Solanco senior Jared Fulton, a four-time Lancaster-Lebanon League wrestling finalist, grabbed his second straight L-L crown in action at Manheim Township Friday and Saturday, January 27-28. He was one of five Solanco matmen to medal. The Mules finished in 12th place out of 24 teams.

Fulton, wrestling at 139-pounds, pinned Manheim Central's Jake Hess in 51 seconds in his opening bout Friday night. In the quarterfinals, he posted a 10-2 major decision over Teagan Ruble (CV).

Saturday's semifinal round featured a 15-0 tech fall over Lancaster Catholic's Gavin Badger and in the finals, Fulton picked up more bonus points, hanging a 9-0 major decision on Tanner McCracken (Ephrata).

"To be a four-time finalist is pretty impressive," said head coach Tony Mendez. "Jared has picked up a lot of falls for us this year, and it's great to pin, but it was also good to see him wrestle a couple of full matches. We knew the Ephrata kid dropped down a weight class to get to 139 and Jared was in control the entire match."

Fulton sits at 29-3 overall.

At 133, Andrew Smith went 4-1 over the weekend and brought home the bronze. He also got off to a strong start, posting a 9-0 major over E-town's Dakota Petrosky in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, Smith faced McCaskey's Avery Vogelbacher and worked a 6-3 decision.

His next two matches were more than close as Smith split a pair of sudden victories. In the semifinals, Township's Zach Landis scored a late reversal to tie the match and then won in extra time.

In the consi semis he turned the tables and scored a 4-2 sudden victory over Ephrata's Noah Tlumach. That momentum pushed him to the third place match where he faced Vogelbacher a second time and for a second time came away a winner, notching an 8-4 decision.

"Andrew lost a heartbreaker in the semis," noted Mendez. "He got caught on the edge of the mat and then lost. He was very close to getting to the finals and did a nice job rebounding to take third."

Blaine Plastino (172) finished seventh and Caden Rutt (107) and Ben Williams (145) were both eighth.

Plastino earned three wins, all via fall, and suffered a pair of losses, including a tight 4-3 final against Lampeter-Strasburg's Jaiden Newton that sent him to the seventh place match.

Williams was 3-3 overall and Rutt was injured in his first match. "He tried to give it a go after that but we pulled him," Mendez noted. "We were in a lot of close matches that fell short so we have some small detail things to work on in preparation for the post-season. And even with some of our losses, it was good to get mat time and not get pinned."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

With the end of the season just a week away, the girls' basketball team picked up its third win in five attempts, sweeping the series against Elizabethtown Friday, January 27 in Quarryville. The girls won each of the first three quarters en route to a 38-28 victory.

Despite giving up the first four points of the game, Solanco went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter in front 10-6. They never looked back. That run stretched to 11-0 when Arianna Seiberlich sank a pair of free throws midway through the second half. Jenna Ehlers knocked down six of her game-high 16 in that quarter and Solanco held a 20-10 advantage at the half.

"Taryn Hummer had their first four points," noted interim head coach Jeff McCardell. "She's their leading scorer so I wanted to take her out of the offense. Sarah Landis and Kara Peace played excellent defense on Hummer."

Both teams, struggling to score, finished with 18 second half points and Solanco maintaining its advantage. Kara Peace netted six of Solanco's ten in the third and Ehler's finished with four of her team's ten in the fourth.

Solanco settled for 28% shooting from the floor (14-for-51) but held the Bears to 19% on 8-of-43 attempts.

Peace, with four steals, backed Ehlers, who hauled in 11 rebounds, with eight points. Paige Althoff settled for six points and four steals while Seiberlich and Landis both added four points.

Solanco was coming off a deceivingly close 40-31 loss against visiting Susquehannock on Saturday afternoon. Clinging to a 21-20 lead after three quarters, Susquehannock's Elana Snyder exploded for 13 of her game-high 20 points, including draining three triples, and lifted the visitors to victory.

Ehler's turned in a double-double with 15 points, seven in that pivotal fourth quarter, and 12 rebounds. Landis followed with six.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Solanco was on the road at Ephrata. After a nip-and-tuck first quarter, the Mounts used a 29-12 run through the middle quarters, including holding Solanco to three points in the third, to take control. The visitors rallied down the stretch, outscoring Ephrata 14-9 over the final eight minutes to close the gap to 49-38.

"They went full court man in that third quarter and we got flustered," recalled McCardell. "Half of our turnovers were in that quarter. The girls worked hard in the fourth but 11 was as close as we could get."

Going 6-for-7 at the free throw line, Ehler's led with 14 points.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The wins have been hard to come by for the boys' basketball team but the trying is there. Over the last week, Solanco suffered three losses in five days, all by ten points or less.

"We have yet to put together a total game," said head coach Anthony Hall. "And yet we're in every single game. Our six wins are great, but I honestly feel we should be closer to .500. We've done a lot of good stuff in year one."

Solanco's string of losses opened with a 58-47 result against Ephrata Friday, January 27. The Mules topped the Mounts 42-38 back on January 3.

Clinging to a 21-20 lead at the half, Solanco managed just five third quarter points while giving up 14. That was basically the game as Ephrata managed just a one point edge in the fourth quarter.

"I think we missed our first ten shots in that third quarter," said Hall. "In all the games we've lost, we have that one quarter where we score six points or less. You take that away and we're in the game."

The Mules cut the lead to five on an Elijah Cunningham jumper with less than two minutes remaining and Noah Baber's three ball with 46.5 left made it 49-45. A Manny Himes three with 25 ticks kept it a four point game but the Mounts grabbed a missed free throw rebound, converted with two more free throws and then took advantage of a Solanco turnover to score the last bucket of the game.

Noah Bailey led the double-digit scorers with 13 and Jadon Yoder added 12.

Less than 24 hours later, the Mules hit the road to Susquehannock for a similar type game. Down three after three quarters, Solanco poured in 17 fourth quarter points but gave up 21 in a 49-42 loss.

"We had to foul down the stretch," said Hall "They we missing free throws but were missing layups. We missed 19 layups overall. That's the game.

"Joshua Franklin is their best player and averages 26. Austin Wenger and Elijah Cunningham did a great job, holding him to 17."

Bailey netted a game-high 18 points and Yoder followed with 12.

On the road again Tuesday, Jan. 31, the Mules lost a 20 point game for just the second time this season, bowing out 57-37 to Elizabethtown, a team that beat them by five back on Jan. 6. Baber, with 13 points, was the only double-digit scorer.