WILLOW, Alaska - Mansfield native and current Alaska resident Matthew Failor calls competing with his dogs in sled dog racing "the ultimate freedom." Failor, a 2000 St. Peter's graduate ...

2020 Kuskokwim 300 Champion Pete Kaiser congratulates Matthew Failor on his second-place finish and finish line marriage proposal to Liz Failor on January 19, 2020 in Bethel, Alaska. (Katie Basile ...

WILLOW, ALASKA — Mansfield native Matt Failor completed the Iditarod in eighth place, achieving a Top 10 finish for the first time in his 12 years on the trail of the 1,000-mile race.

Veteran mushers expressed varying takeaways about the rookie makeup of the race. Willow's Matthew Failor, who has compiled a dozen Iditarod finishes, said he'd like to see more total mushers enter ...

But this year, not so much. “It doesn’t feel like Iditarod, because it’s so quiet,” said race veteran Matt Failor, who by early March is typically frantic, hosting family from out of state ...

“I just gets really spendy,” said veteran Matthew Failor. Yes, sled dog racing is pricey. This year only 33 teams are making the Iditarod work. That number is tied with a record low set in 202 ...

It’s just not among the fine arts, the degree Matt Failor earned at Ohio State in 2007. Instead of studying Picasso or Rembrandt, he monitors canine breeding patterns and structured diets.

He returned to Michigan, but missed Alaska. He reached out to friends for job prospects and got an offer from musher Matthew Failor, originally from Ohio, who had raced in the Iditarod.

Veteran mushers expressed varying takeaways about the rookie makeup of the race. Willow’s Matthew Failor, who has compiled a dozen Iditarod finishes, said he’d like to see more total mushers ...