Hempfield swept Warwick in a Lancaster-Lebanon League swim meet with the girls' squad defeating Warwick 117-49 and the boys posting a 116-49 victory on Thursday, January 12.

"We swam a great meet," head coach Casey Lear commented. "I am super proud of all our athletes for stepping up to the challenges. They are trusting in their training and swimming with confidence, which is thrilling to see."

Emily Taylor was one of the leaders in the girls' meet, placing first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:23.72 and first in the 200 individual medley (2:38.66).

Carol Fabian not only won (4:58.77) the 400 freestyle, but she was also part of the winning 400 free relay team, joining Micah Wiglesworth, Lilliam Farmer and 100-butterfly winner Anna Koger.

Wiglesworth, Farmer, Koger and Fabian formed a winning quartet in the 200 free relay as well.

Wiglesworth, who sprinted to victory in the 50 free (28.43), placed second (1:02.52) in the 100 freestyle. Kendall Stringe, who took third in the 100 free, swam the 200 medley relay with Maya Trowbridge, Lucy Bishop and Ava Moyer, claiming the top spot at 2:18.76. Stringe was also third in the 200 free behind Farmer, who finished second.

Koger placed a close second in the 50 free behind Wiglesworth.

The boys' squad also claimed all three relays.

Ryan Taylor, Jonathan Tsang, Toby Marco and 50 free winner Jack Root won the 400 free in 3:52.40. Root's time of 224.86 was only half a second better than second-place finisher Marco in the 50 free sprint while Taylor took third.

Taylor, Andrew Gates, Kiran George and Ivan Vitko won the 200 medley relay at 1:55.11. Vitko, the 200 free winner (2:11.57) joined Root, Marco and senior Jase Colino for a first-place effort in the 200 free relay.

Vitko also placed second in the 400 free while George was second in the 200 free.

Colino came through with a second place in the 100 breaststroke.

In the 100 backstroke, the Black Knights grabbed the top three spots with Gates (1:12.20), George (1:12.45) and Alex Burdyn (1:15.13) touching the wall.

In the 100 butterfly, Marco and Luke Roettiger were second and third, respectively.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Hempfield girls' basketball team tried to hang on to and build on its seven-point lead in the Section One showdown at Landisville on Thursday, January 12. Lebanon out-shot the Black Knights in the final period and grabbed a 52-50 victory, dropping Hempfield to 1-4 (6-8 overall).

The Knights carried a slim two-point lead into the locker room at halftime. They increased that lead only to have Lebanon stage a comeback.

Autumn Cook, who finished with 11 points, had a key three-point basket in the final seconds for Hempfield.

"Autumn made a three with 12 seconds to go," head coach Kendra Merrifield described. "Unfortunately, they got a foul call with 10 seconds to go, made both free throws and we couldn't convert anything from there."

Sophia Ott finished with 20 points, connecting on a pair of three's in the process. Lauren Moffatt also nailed a pair of treys and finished with 14 points. The Cedars' Kailah Correa led all scorers with 27 points.

"It goes to show that a lot of the games we've played this season, we could play to our potential," Merrifield added. "We played a good game against Lebanon."

WRESTLING

The Knights wrestled at the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum on Friday and Saturday, January 13-14. Despite a close match, Hempfield invented ways to slip by Thomas A Edison 42-33. The Knights followed with a 54-27 defeat of Eastern View - both wins on Friday.

"It is a very prestigious tournament," Knights' coach Shane Mack said. "This is our second year.

"They have a 10-mat arena with six of them for high school and four of them for Division I college teams," added the coach. "Competition is really good, and you get the feel of a big tournament."

The Knights came up short in their battle with Great Bridge and lost the third-place match to Riverbend 53-27.

In the match with Edison, the Knights surrendered a 27-15 lead and, by losing three of four bouts in one stretch, fell behind 33-30 heading into the final two weight classes. Nicky Bruno's pin at 215 and Caleb Mussmon's pin at 285 sealed a 42-33 win.

"Last two bouts we came out with two big pins to propel us to victory," Mack remarked.

Michael Karpathios had a great weekend, registering pins in each of the four matches - all at 113.

"He has turned the corner," Mack said. "He's a senior and the work he has put in is really paying off. He has had a really good stretch."

Seamus Mack had a 15-0 technical fall in the 132-pound bout against Edison. Zy McCain-Murray followed that with a 20-4 technical (138) and Kamron Fickes added a 16-0 TF at 144. Braden Edwards pinned at 150 for the 27-15 lead.

The Knights had five early pins against Eastern View - Karpathios, McCain-Murray, Fickes, Edwards and Charles Williams. A pin at 190 by J.J. Plaza regained the momentum for Hempfield as Mussmon capped the match with a pin at 285.

Against Great Bridge, Karpathios pinned at 113 and Mack pinned Myrin Nixon at 132. McCain-Murray and Fickes each lost a tough decision by a three-point margin.

Despite six consecutive losses, the Knights battled to the end with a 190-pound pin by J.J. Plaza followed by a quick first-period pin by both Bruno and Mussmon, who needed 28 seconds for his pin.

"J.J. Plaza has really made a big turnaround this year," Mack said. "He is leading by example and he's only a junior, so we're looking for great things from him."

The Hempfield highlights from the 53-27 loss to Riverbend included an 8-1 decision by Mussmon, a pin by Karpathios and two quick pins - 29 seconds and 40 seconds - by Mack and McCain-Murray, respectively.

"Zy has a ton of potential," Mack said of the sophomore grappler. "He can be explosive and powerful. This past stretch he has wrestled well."

McCain-Murray was one of six Hempfield wrestlers to notch a pin on Wednesday night, January 18 as the Knights defeated Solanco 48-27 on the road. His pin came in the 133-pound match. Karpathios (114) also pinned while Mack needed only 57 seconds to register a pin at 127.

Edwards (145) Vincent Hernandez (160) and Mussmon (285) also worked a pin. Two Solanco forfeits accounted for the other 12 points while Fickes lost a tough 3-1 decision to Jared Fulton (139).

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Hempfield improved to 11-2 on the year (5-0 league) with a 59-35 defeat of Lebanon on the road Thursday, January 12.

Miguel Pena led Hempfield in scoring with 13 points while the defense held the Cedars scoreless in the opening period.

Kamyn Lawrence poured in 10 points while both Michael Hester and Chase Calabretta finished with nine.

The Knights followed that with a 58-51 defeat of Governor Mifflin in a non-league home game on Saturday.

Calabretta led all scorers with 20 points while Pena poured in 13 for the Knights.