Gladstone freshman Aiden Hurtubise bowls at Escanaba/Gladstone Invite on Jan. 17, 2026 at Up North Lanes. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — Escanaba boys bowlers took care of business Saturday as they defeated L’Anse 29-11 and Gladstone 34-6. The Escanaba girls had to forfeit both matchups as they were unable to field enough bowlers.

Escanaba senior Aiden McNair bowled a 212 and a 130 for a team high series of 342. Jason Bell had a 295 series for the Eskymos and Billy Britton had a 282.

The Eskymos took charge against Gladstone as Jason Bell posted games of 191 and 150 for a series total of 341. Britton posted a 299 series with game scores of 135 and 164 and McNair finished with a 282 series.

Gladstone did have some good performance though as sophomore Nolan Britton posted games of 143 and 163 for a series total of 306 and senior Nick Thill followed it up with a 304 series.

“I really enjoy getting to come out and bowl,” Thill said. “Last year at regionals we had some tough matches that were very competitive and that makes matches fun.”

Jayden Ness provides a lot of senior leadership for Gladstone and stated that he improved his game with help received by last year’s graduating senior Matt Meyer who was one of the most consistent bowlers the Braves had.

“Matt helped me a lot on my game here,” Ness said. “You can make mistakes in bowling and correct them where you can’t in football or some other sports.”

The Gladstone girls posted some big scores as Emily Ganzel had scores of 128 and 130 for a series total of 258 which led all Gladstone girls bowlers.

“This game is more of a community than anything,” Ganzel said. “We get a chance to bond as a team during practices and games and I have developed a lot of friendships through this sport.”