Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ontonagon got back on track, ending a two-game skid with a 32-20 victory over Ironwood Friday night. “That was a must-win for us there,” Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa said. “We’ve got a tough schedule the rest of the way and this was a pretty good team.” It proved to be a frustrating loss for the shorthanded Red Devils, who kept Ontonagon’s big-play offense from putting up crazy numbers but also committing costly penalties and giving up a key fumble. “It stings looking back, for sure,” Iron...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — North Central continued to proof it’s still a top-five team in the Upper Peninsula with a 50-8 victory over visiting Ironwood Friday night. The Jets have been ranked fifth in the past two U.P. 8-player polls. They’re 4-1 this year after an 8-3 campaign last year that saw their state-record 41 game winning-steak come to end. They might not be that dominant anymore, but they’re still plenty good. “Super big, super fast, super athletic,” Ironwood coach Kevin Lane said. “Their defensive lin...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] EWEN — Gogebic rushed for 124 yards, scored three touchdowns, intercepted Ontonagon twice and stopped them another two times on downs. Then the first quarter ended. The Miners did it again in the second quarter, putting up another 21 points before Ontonagon got in the end zone for the first time. They rode that fast start that saw them lead 42-0 to a 56-21 Great Lakes Eight West win Friday night at Ewen-Trout Creek. The Miners kept Ontonagon’s big-play offense in check and countered with a rushing att...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic Miners put a stop to their two-game losing streak with an 84-6 victory over Carney-Nadeau Friday night. “It’s good to see have the kids have success,” Gogebic coach Nick Heikkila said. The Miners jumped ahead quickly with six first-quarter touchdowns by five different players. Jayden Verrett scored twice, on a fumble recovery and an 18-yard run, and Aiden Partanen, Mark Switzer, Cory Aspinwall and Jace Symons also ran in scores. Verrett added his third touchdown in the second...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — After two blowout wins to start the season, Ontonagon won a close one 46-40 at Newberry last week. “It was a heartstopper for sure,” Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a few times, but we held it together. It was a good test for us.” The Gladiators were voted No. 4 in the first U.P. poll after the big win and the strong first third of the season. Caden Besonen finished with 430 all-purpose yards and he accounted for five of Ontonagon’s touchdowns. He caught t...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — Austin Gordon and Caden Besonen lit up the scoreboard in Rapid River as the Gladiators breezed to a 72-22 win Friday night. Gordon threw four touchdowns to Besonen and Besonen threw a 51-yard TD to him. Gordon added TD passes to Jack Nelson and Brody Bobula, he ran for two scores and Besonen rushed for one in a dominating performance by the two playmakers from Ewen-Trout Creek. “It wasn’t how I thought it was going to go at all, but we had a couple athletes that decided to take the game over f...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — Ontonagon won its season opener in convincing fashion, defeating Carney-Nadeau 86-0 Friday night. The Gladiators scored 52 of those points in the first quarter and it was 60-0 at the half. “We scored on the first play to dust on just running it outside and the defense took over from there. I think we scored two or three defensive touchdowns in that first quarter,” Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa said. “Then the JV kids got subbed in and took control of the game after that.” Caden Besonen r...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — New Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa was ready for the season to start after last week’s scrimmage. He’s got a team he thinks is capable of big things — including coming out on top of a tough conference — and the Gladiators’ performance in the preseason scrimmage fired him up even more. “Oh I’m juiced” to coach, Mustafa said, “especially after what I saw today.” Mustafa played football at Bark River-Harris and he coached defense for the Gladiators last year. He became head coach going into this...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ESCANABA --- The Ontonagon girls have long stood out at the U.P. Finals. When the MHSAA first separated the U.P. Finals into two separate classes, Ontonagon won the first 10 U.P. Class C-D championships, from 1978 to 1987. When Class D got its own U.P. meet, the Gladiator girls won the first four, part of a five-year run of titles from 1994 to 1998. When classifications changed again in 2001, and the name of the smallest group of schools changed from Class D to Division 3, Ontonagon didn’t stop w...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- The Ontonagon girls won the large Ironwood golf invite Wednesday, May 8 at Gogebic Country Club. The Gladiators’ Madyson Pantti earned medalist honors with a score of 108. She led the Gladiators to a team title with Drummond finishing second. Pantti finished fourth at U.P. Finals last year and the junior is having a strong season as Ontonagon’s top golfer with the graduation of last year’s U.P. champion, Emmy Bobula. “She’s always been a very good golfer,” Ontonagon coach Jim Jessup said. “S...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Ewen-Trout Creek is a unanimous favorite among coaches to win next week’s MHSAA Division 4 District 97 championship. They’re the No. 1 seed in the bracket, they’re 8-1 against district opponents, they’re the defending champions and they’re ranked fourth in the U.P. poll with a 16-5 record. “Ewen has to be the favorite,” Ironwood coach Jesse Mackey said, “with that earned No. 1 seed. Very talented team. Those young girls have only gotten stronger and more experienced against the varsity lev...
