MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University football team has come up short the last nine times in its battles on the gridiron with rival Michigan Tech.

It may have also lost the recruiting battle Wednesday as the Wildcats got six Upper Peninsula players to sign letters of intent compared to nine for the Huskies.

Still though, it was a good class of Yoopers that the Wildcats landed, two of which came from Marquette County.

One is Ishpeming defensive lineman Logan Kruhlik, who was an Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Dream Team honoree last fall and was named All-U.P. Small School Defensive Player of the Year in leading the Hematites to an undefeated regular season and a trip to the state quarterfinals.

The other new local Wildcat is Superior Central’s Roubens Fink. He was a Dream Teamer on the 8-player side as both a running back and a return specialist. Fink will be joined in the NMU backfield by fellow Dream Team member and Yooper Montell Glover of Stephenson.

Iron Mountain’s Charlie Gerhard and Norway’s Zach Powell will also be on Northern’s offense. A receiver, Gerhard was an All-U.P. Small School honoree last year and Powell, a lineman, made the Small School squad.

West Iron County’s Caden Pellizzer was another last U.P. player to sign with the Wildcats. He was a First Team All-West PAC recipient and will serve as a long snapper for NMU.

In all, Northern signed 26 players for next season including six from downstate, 11 from Illinois and three from Wisconsin. The Wildcats finished 3-8 last season and 1-7 in GLIAC play.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.