Both Travis Clawson and Ty Grassel competed in the Class 3A District Three/South Central Regional championships Saturday, February 25-26 at Spring Grove High School. Only one punched his ticket to states.

Clawson, wrestling at 113, extended his season with a fourth-place finish, going 3-2 over the two-day tournament.

"Travis had a great tournament and will make his first appearance in the PIAA state tournament as a sophomore," said head coach Brandon Vernalli. "He currently sits at 35-6."

The Comet opened with a 13-1 major decision over Cumberland Valley's Alex Tennis, jumping out to an 8-1 lead in the first period, and was just as solid in the quarterfinals, hanging a 20-8 major over Elijah Hewitt of Northeastern after falling behind 4-1 in the first period.

The Comet grappler met his toughest competition in the semifinals where he suffered an 8-3 loss to eventual champ, and returning PIAA state champ, Kaedyn Williams, of Manheim Township.

Clawson bounced back in the consolations, posting a 4-0 decision over CV's Trent Ruble to get to the third-place bout against Wilson's James Garcia. Down 4-3 after two periods, Clawson used a quick escape and a takedown in the finals seconds to force an extra period. Garcia, however, prevailed, grabbing the bronze with a takedown at the 32 second mark.

"That was an exciting match," said Vernalli. "Travis wrestled tough but lost in a quick scramble."

Competing at 160, Grassel also got off to a good start, opening with a 3:00 fall over Lower Dauphin's Max Klingensmith but suffered the same fate in the quarterfinals, getting pinned by Macon Myers (Central York) at the 5:59 mark.

Grassel's trip through the consolation bracket was short. He fell behind Hempfield's Grant Hoover 4-0 in the first period and was down 9-3 heading into the third period before ending his season with a 9-5 loss.

"Ty also wrestled well," said Vernalli. "That match with Hoover was the rubber match. So far this year Grassel and Hoover were 1-1. He almost pulled off a major upset against the No. 3 seed in his second match. Overall, it was a good weekend."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The girls' basketball team traveled to Cedar Cliff as the underdogs Thursday, February 24. The undefeated Colts remained so with a 42-33 victory over the Comets in the District Three 6A quarterfinals.

The hosts outscored their opponents by an average of 27 ppg before the matchup against the Comets so they did not exactly coast into the semifinals. Penn Manor played from behind for most of the game but rallied down the stretch, giving themselves an opportunity for the upset.

Down 33-20 early in the fourth, Manor made its move. Emily Riggs and Kamia Goodley scored on back-to-back possessions and then Goodley drained a triple that cut the lead to 37-31 with 2:45 left.

Morgan Miller followed with a layup that kept the lead at six, but Manor came up empty on its next two possessions and Cedar Cliff extended the lead with four free throws over the final two minutes.

Free throws were key as the Colts canned 15-of-25 attempts, including 11-of-18 in the second half. The Comets struggled to get to the line and were a slim 3-of-6, all in the third quarter.

Goodley led the Comets with 16 points, including nine of Manor's 13 fourth quarter points. Lily Sugra and Miller combined for 13 points and Riggs chipped in with four.

Alive in the consolation semifinals, Penn Manor traveled to Central York last Monday, Feb. 28, but failed to avenge a 45-23 season opening loss to the Panthers. The No. 5 seed got some help at the free throw line, canning 10-of-15 attempts in the fourth quarter alone (they were 19-of-27 for the game) to pull away with a 50-36 victory.

"We just didn't seem to get the calls in either game," said head coach Megan Collins. "Cedar Cliff shot 25 fouls shots. We shot six and Central York shot 27 foul shots and we shot 9. That being said, I don't like to use that as an excuse. We didn't do what we needed to do. We needed to be more sound on the defensive boards and not turn the ball over. We also needed to find a way to not go scoreless for an extended period of time."

Miller and Goodley hit first quarter treys and Sugra added four points as both teams tied at 10-10 after eight minutes.

The hosts dropped three triples in the second quarter, poured in 17 points and held a 27-18 lead at the break.

Sydney Shepos and Goodley each bucketed their second treys of the night in the third quarter and Sugra added another four as the Comets edged the Panthers 10-8 to close the lead to 35-28. Down the stretch, however, the Panthers pulled away, outscoring the Comets 15-8.

Miller netted 11 points, and Shepos followed with 9, all on triples. Goodley (6), and Riggs (2) rounded out the scoring.

The Comets traveled to Red Lion on March 2 with a chance to claim the sixth and final spot in the PIAA championships. Despite a strong comeback, they fell short 41-37.

The hosts used a 15-8 second quarter run to take a 24-13 lead at the break. That proved to be the difference as Manor outscored Red Lion 24-17 in the second half.

Fouls again were a contributing factor. While the Comets were 17-of-23 from the line, they did have two players foul out. Red Lion was 7-of-20. Both teams were whistled for 21 fouls.

Sugra knocked down a game-high 19 points, including seven of Manor's nine fourth quarter points. Miller (8), Kligge (4), Goodley (4) and Shepos (2) rounded out the scoring.

The Section One champs cap their season at 17-11.

BOWLING

Six Comets competed in the District Three Bowling Championships held at ABC North Lanes in Harrisburg, Saturday, February 26. Only one earned a top six finish to advance.

Senior Willow Hee, with a 217 in game one and a 222 in the second game, was in fifth place (971) after qualifying rounds (5 games). She finished three pins behind the eventual winner, Central York senior Madison Brenneman, who rolled a 264-160 win over Hee in the quarterfinals.

In the qualifying rounds, Eva Brubaker (885) was 15th, Corinne Smith (865) was 17th, Lacey Slaymaker (823) followed in 25th place and Kayla Wasche (749) rounded out the 40-player contingent in 35th place.

For the boys, Derek Warfel just missed sixth place by three pins, slipping in behind Ethan Reimert (1057). The Exeter senior went on to win the bracket portion of the tournament.