KINGSFORD - The Ontonagon Area High School's robotics team won a District competition in Kingsford this past weekend. The Gladiators are only in their third year of competition and have faced many teams with many more years of experience. Team members include Abby Ollila, Bradley Myhren, Noah Lukkari, Ryszard Olszewski, Luke Soumis, Philip Voss, Whitney Rule, Isaiah Beck and Emma Pieti. Mentors are Glen Beck, Jon Ollila and Bret Pieti. The team traveled to Kingsford on Thursday for the three-day...
ONTONAGON, Mich. - James Patrick Strong, MD, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, 82, died on Jan. 6, 2018, at the Ontonagon, Aspirus Long-Term Care Unit after a lengthy illness. The oldest of four children, Jim was born on Aug. 16, 1935, in Milwaukee, Wis., to the late William F. Strong, MD, and Gertrude (Helmbrecht) Strong. In 1936, the family moved to Ontonagon, when Jim's father answered an advertisement to purchase a rural medical practice in Ontonagon. Jim attended St....
SOLON SPRINGS, Wis. — Solon Springs defeated Ironwood 66-52 in the season opener for the Red Devils’ boys basketball team Monday night. Ironwood coach Pete Lewinski said the game was close throughout the first half, but Solon Springs went up by seven points by halftime. "But we came out flat in the second half and they went ahead by 12 points," Lewinski said. "We cut it to 54-47, but that's the closest we got. Their big guy (Jens Gehl) was real good. He had 23 points and we had no answer for him." Lewinski said Tony Wiemeri was "the bright spo...
ONTONAGON - In a game loaded with offensive fireworks, Ontonagon made a fierce comeback, but Crystal Falls Forest Park held on for a 52-38 win in a Western Eight Conference battle with playoff implications for both teams. "The game was what we expected," Forest Park coach Dave Graf said. "It was hard-hitting, good physical football on both sides. I never thought we'd score 90 points. I thought we'd score four or five each (touchdowns). Ontonagon nearly came back on us. Jake Witt is the real deal...
MARQUETTE - Four area players were named to the All-U.P. team at Wednesday's 67th annual boys basketball meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Ewen-Trout Creek's Jake Witt added to his collection of postseason awards by earning a spot on the Class D First Team. The 6-7 center averaged 24.2 points, 17 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game, while also earning the Copper Mountain Player of the Year award and a spot on the Associated Press Class D All-State tea...
IRONWOOD - Just five days after helping the Ontonagon Gladiators to a U.P. track-and-field title, Lori Wardynski added another trophy to her collection Thursday. Wardynski was named the MVP of the Kiwanis Classic Border Bash after leading Northern Michigan to an 88-70 victory over Northern Wisconsin. Wardynski led all scorers with 17 points. Emily DiGiorgio of Ironwood had 15. Maria Swartz of Hurley was the second-leading scorer for Northern Wisconsin, tallying 14 points. Katie Stark of state...
