Lampeter-Strasburg's wrestlers competed in the Lancaster-Lebanon League championships Friday and Saturday, January 27-28 at Manheim Township High School. They finished in 16th place out of 23 teams and brought home six medals.

Josh Heisey (145) and Jaiden Newton (172) were Lampeter's highest medal-winners, placing 5th overall. Heisey went 4-2 over the weekend, posting a pair of falls, including a 2:18 pin of McCaskey's Jessiah Jimenez to grab fifth. He also worked a 3:24 fall over Elco's Sam Bechtel in his opening match.

Newton, who improved to 23-9 overall, also went 4-2. He pinned Township's Logan Martin in 3:51 before being knocked into the consolations with a quarterfinals loss to Central's Brodie Daugherty. Newton earned his fifth place medal with a 5-2 decision over Warwick's Jack Koons. He also posted identical 4-3 decisions over Elco's Isaiah Angley and Solanco's Blaine Plastino to advance.

Settling for sixth place was Tre Spahr (285) and Connor Erb (127). Spahr posted falls over Central's Tyler Groff, Cocalico's Josiah Boyer and E-town's Bradley Candy before forfeiting his last two bouts of the tournament due to injury.

Erb suffered an opening round loss but rebounded with three straight falls, including a quick 36 second decking of Solanco's Paul Kocher, to advance. He added a 5-2 decision over Cedar Crest's Jason Brooks to get to the consi semis where he suffered an 11-1 major decision to Central's Barrett Keiffer. He lost a 9-5 decision to Autin Reitmeyer (E-town) in the battle for fifth.

Also grabbing a medal was Riley Bonholtzer (121) in seventh and Elijah Myers (114) in eighth place. Bonholtzer went 3-2 overall, getting knocked to the consis by eventual second place finisher Travis Clawson (Penn Manor). He came back with a fall over Solanco's Nathan Smith, lost a 9-2 decision to E-town's Francis Burke before decking Hempfield's Suton Schopf in 1:21 for the medal.

Myers also suffered a first round loss and came back with three straight wins, including a tight 8-7 decision over Columbia's Loudon Rupp in the fourth consolation round. He lost his last two bouts of the tournament.

Also competing for the Pioneers were Charlie Creighton (133), Mitchell Swarr (152), Justice Lugo (160) and Ian VanDeusen (189).

BOWLING

The Pioneer bowlers fought from behind and split the series with Manheim Central, Thursday, January 26, topping the Barons 5-2 at Rocky Springs Lanes.

L-S held a five point lead coming in so a win was crucial to stay on top of the Section Three standings.

The Barons pulled out a 965-956 game one despite Nick Bukowski's 224. Ethan Snyder led the second game with a 227 as the Pioneers rallied down the stretch for a 922-894 win.

"We had an edge going into the 10th frame," said head coach John Achille. "They had three misses in the ninth and all five of our bowlers marked in the ninth, then we had three misses in the tenth. We couldn't take advantage of the opportunity.

"In that second game, we got behind early but inched our way back. It was pretty even going into the tenth but Ethan had a solid tenth, getting three strikes for the win."

L-S maintained that momentum through the final game, opening with 12 straight strikes and rolling to a 1000-918.

"Later in that third game we had eight consecutive strikes, building a big lead and they could not catch us," Achille stated. "As a team, we averaged 191.9 for the entire match. The kids bowled great."

The Pioneers racked up another win on Monday, January 30, when they blanked Section Four leader Columbia. Snyder and Bukowski both rolled three 200+ games, including matching match-high 256s to lead the way. Bukowski topped everyone with a 708 series with Snyder two pins back.

"The kids bowled great," praised Achille. "This was the first time we bowled two games in the same match over 1000 and five different bowlers had a 200 or better game. We're peaking at the right time."

SWIMMING

The Pioneer swimmers suffered mixed results in their Section Two clash Monday, January 30 with the girls posting a 95-71 home victory over Cocalico and the boys falling short 86-69.

Zara Paisley and Kylie Gerhardt topped the scoring sheet with a pair of individual wins and contributions to two relay victories. Paisley claimed the 50 free and 100 breaststroke while Gerhardt had top times in the 100 free and 100 back. Both swimmers joined Ashley Prouse and Madelyn Juba for wins in the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

Prouse, who was second in the 200 free, led a sweep in the 100 butterfly with sophomores Addie Rodriguez and Liliana Bacon taking second and third.

The boys won six of the 11 events contested but claimed just one relay and managed just two individual second place finishes.

Ryan Smecker, Kyle Spaulding, Matt Rota and Christian Rota, who was second in the 100 back, opened the meet with a winning 1:53.57 in the 200 medley relay. M. Rota followed up with firsts in the 200 free and 100 butterfly while Smecker was tops in the 200 IM and 100 free. Spaulding added a win in the 100 breaststroke and a second in the 500 free.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The second placed Pioneers did not have an answer for Section Three leader Lancaster Catholic on Friday, January 27. The Crusaders, in front of a packed house, used their full court press to forge a 13-5 first quarter lead and went on to outscore the hosts in each of the next three en route to a 56-16 win.

"Our lack of experience and ball handlers really showed," said head coach Steve Villbrandt. "The atmosphere affected us as well. The place was packed and loud and that got us out to a slow start, and we never got it going. This was a rough one."

Anna Horner topped the scoring sheet for L-S with five points. Katie Ranck and Ava Leonard each added four.

Three days later the Pioneers struggled on their home floor while Spring Grove seemed to knock down everything they put up. The Rockets exploded to an 11-1 lead early and never looked back. They led 27-10 after eight minutes. L-S regrouped with an 11-0 run to start the second half, cutting the lead to six, but never got closer than four.

The game featured 35 fouls called and a combined 48 free throws taken, 25 in the fourth quarter and 20 by the Rockets. The Pioneers were 7-of-22.

L-S did pour in 22 fourth quarter points with Horner dropping three triples, Vaughn two and Ranck one but that only kept the game close as Spring Grove connected for 32 points and had two players score 20 or more. Ranck settled for 19, Horner added 14 and Saurbaugh finished with a season-high 10.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Lampeter's six game winning streak came to a halt last Tuesday, January 31 at Cedar Crest. The Section One Falcons, clinging to a 32-30 first half advantage, outscored the Pioneers 32-18 in the second half to pull away.

Luke Hines netted a game-high 19 points with Chase Smucker adding 11 to lead the way.

Back in Section Three play Friday, January 27 the Pioneers used a 23-13 run through the first quarter to spark a sweep over Lancaster Catholic, 64-47. They led 44-25 at the break and survived Catholic's 22-20 second half advantage.

Justin Glick's 18 points led the way. Smucker netted 15 including three triples and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line while Dean Herr knocked down four treys en route to 14.