Coming through the highly competitive weekend of wrestling the top rivals in the league, the Donegal grapplers placed five athletes among medal recipients out of the 10 who wrestled at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships on Friday and Saturday, January 27-28 at Manheim Township High School.

Among those who made it on to the podium was senior Nicholai Brotzman. He captured the 285-pound weight class with a close 3-2 victory over Hempfield's Caleb Mussmon.

"It was a big match for him," Indians coach Nick Evans noted. "We knew going in for him it was important to get a takedown.

"He got up 1-0 and after 30 or 40 seconds into the second period he got a takedown to make it 3-0," Evans continued. "Nicholai stuck to the game plan and wrestled hard."

There was a bit of history between Brotzman and Mussmon as the twain had met a year earlier in the L-L's with Mussmon notching a 1-0 victory. Yes, another one-point decision.

"Nicholai has been picking up wins," said Evans. "So, his ranking is going up in the state."

Others who finished strong in the two-day tournament included Noah Hinkel, who took third in the 121-pound class, and Ruben Mumper (4th place, 152)

Caidyn Leaf claimed seventh at 160 while Sergio Garcia finished eighth at 172.

"In the second round at 121, Noah Hinkle lost to the eventual champ Marco Tocci of Warwick," Evans pointed out. "Tocci is ranked in the state.

"Even though he lost, it was a breakthrough match," continued the coach. "I told him if he wrestled that way through the rest of the tournament, that he would finish high."

Hinkle had won a 9-1 major decision over Julian Zaragoza of Northern Lebanon prior to Tocci taking their quarterfinal round match. He earned another major decision followed by a 5-0 decision over Hempfield's Sutton Schopf in the consolation matches. Kamdyn Williams of Township forfeited in the consolation semis, giving Hinkel a chance to wrestle for third place - a 5-3 defeat of Cocalico's Keith Messner.

"He battled back, putting together some good matches," Evans said.

After pinning Josh Zook of Penn Manor and earning a 4-2 victory over Cocalico's Landon Eberly, Mumper's track to the championship was switched to the consis thanks to another champ.

"He lost to a four-time champ - Griff Gonzalez from Lebanon," Evans said.

Mumper promptly poured it on in the consolation semis with a 9-4 defeat of Zook. He came up short against another formidable foe, losing to Elizabethtown's Aiden Robinson in the third-place match.

Leaf won the seventh-place match over Township sophomore Leighton Underwood. Leaf's Friday matches included a 6-1 defeat of Cocalico's James Brady

In the 172 wrestlebacks, Garcia notched a first-period pin followed by a tough 3-2 victory over Braeden Wood of Octorara.

"I was impressed with the two sophomores - Caidyn Leaf and Sergio Garcia," Evans said. "They were not seeded in the top eight. This will give them something to build on."

Though the Indians didn't make the top-16 in the rankings for District Three qualification as a team, Evans said, "I'm excited to see where we finish in the post-season."

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Since New Year's Day, the Donegal Indians have won six out of eight L-L League games, raising their league mark to 6-4.

As a matter of fact, three of the Indians' four defeats have been by five or fewer points.

Friday, January 27, happened to be one of those close losses.

"Octorara scored 18 of the last 20 points of the game," Ryan Shipper, the Donegal head coach, pointed out. "We were not able to hold them off in the fourth quarter."

Octorara outscored Donegal 18-10 in the fourth quarter, winning by a 65-60 margin at Donegal.

There were 11 lead changes in the game according to Shipper.

"Both teams made runs throughout the game," he said. "It came down to a few possessions where we turned the ball over, leading to Octorara baskets."

The Indians, who fell to 11-8 overall, had a balanced scoring attack. Four players reached double figures in scoring. Evyan Patel led the team with 20 points as he perfectly sized up five three-point shots. He also went 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

Dutch Good scored 10 points, including a three-pointer. Speaking of treys, Sawyer Floyd's 10 points included nine from three-point range. James Turbedsky also tallied 10 points.

Octorara's Zachary Kirk led all scorers with 31 points. Teammate Elijah Hamilton scored 22.

The Indians earned that sixth L-L League win on Monday, January 30, topping Northern Lebanon 65-48 on the road.

Grabbing the momentum in the second quarter, Donegal outscored Northern Lebanon 14-2, building a commanding 33-13 halftime lead.

Floyd, who finished with 14, Patel, who made three treys and scored 11 overall, and Nathan McKnight (10 pts) reached double digits. Good scored nine.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

In an impressive performance at home, Donegal could not hold off Northern Lebanon in the fourth quarter of a girls' L-L League basketball game on Tuesday, January 31. The Vikings outscored the Indians 12-4 in the fourth quarter to post a 49-41 win.

Donegal fell to 3-17 (0-8 league) while the Vikings improved to 12-7 (4-4 league).

Mia Wissler connected on three treys and finished with a team-high 11 for Donegal. Teammate Kara Heidlauf scored 10.

Olivia Shutter paced Northern Lebanon with a game-high 17.