SPORTS

VARSITY POWERLIFTING
Eardley finishes powerlifting finals despite injury

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Emma Eardley completes a 225 pound deadlift despite tweaking her back at the varsity state finals. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The Elks had a lone lifter at the Varsity Powerlifting State Finals taking place downstate at Lake Orion High School last Saturday. Emma Eardley, a junior, represented Elk Rapids in the 140 Division in her first year lifting at the varsity level. Eardley is not a rookie powerlifter, however; she has been competing in the sport since the seventh grade at Cherryland Middle School.
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Eardley started the day off strong, hitting her first two squat attempts of 185 and 205, but on her third squat attempt, Eardley felt something tweak in her lower back. 

“This wasn’t detrimental to the bench press as Emma hit two of three attempts, but she definitely felt it on the deadlift station. We decided to call it a day after she hit her first deadlift attempt.” said Elk powerlifting head Coach Garrett Skurnit.

A lifter has three lift attempts at the squat, bench press and deadlift stations with the heaviest weight successfully lifted at each station combined for total pounds lifted. 

“We are very proud of Emma and her continued effort; she has been on the team since seventh grade and continues to be a great example for the younger lifters. We’re excited to see what she does next year,” said Coach Skurnit.

Eardley was disappointed this injury happened at her first varsity state finals after several successful seasons competing at the JV level. “I was feeling strong after my second squat went smooth and easy, so Coach Skurnit and I decided to go for my prior personal record of 225 pounds, because at the state meet everybody is pushing numbers so they can try and place,” explained Eardley. “I was prepared for the weight, but as I started to drop down on the third squat I heard a snap and instantly knew it was bad. I felt immediately both mad and sad knowing what it meant for the remainder of the meet.” 

To qualify for the Varsity State Finals, a lifter must be in the top 20 lifters of their weight class by the end of the season, earned by competing at regional meets. Eardley qualified for the varsity finals coming in at number 18 in the 140 Division with a combined lift of 555 pounds, recorded at the Farwell regional with a fourth-place finish and again at the Manistee regional, earning a medal with a third-place finish. There were 14 regional qualifiers held around the state from December through February 21.

“We treated the injury as best as we could before the bench press. I got the bar up on the bench, but in my mind I knew the deadlift would require a lot from my back,” said Eardley.

She fought through the injury and was able to get the first deadlift attempt up, completing the required lift attempts for the squat, bench and deadlift and finish at number 18 in the state in the 140 weight class. “I’ll be ready for my senior year. I plan to lift all summer and focus on my eating to gain weight for the season next fall,” Eardley said.

The Elks were light on upperclassmen lifters this year but will have a great batch returning for the varsity level next season, according to Coach Skurnit. “We had several JV lifters that qualified for the JV State Finals after our first regional meet who also qualified for the varsity state finals after being moved up to varsity for our second regional competition,” Skurnit explained. “As per Michigan High School Powerlifting Association (MHSPLA) rules, a lifter can only compete at one state meet, JV or varsity, even if a lifter qualified in both. In order give our qualifiers the best chance at success, we kept all the JV lifters in the JV state meet.”

Congratulations to Emma and to the entire powerlifting team and coaching staff on another great season on the mats! Go Elks!

VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL
Elks fall to Rams in district final

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Jillian Moazeni (23) sneaks inside for two avoiding the reach of a Rambler defender. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The Lady Elks opened Division 3 district play with a thrilling 47-45 thrilling win over Boyne City in a semifinal matchup played in East Jordan last Wednesday. The win over the Ramblers advanced the Elks to the District championship game against Harbor Springs on Friday, also played in East Jordan. The title game was a tight battle for the first half, but Harbor pulled away in the third quarter and the Elks’ season came to an end with a 43-32 loss.
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The Elks had beaten Boyne twice during the regular season by double digits in both games, but the season starts new for all team when districts begin. The Elks were down 15-0 after the first quarter but came back to tie the game at 24-24 going into halftime. The Elks held the lead at 37-33 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Ramblers cut the Elk lead down to two points twice in the first minute, Allie Schlicker moved inside and scored two off the glass to increase the Elk lead to 41-37. Boyne answered with a three, bringing the Elk lead down to one point, Brooke Fluty scored on a lofting runner underneath moving the Elk lead back to three points at 43-40. The clock went past the midway point of the quarter as a Rambler scored on a long three to tie the score at 43-43. 

