Brett Barbush qualified for the state tournament, thanks to his fourth-place finish in districts. He was pinned in the third-place bout against Northern York's Cole Bartram, but the talented 172-pound junior had a heck of a tourney. Barbush earned his spot in the PIAA State Tournament at Hershey's Giant Center on March 10-12 after beating Governor Mifflin's Cole Long, 10-3 in the consolation semifinals at Spring Grove High School.

Barbush earned a decision against his Big Spring opponent in the round of 16. He earned a pin at 2:16 in the quarterfinals against a foe from Dallastown. As great as those wins were, Barons' coach Quint Eno said Barbush's best match might have been his first one against Big Spring's Clayton Hetrick.

"Brett wrestled well," Eno said. "He experienced some new situations and competition this weekend that only made him stronger. I think his most impressive performance was his round one bout. He was doing everything right, but his opponent somehow came out on top on a few of our attacks. Brett had to fight his way back from a six-point deficit to force sudden victory where he scored the winning takedown (9-7 win). His composure and faith in his training set him up for that win."

Eno said this this was a great win heading into postseason, as it showed that things aren't always going to go your way, even when we're doing the right things. Barbush learned he can stay calm and stay focused when his back is against the wall, Eno said.

From a confidence standpoint, Barbush also faced two of the top guys in the state at 172. He knows where he wants to be and those matches only added to that desire, Eno noted.

"And if there's anything I've learned about Brett," Eno said, "it's that he will bring a relentless effort to achieve something. We're looking forward to seeing more growth from him at the state tournament."

Uriah Warner put together a strong weekend at 132 pounds and was close to joining Barbush, falling two wins shy of a trip to Chocolatetown. The senior lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Jared Fulton in the third-round consolations. Warner suffered a 7-2 loss in the quarterfinals to Spring Grove's Ian Vega, who earned a silver medal in the tourney. Warner battled his way through the consolation bracket.

"What stood out was his focus, his commitment to game plans, and the joy he had competing," Eno said. "He was present and competed in every position, every situation. And that's exactly what we talked about the week leading up to districts. Unfortunately, we came up short in the consolations. We're happy with how Uriah competed. There will always be things we wish were different but, in the end, he did everything he had to do to put him in a position to qualify. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out. And when it doesn't, how we respond matters. We're proud of how Uriah responded."

Freshman Brodie Daugherty lost his first-round bout at 145 by a fall to Northern York's Timothy Johnson and lost 9-2 in the consolations to Spring Grove's Jarod Baker.

"Brodie had a tough go this weekend," Eno said. "but we love how competitive he is, especially for only being a freshman. We'll continue to work on harnessing that competitiveness and clean up some technique. And when we do, watch out. He will do great things."

The Lady Barons battled and even held leads against the top-seeded Mechanicsburg (21-1), but eventually came up five points short, 45-40 in the District Three Class 5A semifinals on March 1 at Mechanicsburg.

The Wildcats held a 9-1 before Central rallied to make it close, trailing 13-11 after the first quarter. The Barons were aided by an 8-2 run, cutting the lead to 11-9.

Maddie Knier (19 points) drained a 3-pointer to cut the Wildcats lead to 15-14. Manheim came all the way back midway through the second after Rachel Nolt (15 points) nailed a 3-pointer to put the Barons ahead 17-15.

The Wildcats led 25-20 at halftime. Central scored the first four points to start the third quarter and cut Mechanicsburg's lead to 25-24.

Late in the third, the Wildcats went up 30-24. They led 30-29 after three quarters. The Barons took a 36-35 lead with 5:08 to play and led 38-37 with 2:51 to go but could not hold the lead.

The Barons converted only 10 of 20 foul shots. The Wildcats, on the other hand, were 11-for-13 from the charity stripe and won the game at the foul line.

Manheim got to the semis by beating West York 50-41on Feb. 25 at Doe Run. The Bulldogs jumped out to 2-0 advantage, but that was their only lead of the night.

Manheim led by six at intermission, but the Bulldogs evened the score at the end of three. Manheim pulled away in the fourth. Knier, who had 19 points, Kaylie Kroll (11 points) and Abbie Reed (nine) all hit key buckets, as the Barons pulled away.

Barons' coach Tyson Hays said the Barons were focused and ready to play.

"(The) kids being locked in and wanting to win together," Hayes said about the keys to the win. "We were balanced in scoring, rebounding and you're hard to beat when you have that. The kids have shown tremendous growth from the start of the season until now and I just couldn't be prouder and happier watching them compete."

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Barons kept the game close for three quarters, but Palmyra (19-6) got hot, going on a 21-9 run in the final stanza to pull away for a 64-50 victory in the District Three Class 4A consolations Feb. 28. The loss ends Manheim's season with an 18-10 record.

Central kept things close thanks to Trey Grube, who finished with a team-high 31 points, nailing seven 3-pointers.

The Barons were still alive in the consolation bracket after they beat Mechanicsburg 59-49 on Feb. 24. Central never trailed in the game. Grube, who finished with 21 points, scored Manheim's first eight points. He was 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Judd Novak added 14 points and Collin Thompson added 12.

BOWLING

Holly Hunt was a late addition to the district bowling tourney at the ABC North Lanes. She started off strong with her first two games in the 180s, but she struggled in the final three games and did not make it out of the first round.

Adjusting to the oil patterns on the lanes played a factor, Barons' coach Alan Sides said.

"They bowled five games across five pairs of lanes," Sides said. "So, each pair definitely needed to adjust on. Nerves could have been a small problem. Or possibly frustration after the good start. We still were very proud of her."