Wrestling roundup: A-C, Elco open with wins
Five Lebanon County wrestling teams were in action on Thursday night. Here is a quick glance at how they fared:
ELCO 45, Pequea Valley 33: In Kinzers, the Raiders used a pair of pins and five forfeits to pull out the victory over the Braves, despite losing more matches on the mat.
With just nine wrestlers, The Braves won six of the nine contested bouts, including a trio of pins by Austin Fisher (145), Chris Smith (152) and Daniel Wanner (160) to open the match. The Raiders responded with an Ethan Anspach pin at 2:12 at 170 pounds before three straight forfeits put the Raiders ahead, 24-18. The Braves stopped the bleeding at 285 with a Donnie Broomell decision, but gave the momentum right back with a pair of forfeits for Levi Brooks and Steven Wiz at 113.
With a 36-21 lead with four matches to go, the Braves' Tanner Ball and Gabe Miller picked up back-to-back first period falls at 120 and 126 to pull within three, 36-33 before Elco’s Shawn Price scored a fall in 1:29 at 132 to clinch the victory. Owen Nell followed with a 5-0 decision for the Raiders at 138 to close out the victory.
Annville-Cleona 72, Columbia 12: In Columbia, the Little Dutchmen used eight falls, two in under a minute, and rolled to the easy win in their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three opener against the Crimson Tide.
220-pound senior Brandon Light started the fall-fest with a 37-second stick of Jason Price before Columbia’s Cole Freeland answered with a fall in 1:55 at 285 pounds. The visitors won the next four matches, capped by a Zach Renninger fall in 1:05 at 126 pounds. Columbia’s second victory of the night came at 132 with an Isaiah Hunter fall in 3:29 and at 138 Josh Renninger received a forfeit to push the Little Dutchmen to a 36-12 lead.
The visitors clinched the match with the second fall in under a minute as Kurtis Reigle pinned John Gable in 46 seconds at 145 pounds.
Hayden Funck (113), Colin Myers (120), David Fiebig (106), Tyler Schrader (152), Kole Stoudt (160), Brayden Turner (170), Mark Wagner (182) and Alex Wilson (195) also had victories for A-C.
Milton Hershey 63, Palmyra 3: In Palmyra, the Cougars lone victory came from 220-pounder Leo Higgins, a 7-1 victor over the Spartans' Octavius Reeves. The Spartans took the other 13 matches, including nine by either fall or forfeit in their victory over host Palmyra.
Solanco 59, Cedar Crest 22: In Quarryville, Barry Breidegan scored a 17-9 major decision victory, an early highlight for the Falcons in their loss to the Golden Mules.
At 152 pounds, Breidegan scored the big decision over Solanco's returning district qualifier, Wyatt Jennings, that brought the Falcons to within 12-4 after the Mules recorded a pair of falls in 45 seconds and 36 seconds respectively to build the 12-0 lead.
Also victorious for the Falcons was Jarell Howard-Griffin (182), Austin Olan-Torres (220), and Ross Fisher (285). Howard-Griffin and Fisher scored falls while Olan-Torres received a forfeit.
Conestoga Valley 63, Lebanon 15: In Lebanon, the Cedars fell to Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two favorite Conestoga Valley as the Buckskins scored the first 27 points.
The Cedars finally got on the board at 152 pounds after the match started at 120 with a Ben Kutz fall in 3:09. Also victorious for the Cedars was 285-pounder Lucas Imm and 113-pounder Jose Barrios. Imm took a 6-4 decision while Barrios recorded a 45-second fall in the final bout of the evening.