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GLADSTONE - It was a day of repeat champions Thursday in the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Terrace Bluff Golf & Country Club.

Crystal Falls Forest Park earned its fourth consecutive title with 338 strokes, followed by Ontonagon 343 and Cedarville 346.

"We have three seniors and their experience helped us today," said Forest Park coach Stuart Brown. "We also have two freshmen who stepped up. The freshmen are diehards. I sometimes have to kick them off the course."

Mackinac Island senior Michael Gamble retained his individual title with a 77, two strokes better than Cedarville's Taylor Smith in a tournament which included a steady rain during the first 90 minutes.

"It really wasn't raining that hard," said Gamble, who hopes to continue playing golf at Saginaw Valley State University. "I just tried to keep my clubs dry and focus on what I was doing. It helped when the sun came out, though. The rain made the greens a little slow, then they started to speed up a little."

The rain also didn't hinder Forest Park, which had all five golfers shoot in the 80s.

"The way the day started, the back nine turned out to be tougher than the front nine," said Brown. "I just told the kids to be tough mentally. Everybody has to play in it."

Gamble admitted he was a little nervous coming in as defending champ.

"I had a fun group to play with and started to relax more after a few holes," he added. "I try to play nine to 18 holes a day, but it's always windier and colder on the island this time of year. I thought Taylor played well today. He's a good player. We're pretty good friends, too."

Painesdale Jeffers' David Wesa took third at 80, followed by Ontonagon's Tory Hill 82 and Forest Park's Tyler Fittante, Mackinac Island's Paul Fisher, Ewen-Trout Creek's Jeff Lindberg and Chassell's Joel Larson 83.

Ontonagon also scored all five in the 80s, enabling the Gladiators to beat fourth-place Chassell (351) for only the second time this year.

"This was one of our better performances this year," said Ontonagon coach Jim Bobula. "We've beaten Chassell only one time before this. Otherwise, they've beaten us in 5-of-6 (Copper Country) conference matches. It was nice to see the kids come back and be successful.

"The golf courses in our area are very accommodating. They allow the kids to get plenty of practice time.

"Crystal has a great program and Stuart is a great guy for that position."

Big Bay de Noc's Dustin Barbeau was the highest area finisher at 84, a stroke better than Bark River-Harris's Tom King.

Team & Individual scores

Crystal Falls Forest Park (338) - Fittante 83, Dishaw and Marchi 84, Schiavo and Beck 87.

Ontonagon (343) - Hill 82, Anderson 86, Suomis 87, Menigoz and Schmaus 88.

Cedarville (346) - Smith 79, Causley 85, McLeod 86, Jandre 96.

Chassell (351) - Joel Larson 83, Jesse Larson 88, Saari 89, Kangas 91.

Baraga (360) - Takala 84, Maki 86, Koskinen 92, Johnson 98.

Brimley (361) - Waters 87, Quinn and Lawson 90, Daniels 94.

Mackinac Island (363) - Gamble 77, Fisher 83, Rilenge 91, McLean 112.

Ewen-Trout Creek (364) - Lindberg 83, Ahlskog, 88, Johnson 91, Munoz 102.

Pickford (369) - Portice 84, Rye 86, Michael Paratine 94, Allen 105.

Bark River-Harris (370) - King 85, Halfaday 93, Johnson 95, Floyd and Cochrane 97.

Painesdale Jeffers (371) -Wesa 80, Aho and Gheshal 95, Zerbst 101.

DeTour (378) -Melvin 88, Burton 93, Wilson 97, Anderson 100.

Big Bay de Noc (400) - Barbeau 84, Ranguette 96, Hardy 106, Lafoille 114.

Engadine (422) - Derusha 98, Bennett 102, Bednarski 104, Maison 118.

Lake Linden (431) - DuMonthier 98, Dube 105, Goldsworthy 111, Beauchamp 114.

Carney-Nadeau (448) - Dziedzic and Coffman 107, Lencoe 116, Poupore 118.

Mid Peninsula (453) - Depuydt 96, Aalto 106, Lancour 116, Branstrom 135.

North Central (464) - Nordstrom 104, Bertolini 114, Graham 116, LeBoeuf 130.

Dollar Bay (NTS) - J. Daavettila 101, Provoqst 104, C. Daavettila 110.

Rapid River (NTS) - Richway 101, Berglund 111.