Jack Cronick), and Kaleb Rahoi. Amongst the Gladstone winners: Josh Kadish (over Tyler Larson) and Cameron Spencer (over Bubba Heath). Both the Eskymos and Braves will compete at the Great Northern Conference Championships Saturday morning in Marquette. Pictured above: Eskymo Jake Drage during a match earlier this season vs Kingsford.

Esky Wrestlers 3rd At No. Mich. Championships 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). 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. Eskymo 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. CLICK HERE  to see the final N. Mich. Championships team standings. CLICK HERE for individual brackets....just click your weight class.

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)

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.

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 Muntain 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