GAYLORD - Jan. 30, 2010 - Nearly 30 teams descended on Gaylord for the Northern Michigan Championships on Saturday, with five area teams participating. The host Blue Devils won the team title with 146.5 points to edge Escanaba (141).

Ogemaw Heights finished fourth with 120 points, with Mio AuSable taking seventh (89), Pinconning finishing 10th (83.5, Oscoda placing 17th (43) and Whittemore-Prescott 28th (6).

Ogemaw Heights

The Falcons' fourth-place finish was highlighted by three wrestlers reaching the championship match, with eight bringing home medals.

"We wrestled well today and showed a lot of heart," said Ogemaw coach Darryl Keeton. "It was good to see so many of the things we have been working on as a team come to fruition."

Nathan Wynkoop (125 pounds) swept through four opponents, winning twice by pin, taking a 5-3 decisions over Gaylord's David Maves and winning the championship match by default. Chris Hebert (130) pinned Gladstone's Cody Darling in the final to follow up on one pin and two 14-0 major decisions. Wynkoop, a freshman, improved to 37-7 for the year while Hebert is 42-2.

Tayler Little (285) had two points and a 7-5 overtime victory over Brandon Dalzell of Traverse City West, but finished second after defaulting the championship match. Little improved to 29-5 for the season.

Also winning medals were Zach Burton (285, 6th), Greg Sancrant (112, 8th), Jeff Freimark (145, 7th after winning his final three matches), Tyler Foster (152, 6th) and Alex Kimball (189, 7th).

"Six of the 13 wrestlers we sent were freshman, and for such a young team I felt we did extremely well," Keeton said. "Our conditioning has paid off and we are competing at a much higher level than we were early on. I am excited about our improvement and interested to see how strong we will finish."

Mio AuSable

The Thunderbolts sent just six wrestlers to Gaylord but had four of them earn medals.

Highlighting the day was the 145-lb. championship by defending state champion Aaron Smith, who had two quick pins, a major decision and a victory by default among his four wins.

Other medallists were Dylan Stefani (215, 4th), Zack Mack (103, 3rd), and D.J. Burden (119, 3rd).

Pinconning

The Spartans had a solid day, with their nine competitors bringing home five medals.

Charlie Burch and Brian Hardy led the way with second place finishes. Burch at 140, losing a 5-3 heartbreaker to Jesse Armstrong of Gaylord in the championship match. Hardy (152) won his first three matches before falling 11-3 to Garrett Johnson of Escanaba.

Other medallists included Taylor Pomaville (119, 7th), Tyler Espitia (145, 3rd) and Colton Lucynski (160, 7th).

Oscoda

David Frasher (152) reached the semifinals before finishing fourth, including a 5-2 loss to Gaylord's Dillon Hunti in the consolation final. Kieran Clarke took seventh place at 125, losing his opening match but winning his last three in a row.

Twelve of the 14 Owls won at least one match on the day.

Whittemore-Prescott

The Cardinals didn't boast any medalists, but got wins from Jake Juillett (103), Derek Salgat (130) and Patrick Karasch (189).