Annville-Cleona s Dalton Himmelberger tries to turn over East Pennsboro s Donald Morgan during a 145-pound bout at Saturday s Elco Duals. Himmelberger went 5-0 in Myerstown with five first-period pins as the Little Dutchmen also enjoyed an unbeaten day. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS JEREMY LONG)
MYERSTOWN - On a cold, snowy Saturday in December, the Annville-Cleona, Lebanon and Elco High School wrestling teams weren't out in the snow, but in the Elco High School gymnasium participating in the Elco Duals.

The host Raiders and their Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three rival Little Dutchmen each took home 5-0 records on the day, while the much-improving Cedars put together the exact opposite, an 0-5 mark.

Also at the Duals along with the three county schools were Daniel Boone, Kutztown, York Tech, East Pennsboro and Conrad Weiser.

The Raiders, en route to their 5-0 record on the day, are now 10-2 on the season and took out East Pennsboro (63-9), York Tech (50-29), Daniel Boone (39-33), Lebanon (60-18) and Kutztown (66-18).

The Little Dutchmen took care of Lebanon (60-18), Kutztown (66-18), Conrad Weiser (52-24), York Tech (45-24) and East Pennsboro (59-12) to improve to 10-3 on the young season.

"It was just good matches," said Elco coach Chad Miller soon after the completion of the Raiders' final match. "Everyone experienced some tough matches, so being 5-0 at a tournament doesn't really matter at this point of the season because we're just starting. It was good for everyone just to get some matches, and most of our kids wrestled 10 matches in the last few days, which is good for us."

Annville-Cleona saw five wrestlers go undefeated in 106-pounder Josh Renninger, 126-pounder Phil Corle, 138-pounder Jeffrey Inman, 160-pounder Justin Ulrich and 145-pounder

Advertisement
Dalton Himmelberger, who won all five of his matches with first-period falls.

Elco, meanwhile, had 113-pounder Chad Puglio, 120-pounder Randy Wintersohl, 126-pounder Nick Knight and 160-pounder Zach Bankus all go 5-0.

"We are really young and very inexperienced," said Elco's Miller of his team's individual successes on the day. "I think everyone had some success over the last few days and that was the best thing for us."

The Cedars didn't have a great day as a team on the mat with

Elco s Zach Bankus puts the finishing touches on a pin of Lebanon s Victor Rivera-Rodriguez on Saturday. Bankus won all five of his matches to help the Raiders to a 5-0 record as well. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS JEREMY LONG)
their winless showing but that didn't stop coach Carl Worrell from seeing the many positives from the day.

"They did alright," Worrell said in a positive manner at the end of the day. "A lot of them got their first wins, which is nice. We had some 3-and-2's, some 4-and-1's and a 5-0, so it's a good day.

"We just want them to wrestle hard and do their best," continued Worrell. "I preach 'max it out;' I want them to go their hardest no matter what."

Go their hardest is exactly what they did as 182-pound senior Adam Kearney went 5-0, 132-pound junior Kyle Clark was 3-2 with his only losses coming on a pair of 1-0 heartbreaking losses.

The Cedars, giving up just two weight classes, were beaten by the Little Dutchmen (60-18), Conrad Weiser (51-27), Kutztown (54-24), Elco (60-18) and Daniel Boone (42-30). Even though the team went 0-5, Worrell just can't help but see improvement in the program.

"I think just in general the wrestling is picking up," Worrell said of the team being competitive in matches. "We got a good elementary program and a good middle school program that's built up. So once they start funneling through we should see some good action here."

As for Chad Miller at Elco, he entered today with the mindset on gaining more experience for a relatively inexperienced bunch at Elco after turning over much of last year's roster.

"We're not a powerhouse this year, but this is good competition for our young team," said Miller. "Any experience is

Little Dutchman Phil Corle works against East Pennsboro s Michael Amspacher on Saturday at Elco. Corle won this 126-pound match 15-0 and was unbeaten on the day, as was A-C. (LEBANON DAILY NEWS JEREMY LONG)
good for us right now."