Jesper's 'Jive' Takes Winter Sports to New Heights: Ice Skaters and Hockey Lovers Cheers!
Of course, the weather in the Northern Lower Peninsula does not align with 'the end of winter,' but the winter sports season has indeed come and gone.
It's mid-March, which means it's time for us sports reporters to tell you, "Winter is over! " while Mother Nature disagrees, blanketing the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan with multiple feet of snow, a layer of ice and providing more than enough winter weather to prove it is definitely still not spring. So, let me be precise; the winter sports season is officially over for the Gaylord area.
It was yet another exciting few months inside gyms, ice rinks and out on the slopes for Gaylord High School, Gaylord St. Mary and Johannesburg-Lewiston athletes, highlighted by championship runs and exciting individual moments. Before we move on (weather permitting), I wanted to take a last look at some of those moments that make Gaylord sports unique and special.
Regional finals Frankfort defeats Gaylord St. Mary again, wins third straight regional Winter weather Power outages, snowfall grow as storm continues in Northern Michigan Zane Willobee wins second state championship Walking off the Ford Field stage after falling in the Division 2, 165-pound title to Lowell's Owen Segorski as a junior in 2025, Gaylord's Zane Willobee was still the same kind, respectful kid who had endeared him to many in the high school wrestling community over the past few years. The disappointment, however, was also pretty evident to those who knew him as the fiery competitor who holds himself to a high standard.
A year later, facing off against his biggest high school wrestling rival in Clio's D'Marion Erlenbeck, Willobee got to leave that disappointment in the past, winning with a 4-3 decision to finish his high school career off with his second state title. Willobee led the charge for Gaylord area wrestlers, one of three state qualifiers. GHS's Kieran Beach fell to Portland's Griffen Opperman, the eventual seventh-place finisher in the D2 157-pound bracket, while JoBurg's Riley Buchler fell to Hunter Shelton from Pine River in the D4 215-pound bracket.
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