It is no secret that there is a numbers crunch in high school wrestling and teams are struggling to field a full 13-person line-up. While Elizabethtown is no exception, they are enjoying the beneficial side of those forfeits more often than not.

Case in point would be the Bears 45-30 loss to Lancaster Catholic on February 4th. There were five total forfeits with E-town picking up a quick 24 team points as the beneficiary of four of them. Jake Rudy (152) nabbed Elizabethtown's lone win on the mat.

One-night later the Bears used four Cedar Crest forfeits to propel them to a 51-24 victory. The five wins all came on the mat with Rudy (152) pushing E-town to 21-0 with a decision. Walters was the final win during an opening four-match run, picking up a pinfall at 172. Austin Reitmeyer (106) and Wyatt Mummau (113) added pins to make it 39-12. Elizabethtown's final victory came at 132 with a Findlay pinfall.

The Bears found themselves on the flip side of the forfeit battle on the 8th when they clashed with ELCO. Elizabethtown handed out three forfeits while getting just one back but still posted a 45-30 victory thanks to six pins. Mummau earned the lone forfeit, following Reitmeyer's 17-second win at 106 that kicked things off.

After a forfeit, the Bears ripped off three straight wins to push their lead to 27-6. Nathan Thomas (126) and Smith (138) bookended the run with pinfalls while Findlay (132) added a 5-3 decision. A setback at 145 made it 27-12 but E-town posted another three-match run to seal the victory. Rudy (152) and Walters (160) picked up third period falls while Haver ended his 172-pound bout in 61-seconds. ELCO claimed the final three weight classes.

BOWLING

Bowling may not be the first team sport that comes to mind, but the Bear bowlers are having fun and winning. With a 7-0 trouncing of Conestoga Valley on February 4th the Bears checked off one of their yearly goals, claiming the section title. This one comes with more meaning as it is the Bears second straight Section Two title and gives E-town one of the coveted berths in the L-L team competition.

"I am extremely proud of each member of this team," said head coach Frank Telenko. "Now we concentrate on the postseason!"

Zach Deardorff and his 751 series led the way. The senior's game two 278 allowed E-town to cruise to a 1172-860 win. His 245 game three wrapped up the Bears' sweep with a 1104-1019 triumph. Zach Wentzel got things rolling with an opening game 233, pushing E-town to a 1063-899 win.

Elizabethtown hit the lanes again on the 5th, slipping by Penn Manor, 4-3. The Bears dropped the opening game 1034-890 with Daniel Eberle's 215 serving as the high mark. E-town won 951-887 and 931-882 in the next two games, sealing the win. Wentzel's 244 topped the game two scores while Ayden Pope and his 225 did the same in game three.

The Bears topped Warwick 7-0 on February 8th. This time it was Deardorff (624), Pope (621) and Moore (560) bowling all three games with Berrier (424) the lone two-gamer. That left single games for Adam Baker (224), Wentzel (211), Eberle (178) and Telenko (159).

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

A 62-44 setback to Ephrata on February 9th knocked the girls' basketball team from the ranks of the unbeaten and into a first-place tie with the Mountaineers atop Section Two. Ephrata outscored E-town 32-11 in the second and third quarters. The Lady Bears held a slim 33-30 edge in the first and fourth, but it was not enough to overcome that sluggish middle section. Macy Seaman (13 points) and Carly Sedun (11 points) reached double figures.

Elizabethtown went into their Ephrata tangle riding a five-game winning streak which included a 57-37 romp over Lebanon on the 8th. Despite the 20-point win, the Lady Bears trailed by three after the opening frame. Led by Seaman and Jade Love-Morris, E-town posted a 47-24 edge from there to secure the win. Love-Morris led all scorers with 23 while Seaman added 14 points.

Elizabethtown also picked up a win on the 6th, topping Warwick 38-29. E-town held a slim 22-20 lead heading into the final frame. Then the Lady Bears shifted into high gear, outscoring Warwick 16-9 for the win. Seaman made it three straight in double digits with 10-points but it was Elise Hassinger's 13 points leading the way.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

On the boy's side, the Bears had just one game. E-town snapped a four-game slide by topping Ephrata 64-57 on the 9th. Patrick Gilhool, Techeal Gonquoi and Luke Pierson helped the Bears recover from a 17-16 first quarter deficit with a combined 49 points. Gilhool collected a game-high 23 while Gonquoi added 15 and Pierson 11.

RIFLE

It may have come in their last regular season match, but the E-town rifle team found a grove. The result was a 496-489 win over Conestoga Valley on the 9th. Aivery Shuck and Emily Bonsall posted perfect 100s and combined for three centers while Rachel Broomell and Kyle Lloyd just missed with their matching 99s. Allison Lowell added a 98 in the win.

The Bears added another win on the 4th, over Wilson, by a 494-484 count. Emma Kreiser posted the lone perfect score with Lowell and Shuck falling short at 99. Nizaly Ortiz-Kreiner and Parker Bryant added a pair of 98s.

In between the two wins was a double header loss to Garden Spot on the 5th. E-town dropped the first match 497-492. Shuck, Lloyd, Bonsall and Kreiser all posted a 98 in a 494-489 second match loss while Broomell shot a 97. In the opening match it was Broomell and Shuck shooting a 99 with Lowell, Bonsall and Lloyd checking in with 98s.

SWIMMING

The swimming teams kicked off their postseason with a trip to Wilson High School for the L-L Championship Meet. The girls' meet took place on the 5th with the Lady Bear placing 5th in the final team standings.

E-town earned points in all three really events, but the highlights came from Gabby Walsh in 100 backstroke and Morgan Conway in the 100-breaststroke. Conway, a freshman, raced to a bronze in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:06.55, snapping a 31-year-old team record and causing head coach Chad Houck to call it an "incredible swim."

For Walsh, her second-place time of 1:00.40 in the 100-backstroke approached the team record, leading Houck to say, "probably the most technically sound swim I've seen from Gabi in her 100 backstroke. She's getting back close to that record she set as a freshman and hopefully she'll have a chance to break it at the District 3 meet."

Conway added one more solo medal, a seventh place in the 200 IM. Conway's busy meet kicked off with a leg on the 200-medley relay where she finished fourth with help from Walsh, Genevieve McDonald and Megan Handshew. Gabi Dabbs joined McDonald, Handshew and Conway for a sixth-place finish in the 200-free relay while Dabbs, Walsh, Brooke Heisey and Stephanie Hall earned a sixth-place medal in the 400-relay.

The boys competed on Feb. 6 and managed a sixth-place finish in the team standings. "I'm very happy with our League meet this year, on both sides," said Hauck.

The top performance went to the 200-free relay of Ben Azzalina, Andrew Donahue, Wyatt Rachael and Sam Azzalina who set a team record with their silver medal time of 1:31.94. The Bears also nabbed a sixth-place finish with their 200-medley relay team of Riley Runnels, Rachael, Sam Azzalina and Ben Azzalina.

Ben Azzalina was the lone solo medal winner, clocking a 21.83 in the 50-freestyle to take bronze.