The wrestling team jumped headfirst into the postseason starting with a trip to Neffsville on the 27th and 28th for the L-L Championships at Manheim Township. "We had a pretty solid team performance with eight total medalists," said head coach Trent Turner, "and we were in the team race right up to the championship finals but fell a little short in the end."

The Buckskins finished fourth in the team standings. Luke Needham was the top medalist, taking silver at 160. Abdoul Akala claimed bronze at 172 after finishing seventh last year, while Nick Horton dropped just one match on his way to bronze at 107. Omar Vargas (114) and Luke Morley (127) earned fourth place medals while Zander Rider (215) and Tal Stoltzfus (285) did the same with fifth place medals. Teagen Ruble rounded out the medalists with his sixth-place finish at 139.

Up next on the postseason tour was a trip to ELCO for the opening round of the District 3-3A Team Championship. CV opened with a 31-24 win over the fourth seeded Raiders but dropped out of the championship bracket with a 47-19 quarterfinal loss to Chambersburg.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

A loss in any sporting contest is never fun. Stack one after another and it becomes even less fun. That is where the Conestoga Valley boys' basketball team sits after losses to Exeter and Warwick, dropping their record to 10-9 with the season's finish line in sight.

The most recent setback came on January 31st with CV dropping a 71-44 final to Warwick. The Buckskins were unable to get into any offensive flow leaving the Warriors holding the scoring edge in all four frames, with only a 12-10, third quarter remaining close. Griffen Rishell was the lone 'Buck in double digits with 14 points.

A few days prior, CV stepped out of the L-L, welcoming Exeter Township to Witmer. The Eagles left town a 67-46 winner, outscoring Conestoga Valley in three of the four frames with only a 21-21 draw in the final frame preventing the four quarter sweep. A total of 10 Buckskins scored with Owen Fisher's eight points and Nasziir Anderson's seven points leading the way.

Conestoga Valley did slip in a win over Cocalico on January 26th, topping the Eagles by a 45-42 final. CV controlled the opening half, but their 30-22 lead vanished with a 13-3 Cocalico run coming out of the break. The 'Bucks were able to get their groove back in the fourth, posting a 12-7 edge for the 45-42 victory. Rishell netted a team high 16 with Fisher adding 11.

RIFLE

The rifle team was hit with two shots in the form of losses to Ephrata and Manheim Central, both by a mere two points. The 495-493 loss to Ephrata went down on the 26th where Dominic Santamaria was the lone perfect shooter for CV. Caleb Reiff posted a 99 while Hunter Kleckner, Sierra Land and William Roland all finished with a 98.

The Buckskins closed out January with a trip to Manheim, resulting in the other two-point loss, this one a 496-494 final on the 31st. Santamaria was the lone perfect score but this time Reiff, Land and Lydia Salmons all posted a near miss, 99. Christopher Therrien finished the scoring five with his 97.

BOWLING

The bowling team continued on their march to the postseason with wins over Lebanon on the 26th and Elizabethtown on the 30th. Ryan Muckle paced both wins, rolling a 631 series against the Cedars and a 677 series against the Bears. Danny Subers (595), Ethan Tardibuono (489) and Mason Tardibuono (407) also bowled a complete series against Lebanon. Evan Zimmerman and Jason DeChristopher rounded out the win.

Josiah Casler and Zimmerman joined Muckle in pushing CV to the win over Elizabethtown with all three breaking the 600-series barrier. Casler tallied a 664 while Zimmerman checked in with a 651. Jocelyn Ross just missed the club with her 595. DeChristopher (429) and Subers (162) teamed up for the final spot.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The girls' basketball team was hit with two more losses, dropping their record to 4-15 on the season. The January 26th loss to Cocalico was a painful one as CV went from holding 26-22 lead after three frames to ending up on the wrong side of a 43-40 final thanks to a 12-8 Lady Eagle run. Rhiannon Henry netted a team high nine while Grace Harrison and Gabrielle Moore each added seven.

The 38-30 loss to Warwick on January 31st was of the slow trickle style. The game remained even through the opening eight minutes but the Lady Warriors began to pull away from there, starting with an 11-10 second quarter edge. Add in the 7-5 advantage in the third and the 14-9 advantage in the fourth and you get the 38-30 final. Henry finished with nine points and Erin Figart added eight.

SWIMMING

The boy's swimming team closed out their regular season with back-to-back wins, topping Manheim Central and Lancaster Catholic.

The January 26th meet with Central was close with CV winning 87-68 thanks to double wins by both Connor Ludwig and Daniel Ivanchikov. Outside of their solo wins, the 50- and 500-free for Ludwig and the 200 IM and 100-back for Ivanchikov, the pair also enjoyed wins in the 200-medley relay and the 400-freestyle relay. Rome Lucchese and Isiah Dentel were the other half of the 200 medley while Ashton Reese and Aidan Campbell were the other half of the 400-free relay. Campbell posted the final win, taking the 100-breaststroke.

The going was much easier in the 100-45 win over Lancaster Catholic on the 31st. CV captured all three relays and picked up double wins from Ivanchikov (200-free and 500-free), Campbell (100-breatstroke and 200 IM) and Ludwig (100-back and 100-fly). Reese picked up the final victory in the 50-freestyle.

The Lady Buckskin side split the two meets, dropping a 57-49 final to Manheim Central while knocking off Catholic 71-55. Wins were hard to come by against Central with only Nastia Ivanchikov (100-fly) and Ainslee Helsel (500-free) posting solo wins. CV did add a 400-freestyle relay win with Ivanchikov, Hannah Granruth, Helsel and Cheyenne Plank doing the work.

Against Lancaster Catholic the Lady 'Bucks used double wins from both Hollyn Helsel (100-breastroke and 50-freestyle) and Ainslee Helsel (100-freestyle and 100-backstroke) coupled with two relay victories to take the meet. Plank collected the final solo win, taking the 200-free.

The 'Bucks posted just four wins against Chambersburg starting with Ruble's tech fall win at 139. Miles Acosta followed with a decision at 145 while Akala also posted a tech fall win, his coming at 172. Needham slipped in the lone pinfall, ending his 160-pound match in 76 seconds.

The evening opened much better with CV claiming seven of the 13 bouts opposite ELCO. Morley (127) and Akala (172) enjoyed easy forfeit wins while Vargas collected the lone pinfall at 114. Ruble (139) and Needham (160) picked up wins via decision with Stoltzfus (285) adding a major decision to the tally. Rider was the final victor, needing extra time to claim his 215 match.