Escanaba and Gladstone wrestlers compete in a duel match on Dec. 3, 2025 at Escanaba High School.

By John Vrancic

For the Daily Press

ESCANABA — Gladstone’s strength and experience in the upper weight classes made a difference in a 48-35 wrestling victory over the Escanaba Eskymos here Wednesday night.

The Braves, who trailed 35-30 after the 175-pound bout, sealed the verdict by recording pins in each of the last three matches.

“Escanaba got out to a lead and we came back,” Braves’ coach Ryan Harrenstein said. “We’re very tough in the middle and upper weights. We have plenty of experience. We battle hard everyday in the wrestling room.”

Esky took the lead for the last time when Cannon Arnt defeated Andrew Howes on a technical fall (18-3).

Gladstone went ahead in the 190 match in which Trevor Thorbahn pinned Hayden Dennis in 1:48.

In the 215 match, Ryder Forvilly pinned Gabe Brooks in 45 seconds and Ben Wilson (285) took Zahn Anderson by pin in three minutes.

“This is very much a learning experience,” Esky coach John Rogers said. “We had 30 wrestlers and 22 are underclassmen. We had to take the kids and walked them out on the mat a few days ago. We could have gone with a little different lineup in the middle. Even if we had, Gladstone would have been very difficult to beat.”

The Eskymos led 30-12 after the 144 bout in which Kingston Berube pinned Michael Berryhill in 4:21.

At 150, Gladstone’s Nate Beauchamp needed just 49 seconds to pin Dustin Skerbeck.

Charlie Savard (157) pinned Bryce Bichler at 2:59 and Wyatt Forvilly (165) tied the team score at 30 by pinning Ethan Ingebrigtsen in 65 seconds.

“Charlie pinning Dustin and Gabe’s (Carson) pin over Cash (Kenneally) were probably the highlights of this dual,” Harrenstein said. “Every event is leading to the post-season.”

Esky’s Blake Shrove and Connor McClellan started the meet by recording pins in tough matches against freshman twins Ella and Isla Gomez.

Shrove got his pin against Ella with 23 seconds remaining in the 106 bout and McClellan was trailing 20-10 before pinning Isla 4:11 into the 113 match.

“Our guys at 106 and 113 had never wrestled before,” Rogers said. “We saw the Gomez girls a lot in youth wrestling. They’re very good wrestlers. This was really a good experience for our young kids to see what it’s all about. This year is all about effort. We have a lot of eager kids.”

Esky went up 18-0 after taking a forfeit at 120 before Drew Baldovsky got Gladstone on the board by pinning Isiah Davis 1:50 into the 126 bout.

Both teams will be heading downstate for invitationals this weekend. Esky will visit Saginaw Swan Valley and Gladstone will be at Portland Saturday.

106 — Shrove, E, pinned E. Gomez, 5:37; 113 — McClellan, E, pinned I. Gomez, 4:11; 120 — Crowe, E, forfeit; 126 — Baldovsky, G, pinned Davis, 1:50; 132 — G. Carlson, G, pinned Kenneally, 5:08; 138 — Smithingell, E, pinned Stahlman, 1:27; 144 — Berube, E, pinned Berryhill, 4:21; 150 — Beauchamp, G, pinned Skerbeck, :49; 157 — Savard, G, pinned Bichler, 2:59; 165 — W. Forvilly, G, pinned Ingebrigtsen, 1:05; 175 — Arnt, E, tech fall (18-3) over Howes; 190 — Thorbahn, G, pinned Denis, 1:48; 215 — R. Forvilly, G, pinned Brooks, :45; 285 — Wilson, G, pinned Anderson, 3:00.