Courtesy photo The Escanaba wrestling team poses for a picture after winning its third straight Elks Invitational Saturday in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — Make it a three-peat for the Escanaba wrestlers.

Esky captured top honors in the Elks Invitational for the third straight time here Saturday by scoring 224 points in the 47th annual tournament.

Downstate Coopersville was runner-up at 160, followed by Gladstone 147 1/2, Ishpeming 130 1/2 and Grayling 112 1/2.

“I’m real proud of the guys,” said Esky coach Jeff Wright. “We got six in the finals and won five of those matches. We hadn’t seen Coopersville except in the state (individual) tournament. We’re glad to have a good, solid team come up here and give us matches and Gladstone is always tough. This is like a home tournament for them. We’re glad to have them here and Bark River-Harris has some good kids.”

Esky senior Dayton Miron gained his first Elks title by taking an 8-5 decision from BR-H’s Tyler Racicot in the 152-pound final.

“I’m very excited about that,” said Miron, who earned the Jim Rogers Memorial Award as the tourney’s outstanding wrestler. “This is little bit of a confidence builder, although I have a lot of work to do. Our team did real good. The guys in the middle weights came through for us.”

Classmate Hunter Larson (140) won for the fourth straight time, pinning Kingsford freshman Josh Peterson in two-minutes, 17 seconds.

“I felt there was more pressure to win it, but it felt good to come back here and win it for my last time,” said Larson. “I thought my shots were right on. I got some good practices in and my technique was pretty good.”

Esky junior Collin Arnt copped his third consecutive title, pinning Menominee junior Kaeleb Crawford just 52 seconds into the 125 championship bout.

“I was a little nervous coming in, otherwise I was pretty confident,” said Arnt. “I never wrestled that kid before. I didn’t have to worry about what happened before. I just wanted to get more points for the team. I just went out there and wrestled. Only, I need to be more aggressive.”

Junior Tyler Lawson (135) added a first by pinning Grayling junior Tucker Mertes at 2:39 and classmate Kahler Geyer took a 9-1 decision from Munising senior Gabriel Cole in the 171 final.

Esky junior Brodey Bevins (145) also reached the title round where he bowed to Coopersville junior Tyler Janssen 10-0.

Gladstone sophomore Michael Brazeau (103) opened the championship round by pinning Grayling junior Joe Armstrong at 2:53.

“It feels great to win over here,” said Brazeau. “I wanted to keep him on the bottom. I had opportunities to get a pin in the first period, but couldn’t quite get it done. I ran him down pretty quick in the second period. Every win pretty much builds my confidence. This is a good tournament for our team to come to.”

Sophomore Hunter Solis provide the Braves with a first at 119 with a 10-2 triumph over Iron Mountain freshman Evan Haferkorn and junior Cole Hansen needed just 91 seconds to post a technical fall (15-0) over Westwood senior Rocco Carlson.

“I practiced everyday during the Christmas Break, which kept me conditioned,” said Solis. “I worked on technique a lot. We’ve been going down to Kalkaska. It was nice to have a meet 10 minutes away instead of making a five-hour trip (one way). It was a tight match for a while. I got a little tired in the end.”

Braves’ sophomore Brett Boudreau (285) reached the championship round where he got pinned in 24 seconds by Kingsford senior Eddie Cardew.

BR-H’s Drew Allgeyer (145) was the area’s lone third-place finisher. Teammate Josh Riley (112), Manistique’s Jacob Berry (135) and Gladstone’s Cole Potier (152) placed fourth.

Team scores

Escanaba 224, Coopersville 160, Gladstone 147 1/2, Ishpeming 130 1/2, Grayling 112 1/2, Kingsford 94, Iron Mountain 91 1/2, Westwood 91, Bark River-Harris 87, Newberry 86, Benzie Central 83, Negaunee 79, Munising 59, Gwinn 49, Menominee 45, St. Ignace 32, U.P. Extra 27, Escanaba II 26, Manistique and U.P. Extra II 17.

Individual results

103 — Brazeau, Glad, pinned Armstrong, Gray, 2:53

112 — McGuire, IM, dec. Duncan, Gray, 3-1

119 — Solis, Glad, dec. Haferkorn, IM, 10-2

125 — Arnt, E, pinned Crawford, Men, :52

130 — Luoma, Gw, pinned Carello, Ish, 1:43

135 — Lawson, E, pinned Mertes, Gray, 2:39

140 — Larson, E, pinned Peterson, K, 2:17

145 — Janssen, C, dec. Bevins, E, 10-0

152 — Miron, E, dec. Racicot, BR-H, 8-5

160 — Hansen, Glad, tech fall over Carlson, WW, 15-0

171 — Geyer, E, dec. Cole, Mun, 9-1

189 — Martin, Ish, pinned Bowler, New, 1:25

215 — Hanson, BC, pinned Helppi, Neg, 3:38

285 — Cardew, K, pinned Boudreau, Glad, :24.