Eskymo Depth Leads To Wrestling Win Over Braves

GLADSTONE---When it was all over, it was hard to tell which team had won the wrestling dual meet between the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves.

Gladstone Coach Jesse DeBacker had a mile-wide grin on his face while Escanaba Coach Jamie Segorski was subdued. It was Escanaba that won the Wednesday match, 41-39, and it wasn't even that close as the Braves got 24 points after the match was decided.

"It was awesome," DeBacker said. "We gave up three weight classes. We had two kids on the team who just started two weeks ago. And to come out and only lose by two points, it's a great feeling. I'm pretty excited about it. It's a win for us."

The Eskymos won several matches in the lower weight classes and took advantage of the Braves forfeiting three weight classes.

Gladstone swept the upper wieight classes, but that was before the outcome was decided with Escanaba holding a 41-15 lead.

The emotional divide between the two coaches came after the 160 pound weight class match between Escanaba's Teddy Peippo and Gladstone's Austin Demeuse. Peippo has dominated Demeuse in their one-on-one battles, and Peippo had an 8-2 lead in Wednesday's match.

Austin Demeuse upsets Teddy Peippo

But Demeuse somehow turned things around to earn the pin.

"He's been beaten by Peippo all year," DeBeacker said. "That was exciting. That was a total momentum-changer for us. Demeuse has got good hips, and he's extremely strong. I don't know if Teddy over-committed or what, but Austin felt it, flipped him right over, and got him on his back for a pin. It was awesome."

A distraught Peippo refused to shake hands with Demeuse, then he brushed aside Segorski when his coach tried to get him to do so.

Peippo then left the gymnasium, and the Eskymos were charged with a point deduction because of a flagarant unsportsmanlike penalty.

"When you're a 17-year-0ld young man, you have to learn to control your emotions," Segorski said. "And he didn't. It truly is a low point in my coaching career, for sure. I've been doing this for about 20 years and I've never had a situation quite like that."

"I certainly owe the Gladstone Braves and their fans and their administration an apology for the behavior of one of our guys."

Gladstone gave away forfeits at 103, 112, and 125 pounds. Escanaba gave away a forfeit to Gladstone's Brad Gagnon at 189 pounds.

Escanaba got a huge win from freshman Scout Wunder at 140 pounds with a pin over Gladstone's Alex Chouinard. Wunder was wrestling two weight classes above his normal 130 pounds. Eskymo Nick Onate pinned Gladstone's Diego Mileski at 119 pounds, and Eskymo Ean Bevins pinned Gladstone rookie Brianna Beauchamp at 130 pounds.

Escanaba's Scout Wunder wins on pin

"I thought all of our guys wrestled well," Segorski said. "Mohammed Hoque had his (215 pound) match right up until the end. Breyden Papineau had a fantastic effort. Nick Onate had a fantastic match. There were a lot of bright spots out there for us."

Gladstone's success was in the upper weight classes. Besides Demeuse's upset win at 160, Jeremy Kadish (171), Jack Cronick (215), and Zach Bailey (285) pulled out wins.

"Jack's only had a few matches this year and he's still bothered by that knee," DeBacker said. "He really wrestled tough. He came out and he gutted it out, and got the win. He fought off his back, fought off his back, and came back and got the win."

One of the big matches came at 145 pounds, where Gladstone's Bobby Beauchamp faced Escanaba's Corey McInerney. Beauchamp is used to pinning his opponents, but McInerney is a good athlete, and he stayed off his back.

Beauchamp won on a 2-1 decision.

"They had two "45s" down, and we weren't sure which one they'd use," Segorski said. "We knew that if we had the right matchup, we could win one of them for sure. So, we moved Corey up."

"He's actually a 135-pounder, and we moved him all the way to 145, and he wrestled an outstanding match," Segorski continued. "He'll be down to 135 the rest of the year. He's bit the bullet for us all year and he did what he could to help us win. That's a credit to him. That was probably one of the best matches that he's ever wrestled."

Escanaba improved to 11-1 on the season in dual meets.

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The Escanaba-Gladstone results:
103----Escanaba 6-0: Simon Chouinard wins on f0rfeit
112----Escanaba 12-0: Courage Krueger wins on forfeit
119----Escanaba 18-0: Nick Onate pins Diego Mileski
125----Escanaba 24-0: Justin VanDrese wins on forfeit
130----Escanaba 30-0: Ean Bevins pins Brianna Beachamp
135----Gladstone 6-30: James Bruce pins Denham Miron
140----Escanaba 36-6: Scout Wunder pins Alex Chouinard
145----Gladstone 9-36: Bobby Beauchamp def. Corey McInerney, 2-1
152----Escanaba 42-9: Ean Bevins pinned Konstantine Torvinen
160----Gladstone 15-41: Austin Demeuse pins Teddy Peippo
(Escanaba deducted one point for unsportsmanlike conduct)
171----Gladstone 21-41: Jeremy Kadish pins Brent Picord
189----Gladstone 27-41: Brad Gagon wins on forfeit
215----Gladstone 33-41: Jack Cronick pins Mo Hoque
285----Gladstone 39-41: Zach Bailey pins Bryant Beem