Over the next three minutes the Elks tallied four points by connecting on one of two free throws by Schlicker, Jillian Moazeni twice and Rhielynn Skrocki for a 47-43 lead with 42 seconds to play. Boyne inbounded the ball and went the length of the court and attempted two three-point shots that both missed but they were able to score on a putback that cut the Elk lead to 47-45 with 14 seconds to play. The Elks inbounded the ball, but the pass was batted away and after a scrum the referees ruled out of bounds on the Elks, now with nine seconds on the clock. Boyne inbounded and dribbled to the lane to go for a tie; the ball was swatted away by Natasha Beebe and picked up by Fluty and dribbled downcourt as the horn sounded on the Elks 47-45 victory. 

The Elks now faced Harbor Springs for the district hardware, a team that had beaten them twice during the regular season. The Elks led 11-9 at the end of the first quarter after Schlicker scored inside at the buzzer. The second quarter opened with a 6-2 Elk run for a 17-11 lead with three minutes left in the quarter. The Rams took less than a minute to tie the game on a three-point bucket and basket plus a free throw. The score remained 17-17 into the final minute when Schlicker made a free throw that put the Elks up 18-17 with 41 seconds until halftime. The Rams scored on a putback with 25 seconds to play, taking their first lead of second quarter at 19-18 going into halftime.

Harbor began the third quarter scoring 10 unanswered points and a 29-18 lead. The Elks were held to just three points in the quarter; Anna Pray made a free throw with 2:40 and Beebe hit a five-foot jumper at the buzzer. Harbor outscored the Elks 20-3 in the third quarter for a 39-21 lead. The Elks were not able to rally in the final quarter and the season ended with the 43-32 loss. Schlicker scored 15 points, Fluty and Skrocki both had five points.

The Elks finished the season with overall record of 13-10 and were third in the Northern Shores Conference with a 10-4 record.

Thank you to the all the Elk players and coaches for another exciting season on the hardwood!

VARSITY BOYS HOCKEY
Bay Rep boys lose in final four

The Bay Rep boys hockey co-op team was seeking a first ever trip to the state championship game after advancing to the Division 3 Hockey Final Four but fell to the Houghton Gremlins by a score of 4-0 in the state semifinal game, played Friday morning at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth. 

The Gremlins scored a late first period goal, added a goal early in the second period and scored twice in the third period. Houghton outshot the Reps 37-16 for the day.

This was the Reps’ third trip to the final four since first taking to the ice for the 2000-01 season.

Houghton defeated Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 5-2 in the Division 3 state championship game played on Saturday.
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The Bay Reps boys finished the season with an overall record of 17-13-1.

VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL
Elks fall to Maroons in regional

The Elks advanced to the Division 3 regional championship against the Menominee Maroons, played last Thursday evening in Newberry, where they battled to become the first Elk Rapids varsity boys basketball team to bring home a regional trophy in nearly 100 years. The Elks fell behind early in the game and despite a third-quarter rally saw their season come to an end with a 67-50 loss to the Maroons.

“Menominee is a great defensive team. They put a lot of pressure on our guards, which resulted in some turnovers, but it also made it very difficult to get into any offense,” said Elk varsity boys basketball coach Kevin Ball.
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Menominee went on an 11-0 run to start the game, holding the Elks scoreless until Caden Schlicker dropped a three from the right wing with 4:30 reading on the clock. This opened up a 7-0 scoring run for the Elks, consisting of a baseline drive for two plus a free throw by Jayden Hresko, followed by a drive down the lane for a layup from Jacob Moore and a putback by Braden Fluty brought the Elks to within one point at 11-10 with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Menominee stepped up and scored five unanswered points to end the first quarter with the Elks trailing 16-10. The referees were blowing the whistle on both teams, and Elk starters Cam Kerfoot and Tyler Standfest both had to sit down with two fouls the first period.

