Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl dunks against Roosevelt on Feb. 26 at Vandament Arena in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

HERMANSVILLE — Class A men’s basketball competitors will make their way to the Frank Rodman Community Club to take part in double-elimination action this weekend.

The recent blizzard put a damper on completion of Class B last weekend at the Gold Medal Classic. But with Mother Nature’s help, the loaded rosters submitted for Class A should make for some outstanding basketball Saturday and Sunday.

Powers native and North Central alum Jason Whitens will play for Contemporary Builders of Perronville. Whitens, a former Western Michigan University and Michigan State University player, will compete in Class A for the third consecutive year.

“The whole division is filled with great players and teams, it should be a great weekend of basketaball,” said Whitens in a recent phone conversation. “I’m excited to be able to come together with everyone and have some fun in a tournament that’s full of history.”

Another player of note is on the Advantedge Training of Marquette roster — Northern Michigan University redshirt senior, 2025-26 GLAIC player of the year and defensive player of the year Dylan Kuehl. Kuehl also became the first Wildcat in program history to be named Division 2 Conference Commisioners Association Midwest Region player of the year.

“Kuehl is an absolute freak of nature,” said Gold Medal Classic tournament manager Bryan Maule. “He’ll definitely bring some excitement to the atmosphere this weekend.”

Advantedge will take on Greenwood of Gladstone at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Greenwood is captained by former Gladstone and NMU standout Reece Castor. A trio of Ishpeming alums are also tabbed to play for Greenwood — Hart Holmgren as well as Darious and Dondre Yohe. Darious Yohe is a prolific defender and shot blocker who played for both William Woods and Emporia State.

An additional trio from a U.P. high school will lace them up for Greenwood. Current Iron Mountain High School boys basketball coach Kyle Johnson will be joined by his brother Marcus as well as current University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh cager Oskar Kangas.

The noon Class A matchup will feature the reigning champions, Dexters of Menominee, taking on “R” Place of Spalding.

Dexters is made up of all former Michigan Tech players. North Central’s Dawson Bilski, Negaunee’s Trent Bell, Marquette’s A.J. Grazulis and Superior Central’s Jordan Chartier are the U.P. natives playing for the pub.

Prior Gold Medal standouts Bryan Heath, Kyle Monroe and Austin Armga are also on the Dexters roster.

The “R” Place roster is made up of all current UW-Oshkosh players.

At 2 p.m. is when Contemporary Builders will take on Wendrick’s Truss of Hermansville.

Wendrick’s has a roster of current Bay College players including William Kelley of Florence, Wis., as well as former Munising standout Trevor Nolan, who was a member of the Mustangs’ 2023 MHSAA Division 4 state championship team.

Other Bay College players on the Wendrick’s roster are Connor Codutti from Menominee, 6-foot 8-inch Jeremiah Atobatele from Indianapolis and 6-foot 9-inch Ziad Abouali from Cario, Egypt.

The remainder of the Contemporary Builders roster are all former Northern Michigan University players. Perronville native and North Central graduate Marcus Krachinski captains the team.

Naba Echols, a 1,760-point scorer for the Wildcats is fifth on the all-time scoring list at NMU. Jordan Perez, a 1,000-point scorer during his time at NMU is also on the Contemporary Builders squad.

Marquette native Vejas Grazulis, Mid Peninsula graduate Brett Branstrom as well as Isaiah Johnson and Alex Fruin return to the tournament and round out the Builders roster.

Class A will tip off at 11 a.m. with Coldwell Banker Jordan LaPlant of Gladstone taking on 2025 Class A runner-up Wagner Casper Insurance of Marinette, Wis.

The insurance roster has five former University of Wisconsin-Platteville cagers on it, and former Bay College player Matt Wagner as team captian. Gold Medal Classic Hall of Famer and former overseas professional player Jason Boucher will also play for Wagner Casper.

Boucher, the current varsity boys coach at Peshtigo, Wis., is a Menominee native and Menominee Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, and was also a Grand Valley State University standout.

6 teams in Women’s Division

In addition to the Class A Men’s division, the final weekend of each year’s Gold Medal Classic brings the Women’s Division. The 87th year of the fabled tournament will see six women’s teams take the floor Saturday and Sunday.

Organizers went with a three-game play-in format with the winners of the play-ins moving to Class A and the losers to Class B.

The 2025 Women’s Division champions and runners-up have returned to this year’s field. Home Town Physical Therapy of Bark River looks to successfully defend its crown, while BAE Massage of Hermansville looks to avenge its title game loss.

BAE will open Saturday’s competition taking on Trenary Toast at 9 a.m., with the vast majority of the players being U.P. high school alums.

The Hermansville squad is captained by former North Central and Bay College players, Bree and Andie Arsenault. The remainder of their roster are fellow NC Jets, Bark River-Harris or Carney-Nadeau players.

Trenary Toast is made up of mostly Superior Central graduates.

At 10 a.m., Believe Nutrition of Green Bay, Wis., formally the Wisco Ones, will take on Gen Z’s of Kingsford.

The Gen Z’s roster includes Lauren Adams of Norway and Elsie Williams of Forest Park, both seniors and Skyline Conference standouts at their respective schools. Adams was named the Skyline Central Conference player of the year the last two seasons.

Also on the Gen Z’s roster is former Norway and Bay College 1000-point scorer Jordan Kraemer. Adams surpassed Kraemer as Norway High School all-time leading scorer during the 2025-26 season.

Former Negaunee and Northern Michigan University standout Alyssa Hill will also play for Gen Z’s.

Among the remainder of the Gen Z’s roster are former Kingsford cagers Mia Counter and Alaina Kowalski. Norway native and former Bay College player Jada Freudinger is also on the Gen Z’s roster.

Home Town Physical Therapy will take the floor at 3 p.m. on Saturday and will face Viau Inc. of Powers. Home Town’s roster consists of current and former Bay College players, some who have become Gold Medals stalwarts.

Lauren Zawada and Marissa Ives of Bark River-Harris, as well as Anna Axtell of Menominee, are on the physical therapists sqaud. In order to increase their chances of repeating as division champions, Home Town recruited a soon to be Division 1 player — Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit Lillie Johnson of Gladstone.

Viau is captained by former Carney-Nadeau sharpshooter and current Gogebic Community College Lady Sampson Grace Maule. Her Gogebic teammates Macy Linsenbigler – an Iron Mountain graduate – Hannah Vaughn and Sydney Saari will also play for Viau.

West Pac Conference and Negaunee standout, senior Clare O’Donnell, is also on the Viau roster as well as two-sport standout in volleyball and basketball Kylee Uotila from Ontanogan.

The Class A Women’s semifinal will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday, with the championship game to be played at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Class B ladies bracket has a 7 p.m semifinal on Saturday, with the championship game at 2 p.m. on Sunday.