Photo courtesy Tony Lopez
Oscoda's Justin Andrick was one of the surprises of the Gaylord NLP Championships on Saturday, finishing fifth after being seeded eighth.

GAYLORD - Jan. 27, 2007 - Nearly 30 schools converged on Gaylord for its annual Northern Michigan Championships on Saturday, with several local schools turning in top team and individual performances.

Heading the list was Ogemaw Heights, which finished second overall and boasted six medalists, including 160-pound champion Matt Franklin.

Roscommon, the defending Division 3 state runner-up, won the team title with 196.5 team points.

Ogemaw 's 151 finished two points ahead of Rogers City's 149. Gaylord (135.5) and Gladstone (131.5) rounded out the top five.

Whittemore-Prescott finished eighth with 98 points. Pinconning (52.5) was 18th, Oscoda (50) took 19th, Standish-Sterling (29.5) was 23rd and Hale was 29th.

Ogemaw Heights

The Falcons' runner-up finish was fueled by six medalists, including Franklin's individual title at 160. Franklin swept through his first three opponents and defeated Roscommon's Jon Domsitz 6-2 in the title match.

Andrew Funsch (125) went 3-1 on the day in taking the runner-up spot. losing to Traverse City West's Trevor Gillison in the championship match.

Scott Kimball (189) also finished second, reaching the final before falling Erich Smith of Ishpeming, 8-2.

Rob Goulette (140) and Carl Worthy (215) each went 4-1 and took third place, with Michael Lentz (130) going 3-2 and finishing fifth. Zach Jameson (145) went 3-2, with Kyle Scott (112), Andy Grezeszak (152) and Corey Lambert (171) each going 2-2.

Whittemore-Prescott

The Cardinals had three medalists, with Robert Johnstone (145) reaching the championship match before losing to Rosco's Trevor Tyler, and Hugh Jenkins (152) won his first three matches before losing the title match to Alpena's Zane Stens, who was dominant in all four of his matches.

Adam Javor (125) went 4-1 and finished third, Kyle Hucul (112) was 4-1 and took seventh. Scott Garnett (140) went 3-2 for the day, with Kyle Garchow (171), Koeddie Prince (189) and Brandon Kubik (215) each going 2-2.

Oscoda

The Owls had four placers out of nine who entered the tournament, earning their best finish at the Gaylord tourney since 2002. Monte Fouchey (285) earned the runner-up spot, losing to Gaylord's Gus Blanzy in the final. Justin Andrick (171) went 3-2 and took fifth place, with Kyle Myers (119) going 2-2 and taking eighth and Tim Ruby (145) going 3-2 and finishing eighth.

"We had a good day," said Oscoda coach Tony Lopez. "This was a good tune-up for the MHSAA tournament series."

Andrick provided the biggest surprise of the day for the Owls, taking fifth after being seeded eighth.

"Justin wrestled Chase McLennan (Rogers City) in the semifinals," Lopez said. "Chase is a two-time state medalists, finishing as the runner-up last year, and beat Justin by four points.

"Justin also wrestled Derek Marshall from St. Ignace, who came into the day undefeated, and lost by one point, giving up an escape in the last five seconds."

Pinconning

Pinconning was led by fifth-place finishes from Adam Pawelski (119), who went 4-2, and Corey Woodruff (145), who was 3-2. Tyler Wieland (125) took eighth place with a 2-2 mark, and Seth Haas was 3-2.

Standish-Sterling

The Panthers had three medalists (out of nine participants) for the day, with Dewy Milan (152) going 3-2 and taking fifth place.

"It was what I consider the toughest the Northern Michigan Championships have been in the few short years I have been around," said SSC coach Jim Hergott. "I think this was also evident by how long the tournament took. Many matches went the distance."

Mark Stawowy (215) was 2-3, winning his first two matches and reaching the semifinals before losing his three medal-round matches, which was still good for sixth place. Machylle Porter (160) went 2-2 and finished eighth, while Wes Dunn (189) came one match from placing.

"With five freshmen, one sophomore and three juniors, our inexperience showed," Hergott said.

The Panthers travel to Pinconning on Thursday in hopes of picking up their first NEMC win and host their duals-format tournament Saturday.

"I would invite folks to come and watch Saturday, especially if they never have and are interested in seeing (high school wrestling)," Hergott said. "Individual districts at SSC (Feb. 17) are also a good time to come and watch the 'fights.'"