DULUTH — There’s little more satisfying in sports than beating a powerful opponent in their own backyard, and that’s exactly what the Ely Nordic Wolves boys did on Tuesday, edging host Duluth East by two points at the Duluth East Pursuit Invite at Snowflake Nordic Center.
Seven teams and 84 skiers competed in the event, and Ely finished with a team score of 373, narrowly defeating Duluth East, which scored 371.
The Wolves’ Oliver Hohenstein entered the final leg of the pursuit in second place after the freestyle opener, but made up a 5.2-second stagger to catch teammate Aksel Skustad and win the event with a combined time of 26:25.9. Skustad, meanwhile, had no trouble extending his margin over Duluth East’s August Capps, finishing more than 40 seconds ahead of the Greyhound skier to secure second place in 26:31.7. The Wolves’ one-two finish proved decisive in the tight team scoring.
Ely’s depth carried through the rest of the lineup. Wyatt Devine placed sixth overall with a combined time of 27:47.3, improving from sixth in the opening race to fifth in the pursuit. Otto Devine finished seventh overall in 28:02.5, maintaining his position through both legs. Brooks Brenny rounded out Ely’s scoring five, placing 18th overall in 30:03.1. Brenny improved four positions during the pursuit, helping Ely hold off Duluth East.

Girls
The Ely girls placed second behind Duluth East in a five-team field with a performance that showed the team can succeed even without a top-ten finisher.
Parity among the Wolves was the key in this meet, as the five Ely scorers finished close together to pile up points. Mattie Lindsay led the way, moving up from 16th to finish 13th overall with a time of 35:06.7. Beck Sponholz followed in 14th at 35:16.8, with Molly Brophy just behind in 15th at 35:19.7. Addison Kannas placed 17th in 35:32.0, and Ivy Ohlhauser rounded out the scoring in 22nd at 37:09.2.
Duluth East claimed the girls team title with 386 points to Ely’s 348.
The Wolves looked to carry that momentum home for the final event of the regular season, the Ely Invite at Hidden Valley on Friday. The meet was originally scheduled for Jan. 24 but was postponed due to extreme cold.