BESSEMER - The team results played out much like last week's Division 3 regional track-and-field meet with the Bessemer boys and Ontonagon girls both coming in second behind Lake Linden-Hubbell at Tuesday's Copper Mountain Conference meet. There were some differences in the individual events, though. Bessemer sophomore Isaiah Aili finished five seconds behind Wakefield-Marenisco senior Sam Dean in the 1,600-meter run at the regional, but Aili came back on the final lap to beat Dean Tuesday....
ONTONAGON - Two local school records fell Friday at the Ontonagon Invitational. A meet record may have fallen if anybody kept weather records over the years. Bessemer's Lily Wieringa broke the school record in the 3,200-meter run and Ontonagon's Lori Wardynski became her school's all-time best in the 300 hurdles. The heat was intense for the first half of the meet when temperatures soared into the upper 80s before clouds and eventually rain came through. Houghton easily won both the boys and...
BESSEMER - Ontonagon won its sixth straight game, but they got a battle from the host Speedboys in a 66-54 Copper Mountain Conference win Friday night. The Gladiators haven't lost since they defeated their rivals, Ewen-Trout Creek, which is ranked fourth in the U.P. in Class D. Ontonagon is now over .500 at 9-8 overall and 7-5 in the conference. "I think we're playing well, better for sure," Ontonagon coach Kurt Lehmann said. "Against L'Anse (Tuesday), I think both teams had a setback. We have...
WAKEFIELD - Wakefield-Marenisco continued its winning ways with a 69-61 victory over Ontonagon in a Copper Mountain Conference match-up in the Cardinal Gym on Friday night. As the season passes it midway point, the Cardinals have answered most of the questions about just how good are they. They now have a sparkling 11-1 record, are firmly entrenched in first place in Porcupine Mountain Division with a a 8-1 record and are coming off solid wins over two good teams in Chassell and Ontonagon. They...
ONTONAGON - Ewen-Trout Creek came from behind in the fourth quarter and won its renewed rivalry game against Ontonagon 12-6 in overtime on Friday. "We were down 6-0 most of the game," E-TC coach Larry Maki said of the battle between two Ontonagon County schools. "But the boys didn't quit. We ran a lot of plays and kept plugging away, but we had a tough time for three quarters. That No. 70 for Ontonagon (Logan Jilbert) was a beast. We took the battle of Ontonagon County, and the team and the...
MARQUETTE — Frannie Zelinski became the latest Watersmeet Nimrod to be honored, while Emily DiGiorgio helped the Ironwood girls break a nine-year drought. Zelinski was named to the All-U.P. Class D Second Team, while DiGiorgio was a Class ABC Second Team selection at Wednesday's 40th annual girls basketball meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. The last Red Devil to make the All-U.P. team was Brittany Pertile in 2006. She made the Second Team in back-to-back years, also earning a spot in 2005. DiGiorgio, a...
KINGSFORD - Ontonagon showed it could compete with Crystal Falls Forest Park in the second half of Tuesday's MHSAA Class D regional semifinal. But it was too late by then. The Trojans jumped to a 29-5 halftime lead, taking advantage of an Ontonagon scoring drought that lasted approximately 10 minutes. Forest Park picked up a 50-28 win to advance to the regional final against Munising back in Kingsford Thursday. Munising beat Bark River-Harris 48-45 in Tuesday's nightcap. Tuesday just wasn't...
ONTONAGON - Ontonagon had its best night of the season offensively as the Gladiators defeated shorthanded Watersmeet 62-32 Thursday. The Nimrods won the first matchup 37-35 in the season opener. But Watersmeet, which only has six players on its roster to begin with, was missing senior captain Jessica Barajas (illness) this time. Plus, Ontonagon has played better of late, especially offensively, picking up its fourth straight victory. The Gladiators reached 51 points twice this season, both...