Menominee came out shooting in the second quarter with a 12-0 run and pulled ahead 28-10, Schlicker got the Elks going again, scoring on a breakaway layup with 5:30 glowing on the clock. The Elks outscored Menominee 10-6 over the rest of the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 34-22. The third quarter started with Menominee using 10 seconds to score on a wide-open lay-up and increased the lead to 36-22. A basket inside by Moore and a bucket by Menominee set the score at 38-24 and the Elk deficit at 14 points. A lofting drive by Standfest for two started an Elk run, Hresko drained a three, then split free throws at the line twice cutting the Maroon lead to seven points at 38-31 with just under five minutes remaining in the quarter.
Menominee scored four points that took the lead back to double digits. Hresko countered with a lay-up, tallying his seventh point over a two-minute span, and trimmed the lead to 42-33.

The Elks would get no closer as Menominee finished the quarter with a 15-5 run that inflated the lead to 57-38 heading into the fourth quarter. The Elks cut the lead to 15 points in the final quarter, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the buzzer sounded on the game and a great Elk season with a 67-50 loss.

Hresko finished with 17 points, Schlicker added seven points and Kerfoot scored six. The Elks committed 24 turnovers in the game after averaging 16 a game for the season.


“I give our guys a lot of credit though for competing to the very end,” said Coach Ball. “Nothing came easy for us that game and they easily could have thrown in the towel. That is one of the characteristics I love about this team is their grit and determination.”

In Division 3 boys basketball there are 176 teams in 32 districts that began the post-season hoping to be the one team that goes undefeated in the playoffs and claim the state championship. The Elks season may have ended earlier than hoped, but they had a fantastic year, making it to the “Sweet 16” in the post-season, finishing with an overall record of 21-4, only the second boys team in school history to record a 20-win season. They collected a district trophy with a thrilling home comeback win and won a third straight conference championship with a perfect 14-0 record.

“This was definitely a fun team to coach, these guys got along really well, we could laugh and joke together, but when it was time to step on the court they would always bring it,” said Coach Ball. “Everything they achieved this year they deserved, with the injuries and illness we had to go through, these guys always stuck together. I’m extremely happy for them and I’m also very thankful for our community who came out and supported us during our tournament run. It was great to see the stands full. I believe it gave the boys an extra gear especially against Glen Lake.”

Congratulations on a very memorable season to the Elk players and coaches, with the promise of more to come!

NFL FOOTBALL
Former Elk QB Adam Trautman signs three-year contract with Broncos

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Adam Trautman (82) runs on to Empower Field at Mile High for a Denver Broncos home game. Photo courtesy of Ben Swanson / 2024 Denver Broncos
Elk Rapids 2015 graduate Adam Trautman signed a three-year contract with the Denver Broncos on March 8 that will keep the veteran tight end with the Broncos through the 2028 season.

The deal is worth $17 million, with a maximum value of $18.5 million and $9.5 million guaranteed. Trautman was due to become a free agent on March 9.

Trautman has been a dependable key blocker in the Denver run game and has also caught 55 passes for 587 yards and six touchdowns in regular-season action for the Broncos. Drops were a problem for the Denver tight ends last year, but not for Trautman who dropped just one of 21 catchable passes last season. Over his last three seasons as a Bronco, Trautman has just two drops, ranking him 12th among 63 tight ends with at least 50 catchable passes in that time span. Bronco quarterback Bo Nix has to know a ball thrown in Trautman’s direction is going to be caught..

In three seasons with Denver, he has been “Mr. Dependable,” playing in all 54 games of the regular season and playoffs and has tallied 40 starts. Trautman has been on the field for 52 percent of the snaps in each of the last five seasons and has led the Denver tight ends in snaps for the last three seasons.

Trautman had northern Michigan glued to the television during the 2020 NFL Draft, held during the height of the Covid isolation, to see where the former Elk and Dayton Flyer would go. The New Orleans Saints picked Trautman in the third round, and he would play for the Saints for three years before becoming a Bronco through a trade at the 2023 NFL Draft. Sean Payton was the Saints head coach that drafted Trautman, and Payton is now the head coach at Denver.

A dozen years ago Trautman, wearing #3, was a record setting quarterback for the Elks along with being an all-conference Elk varsity basketball player. Northen Michigan folks, especially those here in Elk Rapids, can often be seen wearing a Broncos jersey with #82, the number Trautman wears in the NF. Trautman was inducted into the Elk Rapids Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024 and spent a great deal of time happily signing autographs for fans.

Elk Pride comes to life during the NFL season, watching the Broncos play with #82 on the field.

Congratulations to Adam Trautman on his new contract and living the dream of playing in the NFL.