Norway's Alex Ortman averaged a team-leading 13.8 points per game this season as a sophomore at Gallaudet University. (Gallaudet University photo)

HERMANSVILLE — For the first time in the 87-year history of the Gold Medal Classic, an Alumni Division was held.

“I’ve wanted to add this division for a couple of years now, so this year I decided it was time to do so,” said tournament manager Bryan Maule. “Getting six teams to enter the first year was great, but I wanted to add a wrinkle to the rules to make it unique to the tournament.”

Alumni tournaments have been held in the past in the Upper Peninsula, requiring that the players — male or female — are graduates of the high schools they’re representing.

The “wrinkle” at the Gold Medal Classic was that the games were not timed. The first team to score 30 points put the game into a five-minute halftime. Then, in the second half, the first team to get to 60 points was the winner.

The championship game on Tuesday evening came down to Florence, Wis., which was sponsored by Xcell Graphics, versus Iron Mountain. The Mountaineers alumni took home the hardware defeating Xcell, 60-47.

Iron Mountain varsity boys basketball coach Kyle Johnson led all scorers with 23 points and was named Alumni Division MVP, his second award of the tournament, having been named Class C MVP on March 22.

Xcell Graphics was led in scoring by Will Kelley with 19 points and Logan Schuls chipped in 13. The Kangas brothers, Oskar and Reece combined for 26 points for Iron Mountain.

The oldest player to compete in the new division was 2026 Gold Medal Hall of Fame inductee and North Central graduate Tom Granquist of Powers, who will be 50 in August.

Norway High School 1,000-point club member Alex Ortman came home from Washington D.C. to compete with some of his former Norway Knights teammates in the Alumni Division.

Ortman recently completed his sophomore season on the Gallaudet University hoops squad. Gallaudet is a university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing..

The other entrants into the Alumni Division were North Central and Stephenson, sponsored by Jim’s Plumbing of Wallace, and Bark River-Harris, sponsored by Alpine Construction of Bark River.

Special awards

Upon completion of each year’s tournament, a handful of special awards are presented. They’re all named after a former player or person of significance that has contributed to the rich history of the tournament.

The Dick Deschaine Trophy for most points in a game went to Kyle Monroe of Dexter’s of Menominee. Monroe netted 42 points in Dexter’s 69-68 Division A semifinal win over Wagner Casper Insurance of Marinette, Wis.

Monroe was also named the Outstanding Player of the Tournament, which is the Joe Rodman Trophy.

The Marv Fedrizzi Trophy for most points in the tournament went to Isiah Johnson of Contemporary Builders of Perronville. Johnson poured in 142 points in two days of Class A competition, as the builders worked their way to the championship game through the loser’s bracket of the eight-team double elimination division.

Johnson also left the Frank Rodman Community Club with the Stuart Sundholm Award for the most three-pointers in a game with 10.

The Glen Fleetwood Sportsmanship Award went to Brody Mercier of Lee’s Greenery of Powers. Mercier, who has been involved with the tournament since he was a young boy, was unable to compete in any games due to a knee injury in North Central’s MHSAA District game late last month.

Maule noted that Mercier put two teams together for the tournament, as well as being a scorekeeper for numerous games throughout the tournament.

Kyle Tuma of Wagner Casper Insurance was named Defensive MVP.

The Most Colorful Player award is named after the person who created it, long-time tournament manager and participant the late Raymond P. Bray of Norway. The 2026 Most Colorful Player award went to Steve Grinsteiner of the Stephenson Strollers.