John Evashevski, competing in the 140-pound weight class, finished 4-0 on the day and was named Most Valuable Wrestler at the Upper Peninsula/ Lower Peninsula Bridge Brawl Wrestling Invitational at Rudyard High School Friday, December 19. St. Ignace Saints wrestler John Evashevski captured the Most Valuable Wrestler award at the Upper Peninsula/ Lower Peninsula Bridge Brawl Wrestling Invitational in Rudyard, helping his team defend the invitational title Friday, December 19.

The tournament field was a battle between teams from the Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula that included the host Bulldogs, St. Ignace, Munising, Manistique, and Newberry from the U.P., and Charlevoix, Mancelona, Cheboy gan, and Frankfort from the lower peninsula.

Alpena was scheduled to be the fifth team, but when school was cancelled there owing to weather, the Wildcats were unable to compete.

St. Ignace totaled 274 points, followed by Rudyard with 242, Munising 236, Newberry 169, Manistique 164, Charlevoix 127, Mancelona 125, Cheboygan 119, and Frankfort 30.

Stefan Saffian (171) went 4-0 with three pins during the tournament. "I was pleased with our effort all day," said Saints Coach Harvey Bentley. "This team has the overall talent to go a long way this season. We must stay focused."

The Saints went 4-0 in dual matches, defeating Cheboygan 72-12, Mancelona 69-12, Charlevoix 64-18, and Frankfort 66-9.

Coach Bentley's 13 wrestlers compiled a 46-3 overall record on the day. St. Ignace was open at the 215-weight class.

John Evashevski, competing in the 140-pound weight division, was 4-0 with one pin to earn the tournament's most valuable wrestler honors.

Teammates Stefan Saffian (171) and Billy Grogan (189) were 4-0 with three pins; Rob Robinson (145), Eric Brown (135), Mike McNeeley (119), and Luke Thurston (160) recorded 4-0 records with two pins; Kaiden Shiemke (125) and Shaun Horn (103) were 4-0 with one pin; Tyler Oja (152), Devin Chargo (130), and William Pechta (112) were 3- 1 with one pin; and Nathan Gubanche (285) finished 1-0.

St. Ignace, 10-3 in dual matches this season, will entertain Mancelona and Sault Ste. Marie in a tri-match Thursday, January 8, and compete in the Newberry Invitational Saturday, January 10.

Billy Grogan (189) was 4-0 with three pins during tournament play.