CHEBOYGAN — What a school year.
For high school sports in the Cheboygan area, the 2025-26 year was one to truly appreciate. There were numerous great athletes, titles won, and teams coming together to deliver some big-time performances.
As someone who covers this stuff for a living, there’s moments that stick with you, and that was certainly the case over the last year or so for many area schools, teams and athletes. In Part 2 of the 2025-26 Cheboygan ESPY awards, we’re going to focus on some of those great experiences.
Best Atmosphere: Ogemaw Heights at Cheboygan, boys basketball district final — This night was as great as advertised if you’re a fan of Cheboygan hoops, especially with how it started and ended.
From the opening tip until the final buzzer, Cheboygan’s supporters made their presence known and helped will the Chiefs to a first boys basketball district title in 11 years thanks to a hard-fought win over Ogemaw Heights.
As exciting as the entire game was, the scene after is what I still think about, seeing those Cheboygan players cut down the nets, seeing the look of thrill on the faces of all Cheboygan fans, and especially seeing Cheboygan coaches Jason Friday and Scott Hancock with smiles on a night they’ll remember forever.
Best Comeback: Pellston softball against Mackinaw City, district semifinals — In the postseason, you’re going to face some adversity at different points.
Trailing 5-0 early against rival Mackinaw City in the district semifinals, the Pellston Hornets had to overcome plenty of adversity, and thanks to a senior-led group and a team that didn’t blink, the Hornets battled back, beat the Comets, and later sealed a first district crown in three years with a championship triumph over Harbor Light.
Best Upset, Part 1: NMCA boys basketball over Harbor Light, district final — Now, NMCA coach Josh Ferraiuolo might disagree on this one being an upset, but knowing his Eagles had to beat Harbor Light on the road if they wanted to win a first-ever district title, this was a huge ask.
And I’ll admit, I gave the Swordsmen the edge going into this one.
But in the days prior to the game — even after a narrow conference title game loss to Harbor Light at NMCA on that previous Saturday — Ferraiuolo told me he was going to throw something different at the Swordsmen, and he felt good about his team and its chances.
Well, the Eagles found a way to hold off the Swordsmen and make history that night. A few days after, they reached their first regional final by beating Hillman at Hillman. You talk about some mentally tough NMCA players, these Eagles were it. Led by senior Joshua Ferraiuolo and sophomore Jeremiah Tucker, NMCA made it a special season and showed just how far they’ve come in recent years.
Best Upset, Part 2: Onaway softball over Inland Lakes, district final — Even though I didn’t attend this game, I returned home and saw that the Onaway Cardinals had taken down their M-68 rivals from Inland Lakes in a 7-3 district final victory at Gaylord St. Mary.
Watching the Cardinals get handled rather easily by the Bulldogs in a lopsided regular season sweep, I thought this would be a difficult task for Onaway. But then I remembered the Cardinals were in a similar situation a year ago, when some probably didn’t think they had a chance to top high-powered Rogers City in the final, and then they won.
With a masterful pitching performance put on by Aleigha Garms, as well as several other players stepping up, Onaway one-upped its main rival and earned district glory again.
Most Exciting Moment: Wheelock’s district goals — I can’t think of an athlete who’s been more plagued by injuries than Cheboygan’s Jaelyn Wheelock, who had surgery on both of her knees in recent years. But while those injury setbacks were painful physically and emotionally, they couldn’t break the spirit of Wheelock, whose toughness showed as she battled her way back, got through basketball season, and returned to soccer in the spring.
Just before her career ended, Wheelock had a feel-good performance anyone out there would appreciate, scoring two goals and leading the Chiefs to a district victory over Grayling at home.
It was the last high school game for Wheelock on her home pitch, and what a way to go out.
Most Emotional Moment: Hancock being honored for 50 years — playoff atmospheres are one thing.
But when you’re honoring someone who’s meant so much to a community for a half century, you better believe the night is going to be special and emotional. Last December, Cheboygan athletics paid tribute to Scott Hancock by naming its basketball court after the longtime coach during a ceremony that saw a packed crowd of those from Cheboygan and well beyond.
As someone who’s enjoyed working with Hancock for several years, this was as awesome of a night as I could remember, and a well-deserved honor for one of Cheboygan’s best.
Most Heartbreaking Moment: Schley’s near buzzer-beater full-court shot — man, talk about being so close.
Right when it looked like a Cheboygan loss to Harbor Springs was all but official, Nolan Schley grabbed a rebound, launched a ball about 90 feet down the court, and saw it go in, which would’ve meant a tie game and overtime.
However, officials ruled that Schley’s heave didn’t get off in time, meaning it was an incredible shot that simply didn’t count. It felt like all the oxygen was sucked out of the gymnasium, but what a heads-up play by Schley.
It wasn’t just a bummer for the Chiefs. It was a bummer for your local sports editor, who decided to stop taking video right before Schley took the shot. You live, you learn, right?
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Reliving best Cheboygan-area high school sports moments from 2025-26
Reporting by Jared Greenleaf, Cheboygan Daily Tribune / Cheboygan Daily Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jared Greenleaf, Cheboygan Daily Tribune | USA TODAY Network
