MARQUETTE — Escanaba stayed close, but Kingsford wasn’t to be denied in the Upper Peninsula Wrestling Championship here Saturday night.

The Flivvers earned their first U.P. champion with 189 points. Esky scored 179.5, followed by Sault Ste. Marie 156, three-time defending champ Gladstone 126.5 and Menominee 113.5.

“We came here with nine kids and got seven in the finals which I think gave us an advantage,” Kingsford coach Darren Groleau said. “We had a feeling it would come down to the last match.

Sophomore Tyler Bray, selected the tournament’s Most Valuable Wrestler, preserved Kingsford’s victory by hanging on for an 8-7 triumph over Esky senior Cade Krueger in the 150-pound final.

An early takedown and near fall enabled Bray to take a 7-0 lead before Krueger began his comeback in the second stanza.

Krueger got within a point on an illegal hold with 4.9 seconds left in the match.

“Tyler is the first Kingsford wrestler to earn MVP honors in the U.P. Finals,” Groleau said. “He had the heart to do it and deserved everything he accomplished today. This is huge for us. We’ve been working toward this. The kids were really focused and wanted to bring the trophy home to Kingsford. We’ve faced adversity and were down to nine kids with only two seniors and one junior. The rest were all sophomores.”

Also winning for Kingsford were sophomore Orrin Smith, who began the title round by taking a 15-7 decision from St. Ignace senior Gabe Werkheiser at 157 pounds, Max Sundquist (175) who pinned Manistique senior Griffin Maline at 3:20, and junior Tegan Ray (132) who pinned Gladstone senior Conner Britton in 2:23.

“Kegan had a real good day and Orrin got three pins which were very important to our team,” Groleau. “Every kid on our team showed a lot of heart.”

Esky senior Kaleb Gagne (165) earned his second title by pinning Rudyard senior Jaydon Niemi-Alcorn 1:28 into the title match.

“It felt electric, especially under the spotlight,” Gagne said. “It feels great to get it done. The Rudyard kid put up a good fight, only he left his leg exposed and I capitalized on that. There was quite a bit of pressure coming in here as defending champ, but I just tried to focus and what I was trying to do. This gives me little bit of momentum going into late-season and post-season matches. I haven’t seen many of the kids in our (Division 2) district. It’s kind of a venture into the unknown.”

Junior teammate Cody Crowe (120) added his first title by pinning Manistique senior Johnathan Weber in 1:48.

“Today is my mom’s birthday,” Crowe said. “I did it for her. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. She’s my biggest fan. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to do many things. It was hard and difficult. Many times I was ready to hang up my wrestling shoes. In the hard times when you don’t want to keep going, you just find a way to get through it which pays off in the end.”

Junior Trevor Thorbahn (190) represented Gladstone in the winner’s circle after defeating Kingsford sophomore Jake Lockhard by technical fall (19-2).

Coach John Rogers was happy with Esky’s performance.

“The kids came up with a plan and they executed,” he said. “Cade had to make a decision for the team. He could have stayed at 144, but decided to wrestle at 150 and take on the tougher match. That was our only shot to win the meet. He put the team on his back and got caught early, but made it exciting in the end. A 7-0 deficit isn’t that big a deal with the new scoring. We’re extremely young. I think we’re going to be someone to contend with for the next 3-4 years. Credit to Kingsford. They put the time in and deserved to win.”

The Eskymos travel to Menominee Wednesday.

“It’s nice to have Trevor back,” Braves’ coach Ryan Harrenstein said. “This is only about his 10th match this season. He’s coming back from an injury and really wrestling well right now. He hadn’t gone a full match yet. I felt we could have done a little better as a team, although we have some sickness at this time.”

An early takedown helped Powers North Central sophomore Cooper Raab (126) claim his second championship, pinning Kingsford senior Reed Degroot at 2:53.

“I calmed myself down,” Raab said. “I had wrestled him about four times and convinced myself it was just like the first time I wrestled him. I didn’t have anything to prove to anybody and approached it like any other match. The early takedown set the tone right away.”

Additional area runners-up include Gladstone sophomore Ben Wilson (215), who dropped a 10-0 decision to Sault senior Cody Russo, and Esky freshman Robert Ranstadler (106) who got pinned in 48 seconds by Negaunee freshman Evan Asikainen and Eskymos’ junior Cannon Arnt (144), who came up short in a 12-5 loss to Sault junior Caleb Klier.

Area third-place finishers were Gladstone senior Max Wilson (157), Esky senior Ronaldhino Portillo (215) and Manistique sophomore Lewis Vogeltanz (126).

Those placing fourth are Gladstone sophomore Jack Taylor (175), Bark River-Harris junior Charles Walker (215), North Central freshman Maizy Olson (106), Manistique junior Landon Weber (113) and senior Aiden Osterhout (132).

BR-H sophomore Mitch Corrigan (190) and Gladstone sophomore Drew Baldovsky (113) also reached the podium by taking fifth.

Most area teams travel to Gaylord for Saturday’s Northern Michigan Championships.

Results

Kingsford 189, Escanaba 179.5, Sault Ste. Marie 156, Gladstone 126.5, Menominee 113.5, St. Ignace 101.5, Manistique 98.5, Negaunee 90.5, Marquette 88.5, Powers North Central 84, Munising 68, Ishpeming Westwood 64, Rudyard 56.5, Gwinn 39, Norway 36, Iron Mountain 33.5, Newberry 26, Bark River-Harris 25.

157 — Smith, K, dec. Werkheiser, SI, 15-7; 3, M. Wilson, Glad; 4, Wieczorek, Mun; 5, Baxter, Men.

165 — Gagne, E, pinned Niemi-Alco, Rud, 1:28; 3, Nelson, Men; 4, Bird, SI; 5, Dockery, WW.

175 — Sundquist, K, pinned Maline, Mstq, 3:20; 3, Amundson, Nor; 4, Taylor, Glad; 5, Rishmawi, S.

190 — Thorbahn, Glad, tech fall over Lockhart, K, 19-2; 3, Aldrich, S; 4, Gauthier, Men; 5, Corrigan, BR-H.

215 — Russo, S, dec. B. Wilson, Glad, 10-0; 3, Portillo, E; 4, Clarke, Men; 5, Saldana, IM.

285 — Kuenzer, S, dec. Smith, Mqt, 10-2; 3, Declark, K; 4, Walker, BR-H; 5, Hamilton, New.

106 — Asikainen, Neg, pinned Randstadler, E, :48; 3, Nord, Mun; 4, Olson, PNC; 5, Bliss, New.

113 — Espinoza, Neg, dec. Savoie, Rud, 19-8; 3, Corrigan, PNC; 4, L. Weber, Mstq; 5, Baldovski, Glad.

120 — Crowe, E, pinned J. Weber, Mstq, 1:48; 3, Champion, SI; 4, Jenkins, Gw; 5, Bosley, Men.

126 — Raab, PNC, pinned Degroot, K, 2:53; 3, Holt, Mstq; 4, Nevil, Nor; 5, Teeple, Mqt.

132 — Ray, K, panned Britton, Glad, 2:23; 3, Brady, SI; 4, Osterhout, Mstq; 5, VanLandschoot, Mun.

138 — Barstow, Men, dec. Hendrickson, K, 3-2; 3, W. Peabody, S; 4, Lindquist, WW; 5, Lipnitz, SI.

144 — Klier, S, dec. Arnt, E, 12-5; 3. Black, Neg; 4, LaBonte, PNC; 5, Smith, Mun.

150 — Bray, K, dec. Krueger, E, 8-7; 3, Manier, IM; 4, Comero, WW; 5, Leipold, SI.