(Courtesy photo) The Iron Mountain wrestling team captured the team trophy at the Escanaba Elks Invitational on Saturday. The Mountaineers finished with 213 points to dethrone four-time defending champion Escanaba, which wound up second with 166.5 points. “This is a big win for our program,” coach Cory McLaren said afterwards.

ESCANABA — The Iron Mountain wrestling team enjoyed a big day on Jan. 8, earning top honors in the Escanaba Elks Invitational with 213 points.

The Mountaineers were followed by four-time defending champ Esky 166.5, Benzie Central 160.5, Gladstone 156 and Kingsford 116.

“This is a big win for our program,” said Mountaineers coach Cory McLaren. “They run a good tournament. We have only two seniors. We’re stacked with juniors and sophomores and keep getting a lot of freshmen. This is the first time we won the Elks since 2008. The object is to keep the momentum going.”

The Mountaineers had five individual champions, including junior Shawn McGuire, who won a 5-1 decision from Gladstone sophomore Drew Hanson in the 119-pound championship match.

“This is the first time they’ve wrestled each other,” said McLaren. “He kept his weight up to have a chance to wrestle against Shawn.”

Iron Mountain’s Parker Stroud needed just 58 seconds to pin Manistique junior Jacob Berry in the 152 final.

“We wrestled well and finished about where we thought we would,” said Esky coach Jeff Wright. “Iron Mountain is tough. They’re good from top to bottom, and Parker (Stroud) has been around for a while. He’s a super senior. For the weights they give up, they make up for it.”

Mountaineers sophomore Fulton Stroud (171) pinned Kingsford’s Josh Peterson in 2:30, while sophomore Alexander Wilson (103) pinned Benzie Central freshman Benjamin DeRidder in just 21 seconds and junior Evan Haferkorn (145) pinned Benzie Central sophomore Dalton Gettings in 1:29.

“This is Parker’s second Elks title,” said McLaren. “He joined the 100-win club last week and is ranked No. 1 in the state at 152. This is the first time Alex took first in a tournament. This is a huge win for him. Evan had one loss all year and that was 1-0 in overtime to a kid from Gaylord in Marquette (Dec. 18). It was exciting up to the last second. Being able to cover all the weight classes is key. They just go out and attack and win.”