John Evashevski Wins Title; Saints Tied for Third at U.P. Championships
By David Latva

John Evashevski (top) won the individual title in the 135-pound weight class at the Upper Peninsula Championships Saturday, January 26, in Marquette.

St. Ignace junior John Evashevski won the 135-pound weight class with a 4-0 record to help the St. Ignace Saints tie for third place at the inaugural Upper Peninsula Championships at Marquette High School Saturday, January 26.

The meet replaces the U.P. Finals, as the individuals and teams from the Upper Peninsula, 16 overall, will now compete at a statewide level each winter.

Evashevski won his four matches on decisions of 4-0, 6-1, 7-4, and, in the championship round, 5-3, against the same Munising wrestler he faced at the Munising Invitational Saturday, January 19.

"John is a tough competitor to figure out. He loves the sport of wrestling and has worked hard to get to this level of competition," said Saints Head Coach Harvey Bentley. "He was in a very tough weight class."

Iron Mountain won the team title with 198 points, followed by Gladstone with 189, St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie 143, Escanaba 125, Kingsford 103, Menominee 100, Ishpeming 99, Munising 82, Marquette 77, West Iron County 53, Norway 52, Rudyard and Negaunee 44, Manistique 31, Gwinn 30, and Newberry 28.

Brandon Garries

Four Saints Place Second,

Two Earn Fifth Place Four Saints finished second, including Derek Marshall (189) and Rob Robinson (140), with 3-1 records, Mike McNeely (112) and Brandon Garries (125), at 2-1, and placing fifth was Andy Tamlyn (215), with a 4-1 record that included three pins.

Shawn Cowell (145) finished with a record of 3- 1.

Saints Posting

Victories

Tyler Oja (152) went 2-2 with a 4- 2 win over the number two-seeded wrestler, and lost a heartbreaking 4-3 decision in overtime. Steffan Saffian (160) went 2-2, and Nate Tamlyn (171) finished with a 1-2 record.

Two Rudyard Wrestlers Finish in Top

Five

Dylan Tulgetski (215) finished fourth and C . J . Knutsen (145) placed fifth for the Bulldogs.

Saints Wrestlers

Mike McNeely

Improve to 22-5 in Dual Matches

The St. Ignace Saints wrestling team improved to 22-5 during dual matches with Straits Area Conference victories over the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils 39-35 and the Rudyard Bulldogs 71-9 Monday, January 14, and the Cheboygan Chiefs 41-33 and Newberry Indians 62- 16 Thursday, January 24.

The win at Cheboygan came down to the last two matches of the evening against the host Chiefs.

"The score was tied at 33 with matches in the 140 and 145 remaining," said Saints Coach Harvey Bentley.

John Evashevski (140) won 16-7 and Rob Robinson (145) defeated his opponent 9-1 to give the Saints an eightpoint win.

Evashevski and Robinson both went 2-0, along with Mike Mc- Neely (112), Allan Honeycutt (130), Tyler Oja (152), Steffan Saffian (160), Andy Tamlyn (215), and Derek Marshall (189); Dan St. Onge (145), and Cody Swagger (125) were 1-0, and Kyle Fulgenzi (119) and Brandon Garries (125) were 1-1.

Five Undefeated at Sault

Six players registered perfect records during the tri-match at Sault Ste. Marie.

Derek Marshall

Posting a 2-0 record was Shawn Horn in the 112-pound weight class, while Kaiden Shiemke (119), Brandon Garries (125), John Evashevski (135), and Rob Robinson (145) and Allan Honeycutt (140) went 1-0.

Recording 1-1 marks were William Pechta (103), Eric Brown (130), Steffan Saffian (160), Billy Grogan (171), Nate Tamlyn (189), Andy Tamlyn (215), and Michael Foster, heavy weight (1-1).

Saints To Host Parents Night

The Saints wrestling team will host parents night Thursday, January 31, while entertaining Rudyard and Mio at the St. Ignace Middle School gymnasium.

The Saints will compete at the Sault High Invitational Saturday, February 2.

Rob Robinson