In a Section Two wrestling match with five pins, a major decision, plus four straight forfeits by their opponents, Garden Spot wrestlers gained a 58-15 victory over Ephrata on Thursday, January 21.

The run of four forfeits went from the 113-pound weight class through 132 where Matt Casey, Josiah Smucker, Mason Casey and Jeremy Schilling earned six uncontested team points each. These forfeits were sandwiched between a Garrett Gehr pin, where he took down Tristan Mellinger 2:15 into the 138-pound bout, and a major decision from Adam Hahn at 106.

Josh Martin also earned a pin for the Spartans. His first period fall at the 160 was followed by Blake Weaver's pin at the 172.

Mason Musser and Dustin Swanson finished things off, each winning by a fall. Musser won his in the 215 and Swanson notched a pin with five seconds remaining in the opening period of the heavyweight bout.

There is that song with the lyrics "Sometimes you say that you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you."

There was no question on who had the better of battling with bears on Tuesday night at Garden Spot High School where the Spartans hosted the Bears - the Elizabethtown Bears, that is - in a Section Two wrestling match.

The Spartans earned a decisive 53-15 victory to improve their record to 4-0 on the year. With three pins, a technical fall, two decisions and an E-town forfeit, the home team forged a 47-0 lead before the Bears earned their first points. E-town's Hayden Haver and Bobby Walters each registered a pin to cut Garden Spot's lead to 47-15. But that was as close as the visitors got on this night.

Another Elizabethtown forfeit capped the 53-15 victory.

The night began with pins by Mason Musser and Dustin Swanson. Musser took down his opponent in the 215-pound class and Swanson needed only 46 seconds for a pin in the heavyweight bout.

The Spartans' momentum rolled on with Adam Hahn (106) earning a 10-3 decision and freshman Diego Portales edging Wyatt Mummau 3-2 at 113.

After E-town forfeited at 120, Mason Casey (126) and Jeremy Schilling (132) each recorded a pin followed by Garret Gehr's 17-2 technical at 138. Aaron Martin also worked a pin in the 145-pound match.

The Garden grapplers faced Lampeter-Strasburg on the road the following night in a league match. The Pioneers posted a 36-27 win, handing the Spartans (4-1) their first defeat.

Earning team points on decisions were Swanson, Portales, Gehr, Schilling, and Blake Weaver. Mason Casey pinned his opponent in the first period of the 126-pound match. Hahn did the same in his 106-pound match.

Weaver earned a 9-4 decision at 172. Swanson (285) earned a 9-3 victory while Portales (120) outlasted Conner Erb of L-S by a 5-2 margin. Schilling won 9-5 at 138.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Spartans won two close contests to raise their record to 2-4 (1-2 league). They claimed their first in of the year on a Saturday afternoon non-league game at Twin Valley and coasted to a 53-41 victory over Solanco on Monday, January 25.

In an unusual scoring pattern, the Spartans took a 24-19 lead into the second quarter of the Twin Valley game only to see the Raiders tie it up by halftime. By the final buzzer, the Spartans had eked out a 46-45 victory.

The scoring leaders for Garden Spot included Jesse Martin and Dylan Nolt, who finished with 11 and nine points, respectively. All of Nolt's points came on three three-point baskets. Luke Steiner finished with six points.

The Raiders got a game-high 14 points by Attman Bean.

In Monday's match, the momentum swung in the home team's favor in the second stanza as the Spartans pushed ahead for a 27-24 halftime lead. They increased their lead to six points heading into the final period and held on for a 53-41 win.

Spartan junior Brendan Weaver led all scorers with 16 points. Javier Hammond and Joseph Sharp each finished in double digits, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Nolt was good on two of his three-point attempts on this night, finishing with eight points overall.

Tyler Burger led the Mules with 13 points.

AIR RIFLE

With 100-point efforts by both Amanda Wolfe and Jack Werner, the Garden Spot air rifle team topped Manheim Township 494-489 on Tuesday. The win improved the Spartans' season mark to 5-1.

The two perfect scores were supported by a score of 99 from Leksi Bender while Tanner Donohue shot a 98 and Isaiah Smeltz scored a 97 on the day.

In its previous match, Garden Spot had edged Township 496-495 as Bender and Wolfe each hit the century mark. Werner and Donohue shot 99's while junior Veronica Fox shot a 98.

Township's Marianthi Saxinger also hit 100 points on the day.

With Wolfe and Werner as their leaders, the Spartans also posted a 495-489 win at Manheim Central on January 21. Their perfect scores were complemented by Bender's 99 as well as 98's from Fox and freshman Magdalene Martin.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

In a close contest at Ephrata, the Garden Spot girls' basketball team finished on the short end of a 44-38 final on Thursday, January 21.

The Spartans, who were led by Taylor Soehner's 16-point production, charged back from an early five-point deficit to gain a two-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers, paced by Jasmine Griffin's game-leading 20 points, outscored the visitors 16-8 in the final period for the win.

Morgan Pavelik put up 11 points for Garden Spot and Avery Stauffer finished with six.

Garden Spot's second-quarter comeback effort at Solanco was slowed down in the third quarter as the home team went on a 23-9 run in the second half. Solanco won the Section Three contest 46-32.

The Spartans' scoring was distributed nicely between Sohner, Erin Gonzalez and Pavelik, who scored 10, nine and eight points, respectively. Solanco's Jade Eshelman had a game-high 16.

Garden Spot fell to 0-3 in league play (0-5 overall).

BOWLING

Cocalico managed to remain atop the Section Three standings with a 7-0 defeat of Garden Spot on Friday, January 22 at Dutch Lanes. Chris Quadarella bowled a 224 in his first game and 256 in his second game, finishing with 696 pins overall to lead the Eagles.

Garden Spot's Owen Colby was steady in his first two games with scores of 231 and 233. He finished with a team high 655.

Garden Spot improved to 19-16 overall with their 5-2 victory over Lancaster Catholic at Rocky Springs Lanes on Monday, January 25.

Colby bowled a 235 in his second game and racked up 589 points total to lead his team.