With a couple area football teams kicking off their season last night, we can take a break from the national sports scene and talk about some local sports. And not just last night’s action. We can go back further than that.
Here’s something to get us started…
What player drew the biggest crowd to ever attend a basketball game at Hedgcock Fieldhouse? Who is the only Marquette grad to play on the PGA Tour? How do you win a state championship without winning the championship game?
A Collection of Recollections
If you’re interested in the answers to those questions, you’re probably the kind of sports fan who would like the locally originated online blog, Beyond the Bridge. The retelling of memorable stories from the field of play, including accomplishments that stand the test of time, is always a good read.
Publisher Tony Beauchamp has taken a love of sports and turned it into a pastime that satisfies his basketball Jones, and ours too. And not just basketball.
“I was born and raised in Ishpeming,” Beauchamp says, “and have always been a big fan of the uniqueness of the Upper Peninsula sports landscape.”
I think he’s on to something. While our communities are separated by great distances, our sports stories connect us. Weren’t we all Nimrods when the Watersmeet teams gained national attention, with a guest spot on the Tonight Show?
Didn’t we all wince when Iron Mountain lost the state basketball championship in 2019 in heartbreaking fashion? (No fault of theirs, by the way.)
For some undefined reason… embraced without question, U.P. Pride includes all of us. And with that, Beyond the Bridge touches all the bases.
The BTB Facebook page says, “Every Town Has a Story.” And beginning in late 2025, Beauchamp has been keeping them alive, one tale at a time. Since most are historical recollections, they’re timeless. You may remember the game, or the player, but Beyond the Bridge pulls a Paul Harvey and gives you the rest of the story.
So You Don’t Forget
You may know about the 1976 undefeated, championship season of the Marquette Redettes. But did you know Coach Crill found jobs for players so they could attend basketball camps? I didn’t.
How about the Ishpeming Hematites football dynasty of some 15 years ago? It’s always fun to read about U.P. teams taking it to the trolls.
And Beauchamp never just mails it in. The articles are all well-researched with details you may have forgotten, or never even knew. Like, in 1956, three U.P. basketball teams went to East Lansing for state championship games and all three came home champions. If you were a regular reader of Beyond the Bridge, you would have known that.
Reader Engagement
Occasionally a post will engage the readers with a question like… “What’s a loss in U.P. sports that still bothers you to this day?” I think I already answered that one, but you might have another.
Beauchamp is a little surprised at the popularity of his posts. “It’s grown quite a bit faster than I expected.” It probably doesn’t hurt that reading about sports provides a safe haven from everything else going on out there.
Of course, it takes someone with a passion for the game to draw us in and keep us interested. Someone like… Tony Beauchamp. “Beyond The Bridge started as an idea to tell some of the U.P. sports stories with the kind of reverence and respect they deserve,” he says.
Mission accomplished.
Circling Back…
I mentioned a couple of teams hitting the field last night. Word on the Street files the following review:
College
It’s been a rough run for the Football Wildcats over the past few years, but with a new coach, there’s always new hope.
I was particularly interested in how running back Noah Dobert would fare after last year’s season to remember. If you recall, the ‘Cats occasionally had difficulties completing passes, like two games with no completions… so they had to rely on the running game and Dobert delivered, setting a single-season rushing record.
The Wildcats started the 2026 campaign last night with a loss at Minnesota State-Moorhead. It didn’t go well for the Green & Gold, falling to the Dragons, 41-19. First game, on the road, for a first year coach. No reason to panic.
High School
The Marquette Sentinels hosted the Negaunee Miners in the season opener for both teams. The second oldest rivalry in the state gave fans one of the best games in the series. Down by as many as 16 points, the Sentinels tightened their D and put points on the board, but ultimately fell short, 30-28.
It’s no shame to lose to Negaunee. They don’t just have a good team… they have a good program. Always a threat to end up at Ford Field.
Asked and Answered
And those questions I posed? You might not find the answers in Beyond the Bridge, so here you go, to the best of my recollection…
• The player who drew the biggest crowd to Hedgcock Fieldhouse wasn’t even a Wildcat, or a Wildcat opponent. Not even Wisconsin high school legend Mickey Crowe, playing for St. Norbert, or the pre-Tom Izzo Michigan State Spartans, featuring three future NBA stars, filled the place like North Dickinson’s Todd Lindeman.
Everybody wanted to see the big kid from Channing, and if memory serves, everybody did. It was standing room only for the 7-footer destined to play for Bobby Knight at Indiana. And though I don’t have an official attendance figure, I have to believe it was never surpassed.
• Marquette’s Mick Soli is the only former Redman to cash a check on the PGA Tour. Mick was in town this summer for the Marquette Golf Club’s 100th Anniversary Celebration where he shared some of his memories of competing on the local links, and the success he found teeing it up with the big boys.
I remember seeing him on TV and thinking, not bad for a kid who grew up trying to fine tune his game where there’s more winter than summer.
• Finally, the Marquette Redmen Hockey Team didn’t win the game, but they came away champions anyway.
In what turned out to be one of the longest high school hockey games ever played, Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s faced off in the 2008 state championship, and played to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Play went to extra periods, and with no more goals scored, they remained tied after eight overtimes.
With concern for the health of the exhausted players, the game was called before they could drop the puck for a ninth period and each team was declared a State Champion. Everybody wins.
The one time when kissing your sister turned out to be a good thing.
Eww.