(Courtesy photo) Iron Mountain senior wrestler Parker Stroud, at right, shows off his winning bracket at 152 pounds at the Marquette Challenge on Saturday, while standing with another of the tournament’s champions, junior Dillon Raab of Bark River Harris, who was the top finisher at 145 pounds.

MARQUETTE — The Iron Mountain wrestling team has started the 2021-22 season with a pair of noteworthy performances.

In their first event of the season, the Mountaineers knocked off Escanaba as part of the Kingsford Quad, the first time they had defeated the Esykmos in more than 10 years. Then, on Saturday, Iron Mountain finished seventh among 20 teams in the Marquette Challenge, the best finish the Mountaineers have had during coach Cory McLaren’s tenure.

Senior Parker Stroud led the effort with a championship at 152 pounds. Stroud went 4-0 on the day with two pins.

“He looked focused on the mat all day,” McLaren said of Stroud. “He had to wrestle a familiar foe in (Kingsford) senior Toby Wilcox in the finals. Those two have wrestled throughout their careers since youth wrestling. Parker was able to get the pin the first period against Toby.”

McLaren said Stroud is now five wins away from notching his 100th win of his prep career, “which is a great honor,” McLaren added.

Junior Shawn McGuire, ranked No. 1 in Division 4 at 119, won two of his three matches, one by pin. McGuire lost 8-3 in the finals to Division 2 second-ranked Tayden Miller of Mason.

“It was a great match,” McLaren said. “I think it was 5-3 late in the third when Shawn tried catching Miller in a headlock and just missed scoring and pulling off the win. I won’t be surprised to see Tayden Miller in the finals in D2.”

Additionally, senior Isaac Manier (140) and junior Evan Haferkorn (145) both finished in fifth place with 4-1 records and three pins.

“Isaac Manier had his best day of his career,” McLaren said. “Isaac looked good and this could be a great year for him. Last year, Isaac helped the team out and moved up to the 160-pound weight class to help us fill out our roster. Now at 140, it’s a better fit for him. His only loss came to the eventually champ Justin Gorman from Grandville.

“Evan Haferkorn only had one loss and it came in overtime to Gus James from Gaylord,” McLaren added. “Evan looked smooth on the mat early in the year. Kids can look rusty and that does not appear to be the case with Evan.”