ESCANABA — Not every wrestler gets to win his hometown invitational meet four years in a row.

Senior Cade Krueger, however, achieved that here Saturday by taking top individual honors in the 144-pound division at the 52nd Annual Escanaba Elks Invite.

Krueger, also voted the Most Valuable Wrestler, needed 28 seconds to pin Powers North Central freshman Pryar LaBonte in the title match.

“Not very many Esky wrestlers won four titles in this meet,” Krueger said while noting he was competing with a separated shoulder. “I landed on it in practice. I’ve been icing it down and it’s healing pretty good. It was sore today, but I was able to battle through it. I had doubts about wrestling in this meet during the week but wanted to get that fourth championship.”

Kingsford was crowned champion for the first time with 195.5 points. The Flivvers were followed by Esky 167, Grayling 122, defending champ Benzie Central 120.5 and Menominee 108.5.

“We’ve been steadily building our program and we’re firing on all cylinders right now,” Flivvers’ coach Darren Groleau said. “Everybody wrestled hard today and 11 of our 14 kids placed. I’m very proud of everybody. We’ve had a lot of individual success, but now we’re building our team to a point where we can compete as a team.”

Kingsford junior Tegan Ray improved to 24-0 after pinning Gladstone senior Conner Britton 4:27 into the 132 final.

Sophomore Tyler Bray (150) added a first for the Flivvers by taking an 8-1 decision from Iron Mountain sophomore Dan Manier and sophomore teammate Preston Declark (285) pinned Cheboygan senior Luke Munger at 2:48.

Esky senior Kaleb Gagne (175) remained undefeated through 26 matches, taking his first Elks title by pinning Kingsford sophomore Jake Lockhart in 58 seconds.

“This is a good momentum builder going toward the U.P. Finals,” Gagne said. “I took a more deliberate approach this time. I just tried to be more patient rather than trying to go too fast. This was kind of a lesson in energy conservation. I let the match come to me rather than taking shots. It feels good to me to win for the first time in our home tournament.”

North Central sophomore Cooper Raab captured the 126 title with a technical fall (16-1) over Benzie Central’s Dayne Gillison.

“My opponent was very strong,” Raab said after improving to 22-2. “I lost to him in the finals here last year. After I got the lead, I kept up the intensity and focused on what I needed to do. I feel I’m doing pretty well. I think my attitude has improved. I try to think of every loss as a learning experience. It shows your weaknesses and tells you what you need to work on.”

Esky freshman Isiah Davis (106) defeated Gladstone sophomore Drew Baldovsky by technical fall (22-5) in a third-place match.

Junior Cody Crowe (120) also provided the Eskymos with a third-place finish by pinning Manistique senior Johnathan Weber in 2:20.

“We wrestled very well,” Esky coach John Rogers said. “We’re a very young team, but our guys showed up real well today. Twelve freshmen is a pretty good building block and our junior high wrestlers are doing very well.

“Kingsford is very well stacked. They have good coaches and Darren is a great guy. They’ve been building that for years. We’re all in different divisions, but going up against each other gives us good experience.”

Gladstone senior Alex Wilson (175) placed third by taking a 6-2 decision from Kingsford sophomore Orin Smith and Braves’ sophomore Ben Wilson (215) pinned Kingsford senior Mason Tappy at 1:30.

In other third-place bouts, Manistique senior Aiden Osterhout (132) pinned Munising sophomore Drew VanLandschoot at 2:43. Classmate Griffin Maline (175) pinned Norway senior Landon Amundson in 1:58 and Bark River-Harris sophomore Mitch Corrigan (190) took a 4-2 decision from Kingsford senior Brettin Rouse.

Area fourth-place finishers also include Esky junior Cannon Arnt (150) and freshman Robert Ranstadler (106).

Fifth-place finishers include North Central senior Madalynn Corrigan (120), Gladstone’s Deegan Miron (157) and Braves’ sophomore Jack Taylor (175) and Esky freshman Haidyn Denis (190).

North Central and Manistique travel to Gwinn Tuesday and BR-H hosts Esky and Gladstone Wednesday. Both meets begin at 6 p.m.

The summary

Kingsford 195.5, Escanaba 167, Grayling 122, Benzie Central 120.5, Menominee 108.5, Marinette 106.5, Gladstone 105.5, Negaunee 97.5, Reedsville, Wis. 87.5, Cheboygan 81.5, Powers North Central 72.5, Manistique 63, Ishpeming Westwood 61, Marquette 56, Munising 54, Iron Mountain 49, St. Ignace 47.5, Rogers City 46, Rudyard 45, Bark River-Harris 44, Norway 38, Newberry 21.5, Gwinn 16, Escanaba I 5.

120 — Kuenzli, Mar, pinned Lewicki, Gray, 1:29; 3, Crowe, E; 4, Weber, Mstq; 5, Corrigan, PNC.

126 — Raab, PNC, tech fall (16-1) over Gillison, BC; 3, Degroot, K; 4, Vogeltanz, Men; 5, Teeple, Mqt.

132 — Ray, K, pinned Britton, Glad, 4:27; 3, Osterhout, Men; 4, VanLandschoot, Mun; 5, Brady, SI.

138 — Barstow, Men, pinned Hendrickson, K, 1:30; 3, Sebo, Reed; 4, Majurin, K; 5, Leibman, Mar.

144 — Krueger, E, pinned LaBonte, PNC, :28; 3, Smith, Mun; 4, Black, Neg; 5, Mansfield, RC.

150 — Bray, K, dec. Manier, IM, 8-1; 3, Comero, WW; 4, Arnt, E; 5, Storm, Neg.

157 — Verbeten, Reed, dec. Werkheiser, SI, 8-1; 3, M. Wilson, Glad; 4, Smith, K; 5, Miron, Glad.

165 — C. Wenkel, BC, pinned Derry, RC, 3:27; 3, Peters, Gray; 4, Bubolz, Reed; 5, Niemi-Alco, Rud.

175 — Gagne, E, pinned Lockhart, K, :58; 3, Maline, Mstq; 4, Amundson, Nor; 5, J. Taylor, Glad.

190 — Smith, Mar, pinned Joseph, Gray, 4:32; 3, Corrigan, BR-H; 4, Rouse, K; 5, Denis, E.

215 — Sanchez, BC, tech fall over Bonamie, Gray, 18-2; 3, B. Wilson, Glad; 4, Tappy, K; 5, Clarke, Men.

285 — Declark, K, pinned Munger, Cheb, 2:48; 3, Smith, Mqt; 4, Walker, BR-H; 5, Hamilton, New.

106 — Asikainen, Neg, dec. Moore, Gray, 11-1; 3, D. Wenkel, BC; 4, Ranstadler, E; 5, Andrews, Cheb.

113 — Espinoza, Neg. dec. Savoie, Rud; 3, Davis, E; 4, Baldovski, Glad; 5, Cohan, Mar.