Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Adam Reimer (top) attempts to pin Bark River-Harris’ Daniel Dani Thursday in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The middle weights came through for the Escanaba wrestlers here Thursday night in a 45-34 wrestling victory over the Gladstone Braves.

Esky opened with a 61-12 triumph over Bark River-Harris and Gladstone beat the Broncos 54-17.

Gladstone’s Lane Matzke opened with his 100th career victory, pinning Esky’s Adam Reimer 90 seconds into the 125-pound bout.

The Eskymos then won the next six bouts, gaining a 33-6 advantage on Dayton Miron’s pin of Cole Potier 5:03 into the 160 match.

Senior Cole Hansen (171) trimmed Gladstone’s deficit to 33-12 by pinning Kahler Geyer in 72 seconds.

Esky’s Scott Pendergraft (189) followed with a pin of Blake Servant in 62 seconds and Jarret Olsen (215) pinned Peter Noblet at 4:49 for an insurmountable 45-12 advantage.

“We talked about getting bonus points,” said Esky coach Jeff Wright. “The middle weights are what really propelled us. We knew it’d be close with the way the teams matched up. Dayton wrestled a real close match with that kid at the (Esky) Elks tournament and Scott came through with with some big pins for us. Kahler has been wrestling awesome, but Cole is also a real good wrestler and Kahler got caught in a move.

“Bark River-Harris also has some good wrestlers. Their co-op with North Central has really helped their numbers.”

Esky gained a 24-0 advantage in its opener before BR-H’s Clayton Eichhorn (140) pinned Joey Stankowicz at 1:18.

The Eskymos then won seven bouts in a row, extending their lead to 61-6 on Nick Carlson’s pin of Owen Chartier 68 seconds into the 285 match.

In the finale, Tyler Racicot (152) pinned Garrett Matzke in 44 seconds, giving the Broncos a 17-6 lead before Gladstone ran the table for its victory.

The match concluded with Lane Matzke recording two takedowns in a 4-2 triumph over Daniel Dani at 119 and Hunter Solis’s forfeit victory at 125.

“That was a good match in the end,” said Braves’ coach Jeff Brazeau. “Lane gave up some weight in that match. We knew that kid was strong. Lane getting his 100th victory against Esky was great. He put in a lot of hard work over the years. That was a very nice achievement for him. It’s always a tough match with Esky. They’re stacked in the middle weights. I think we gained some momentum for the U.P. Championships (Jan. 25 at Marquette). I think this will carry over for us. Everyone is pumped for the U.P’s.”

BR-H coach Joe Racicot was also was pleased with the Broncos’ effort.

“We held our own,” he said. “The score doesn’t resemble the wrestling that went on tonight. We had a real good start against Gladstone. The middle portion of our lineup is real good and those guys wrestled well. Clayton got a couple solid wins for us. We have 10 rookie wrestlers and they’re doing a great job for us. Jacob Wandahsega’s work ethic is real good and it shows in his technique.

“In my opinion, Escanaba and Gladstone have the two best wrestling programs in the U.P. To be in the same gym with them is only going to make us better going forward. I’m extremely happy with where the team is at.”

The meet served as a cancer benefit for Phil Arnt of Escanaba, raising nearly $900 to help cover costs of his battle with non-hodgkins lymphona.

Escanaba 61, Bark River-Harris 12

119 — DeGrand, E, pinned Riley, 3:26

125 — Reimer, E, pinned Dani, 3:09

130 — Arnt, E, forfeit

135 — Lawson, E, forfeit

140 — Eichhorn, BR-H, pinned Stankowicz, 1:18

145 — Larson, E, dec. Allgeyer, 8-2

152 — Bevins, E, dec. Racicot, 9-1

160 — Weaver, E, pinned Bartoszek, 5:37

171 — Geyer, E, forfeit

189 — Pendergraft, E, pinned Wandahsega, 4:16

215 — Olsen, E, pinned F. Chartier, 3:45

285 — Carlson, E, pinned O. Chartier, 1:08

103 — Sedlecki, BR-H, pinned Pruitt, 3:31

Escanaba 45, Gladstone 34

125 — L. Matzke, G, pinned Reimer, 1:30

130 — Arnt, E, tech fall over Solis, 17-2

135 — Viau, E, pinned Liebold, 4:15

140 — Lawson, E, pinned Detiege, :51

145 — Larson, E, pinned Frizzell, :54

152 — Bevens, E, dec. Sargent, 13-1

160 — Miron, E, pinned Potier, 5:03

171 — Hansen, G, pinned Geyer, 1:12

189 — Pendergraft, E, pinned Servant, 3:51

215 — Olsen, E, pinned Noblet, 4:49

285 — Boudreau, G, pinned Carlson, 3:18

103 — Terrien, G, pinned Pruitt, 1:00

112 — Helman, G, forfeit

119 — Brazeau, G, dec. DeGrand, 8-0

Gladstone 54, Bark River-Harris 17

135 — Detiege, G, forfeit

140 — Eichhorn, BR-H, pinned Frizzell, :39

145 — Allgeyer, BR-H, tech fall over Sargent, 15-0

152 — Racicot, BR-H, pinned G. Matzke, :44

160 — Potier, G, pinned Bartoszek, 5:12

171 — Hansen, G, forfeit

189 — Servant, G, pinned Wandahsega, 1:02

215 — Starnes, G, pinned Kern, 1:18

285 — Boudreau, G, pinned O. Chartier, :31

103 — Terrien, G, dec. Sedlecki, 12-9

112 — Brazeau, G, pinned Riley, 3:22

119 — L. Matzke, G, dec. Dani, 4-2

125 — Solis, G, forfeit.