MARQUETTE — The Gladstone wrestlers did what they set out to do here Saturday, earning their third consecutive Upper Peninsula wrestling title with 219½ points.

They were followed by Iron Mountain 161, Kingsford 145, Sault Ste. Marie 143 and Escanaba 122.

“I was a (team) manager my first year,” Braves’ sophomore Trevor Thorbahn said. “I think our confidence was the main thing. If you go in with confidence, you give yourself a better chance. This doesn’t happen very often. Iron Mountain is always a tough team. They have a lot of seniors and good wrestlers.”

Thorbahn captured the 175-pound championship by taking a 4-2 decision from Mountaineers’ senior Fulton Stroud.

Gladstone senior Austin Solis (150) secured his third straight title by pinning St. Ignace junior Gabriel Werkheiser in one minute, 52 seconds.

“I’m still not completely healed from football (torn tendon), but my faith in God helped give me the strength to get through,” Solis said. “Any win is a good win. This is a good way to go into Gaylord (Saturday’s Northern Michigan Championships). Right now I have nothing to lose. I just have to keep my nose to the grindstone.”

Braves’ senior Drew Hanson (132) was also crowned champion for the third time following a 5-0 triumph over Esky junior Cade Krueger.

“I was trying to score on my feet,” Hanson said. “I wanted to be strong on offense. Scoring points early enables you to gain control of the match. It always feels great to win. I think this gives me momentum for the rest of the season.”

Two Esky grapplers also earned titles including senior Eliot Gardner (138), who used an escape and takedown to post a 4-1 double-overtime victory over Sault senior Will Ohman for his first title.

“I wrestled him three times this season,” Gardner said. “We’ve become pretty familiar with each other. There are no secrets between us. It came down to grit and conditioning. This is a build-up to get me over the hump.”

Esky junior Kaleb Gagne copped the 165-pound championship by pinning Newberry senior Kennedy Depew at 3:09.

“I wanted to slow things down,” Gagne said. “I realized I had to shoot at him and use my strength to get him out of position. This is a real good confidence builder going into (Division 2) districts and regionals and the meet at Gaylord will be very good preparation for the post-season.”

Bark River-Harris senior Lucas Sischo (190) led off the championship round by pinning Sault senior Chris Kiekhaefer in 2:57 for his first title.

“This is special,” Sischo said. “I’ve been pushing myself everyday to get better and develop some mental toughness. With having some quickness, I had to be deceptive with my moves, and I think I may have caught him off guard. This definitely boosts my confidence. I’m going to stick with the 190 weight class into the post-season.”

Powers North Central freshman Cooper Raab copped the 113 title with a 9-6 triumph over Negaunee junior Phoenix Espinoza.

A takedown gave Espinoza a 6-5 lead with 24 seconds remaining in the match before Raab answered with an escape and a near fall.

“Losing the lead was the furthest thing from my mind,” Raab said. “I kept focused and concentrated on what I was trying to do. I just remembered all the things I did in practice and applied those things tonight. He’s a strong wrestler. It’s definitely a good match between him and I.’

Senior Michael Bouche represented Manistique in the championship round where he got pinned by Kingsford senior Elzin Rouse 4:35 into the 215 bout.

“He’s a strong guy who’s real quick,” Bouche said. “I was fourth up here last year. It’s amazing. This was the best experience of my life. The work I put in during the summer really helped. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right things.”

North Central junior Madakynn Corrigan captured the 115 title, pinning all three of her opponents in the Mio-AuSable Girls’ Invitational Friday.

“I felt confident going in,” she said. “My technique was good. That was little bit of a confidence boost, although anything can happen.”

Gladstone freshman Nate Beauchamp (103), sophomore Jack Savard (215) and senior Josh Racine (285) placed third in Marquette Saturday. Freshmen Drew Baldovski (106) and Logan Ayotte (139) took fourth and sophomore Mason Wells (144) and junior Max Wilson (157) were fifth.

Esky sophomore Cannon Arnt (144) and freshman Dustin Skerbeck (150) took third and senior Tom Benoit (285) was fifth.

“We didn’t do too bad,” Esky coach Josh Ling said. “We came up here with 11 guys. Eli Gardner is one of the most amazing kids I’ve met. He and Will Ohman are hard working kids. Eli is very respectful. He really dedicates himself to wrestling and has really turned it on.”

Manistique sophomore Landon Weber (106) also placed third.

Gladstone 219½, Iron Mountain 161, Kingsford 145, Sault Ste. Marie 143, Escanaba 122, St. Ignace 98, Menominee 79, Munising 73½, Marquette 65, Newberry 64, Negaunee 62, Bark River-Harris 58, Ishpeming Westwood 57, Manistique 52, Norway 48, Rudyard 42, Gwinn 36, Powers North Central 22, Ishpeming 11.

190 — Sischo, BR-H, pinned Kiekhaefer, S, 2:57; 3, Dalton, Gw; 4, Houghton, Mqt; 5, G. Saldana, IM.

215 — Rouse, K, pinned Bouche, Mstq, 4:35; 3, Savard, Glad; 4, Aldrich, S; 5, Hollenberg, Mqt.

285 — Kuenzer, S, dec. Smith, Mqt, 3-2; 3, Racine, Glad; 4, Declark, K; 5, Benoit, E.

106 — Luoma, W, dec. Hruska, IM, 4-2; 3, Weber, Mstq; 4, Baldovski, Glad; 5, Wilson, I.

113 — Raab, PNC, dec. Espinoza, Neg, 9-6; 3, Beauchamp, Glad; 4, Champion SI; 5, Bayley, Men.

120 — Wilson, IM, dec. Britton, Glad, 7-0; 3, Savoie, R; 4, Nevil, K; 5, Gould, Mun.

126 — Winch, IM, dec. Degroot, K, 14-6; 3, VanDoren, S; 4, B. Liipnitz, SI; 5, Enriquez, R.

132 — Hanson, Glad, dec. Krueger, E, 5-0; 3, Bray, K; 4, Peabody, S; 5, D. Saldana, IM.

138 — Gardner, E, dec. Ohman, S, 4-1 (2 OT); 3, Ray, K; 4, Ayotte, Glad; 5, Lincoln, Mun.

144 — Manier, IM, pinned O’Neil, New, 3:22; 3, Arnt, E; 4, Comero, W; 5, Wells, Glad.

150 — Solis, Glad, pinned Werkheiser, SI, 1:52; 3, Skerbeck, E; 4, Collins, W; 5, Siesel, S.

157 — J. Lipnitz, SI, pinned Amundson, Nor, :57; 3, Smith, K; 4, Strom, Neg; 5, Wilson, Glad.

165 — Gagne, E, pinned Depew, New, 3:09; 3, Kelley, Mun; 4, Walstrom, IM; 5, Odom, Men.

175 — Thorbahn, Glad, dec. Stroud, IM, 4-2; 3, Sundquist, K; 4, Russo, S; 5, Roughton, SI.