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Thursday July 10, 2025
U.P. CHAMPS!! Eskymos Break Houghton Dynasty

ISHPEMING---The last time the Escanaba High School girls golf team competed at Ishpeming's Wawonowin Country Club, the girls narrowly lost the championship of an in-season invitational to the Houghton Gremlins. But on Thursday when the two teams competed again at the MHSAA Division One U.P. Finals, the roles were reversed.

The Eskymos, with all five golfers contributing, put together an almost-perfect day and not only won the U.P. championship, but rolled to it. Escanaba won by a whopping 23 strokes over the Gremlins, who had won five straight Upper Peninsula championships.

"I have a ton of respect for them," Escanaba Coach Brian Robinette said of the Houghton Gremlins. "Competition is where its at. You can win invites, but beating a quality team, well, our girls embraced that. Our girls have practiced hard. They didn't take days off."

Escanaba was led Thursday by freshman Paxton Johnson, who was the medalist after shooting an 86. Megan Dagenais fired a 91 (fourth) place, Kaitlin Cole had a 93 (fifth), and Emily Hossele shot a 96 (eighth place). Sam Henderson had a 107, good for 12th.

Houghton's Karren Liston shot an 88 to finish second with Marquette's Ellie Hicks.

Robinette says that early-season loss to Houghton on this course was not forgotten.

"It was the only time we lost all season," Robinette said. "I thought that loss was a big motivation for us today. The girls had a mission in mind: to win."

And, win they did...and they did it with a 366 score that not many girls' teams get.

"Our girls are pretty dedicated to turning this into a program to be talked about," Robinette said. "These girls played for each other all year long. That 'team concept' settled in, and when one isn't playing her best, she still fights for every stroke because she knows that their team can still win (the team score)."

Escanaba had a 366, Houghton 389, and Marquette was third with 411. Calumet finished fourth (450), Gladstone fifth (454), and Westwood was sixth (490).

BOYS RESULTS---The Houghton Gremlins won their third straight boys U.P. title, with a 317. Negaunee was second with 327, Escanaba took third with a 334. Gladstone finished fourth with 338. Calumet was fifth (342) and Kingsford finished sixth (348).

Negaunee junior Carter Mason was the medalist with a 72. Kingsford's Dylan DalSanto was runner-up with a 73, and Houghton's Gunnar Stein took third with a 74.

Escanaba's top golfer was freshman Nathan Rousseau, who finished tied for fifth after shooting an 81. Gladstone junior Bryce Douglas also carded an 81 to finish fifth. Escanaba's Dylan Gauthier and Calvin Pinar, and Gladstone's Adam Scheeneman, all finished tied for ninth place after shooting rounds of 84.

CLICK HERE  for all of the Girls U.P. Finals golf results.

CLICK  HERE  for all of the Boys U.P. Finals golf results.

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