Lampeter-Strasburg's bowling team wrapped up the 2020-21 season with back-to-back matches, facing Garden Spot at home on February 11 and traveling to Leisure Lanes one day later to take on Lancaster Catholic. The Pioneers finished with mixed results, dropping a 7-0 result to the Spartans before capping the season with a 5-2 victory over the Section Four Crusaders.

Nick Bukowski got off to a strong start, rolling Lampeter's highest game of the match, a 173, and finishing with a 486 series. Ethan Snyder was eight pins back and rolled a 166 in his third game. Sawyer Lancaster also went over the 400 mark with a 425 while Kaite Pope (373) and Evan Mize (366) rounded out the top five.

Friday's win over the Crusaders was a battle for the top individual team score. Bukowski opened with a 228 but Snyder, consistent all day, rolled a 174 third game to lead L-S with a 467. Bukowski settled for a 461, nipping teammates Lancaster and Mize by a single pin. Pope rolled two games and Jake Haas one to round out the scoring.

"The team really did improve each week," said head coach John Achille. "They were a fun group to be around, and we had fun."

WRESTLING

The Pioneer matmen earned three medals at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships at Manheim Township High School on Feb. 13 and finished tied for fourth place with Garden Spot and Lancaster Catholic.

"Fourth at leagues is a good finish considering the inconsistency in our lineup," said head coach Brad Heeter. "We fought through a lot of adversity with multiple wrestlers and coaches affected by quarantine. The team has done a good job staying focused."

Leading that charge was gold medal winner Zac Shelley. The senior pinned his way to the heavyweight finals, decking both Ryland Fittery, of Manheim Central in 1:41, and Pequea Valley's Nate Miller in 3:51.

The No. 2 seed then battled two-time champ Dustin Swanson of Garden Spot in the finals and prevailed with a 3-1 decision.

"Zac wrestled a smart match, a great tournament," said Heeter. "He avenged a section dual lost in the finals to take the championship."

Working his way to a bronze medal finish was Arik Harnish. Seeded second, Harnish pinned Ephrata's Tristan Mellinger but dropped to the consolations with a sudden victory loss to Braedan Amole of Octorara in the semi-finals. The senior regrouped and pinned Hempfield's Clay Gainer in 1:50 and then held off Solanco's Jackson Houghton for a 2-0 decision and the medal.

"Arik had a tough bracket," said Heeter. "The top three or four guys in his bracket could be a toss up every time they wrestle. Hard work in the room will earn victories in this scenario."

Wrestling at 172, junior Liam Feister came away with a fourth-place medal. Like his teammates, Feister advanced with a 5:55 fall over Donegal's Joel Grillo but found himself on the opposite end of those results in the semifinals against McCaskey's Andrew Voglebacher. Feister wrestled back with a 3:51 fall over Pequea Valley's Luke Brown but came out on the short end of a 3-1 decision against CV's Nathaniel Kirchner in a battle for third.

"Liam also had a good tournament and a great first match," recalled Heeter. "He was down late in the match and earned that fall with only seconds left.

"Both he and Zac are wrestling with limited mat time," he continued. "I suspect they will only get better through the post-season tournaments."

Austin Reiff (113) and Parker Owens (189) also competed in the tournament but fell short in placing.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Lady Pioneers traveled out of Section Three play Friday, Feb. 12 and traveled to N. Lebanon (6-6 overall). The Cedars held the visitors to single digit scoring in all four quarters and finished on top, 37-26.

"Northern Lebanon is always competitive up there," said head coach Tony Fink, "and our shooting woes on the road continued. We are going to struggle when we don't shoot the three-ball well, and then we had to foul late playing catchup.

"Maggie Visniski was a bright spot with her defense and rebounding," he added.

Things were nip-and-tuck in the first with the hosts clinging to a 7-6 advantage. They extended that lead with a 12-9 second frame to go up 19-15 at the break.

Both teams struggled at the offensive end in the third, but the Cedars again claimed the advantage, 6-3. They matched their second quarter output and held L-S to eight points down the stretch.

The Pioneers hit just one three pointer on the night and were 9-of-15 from the free throw line.

Northern Lebanon's Ashlyn Messinger was a one-woman wrecking crew, tossing in a game-high 21 points. Emma Drouillard led the Pioneers with seven points and Maggie Visniski added six. Katie Ranck (4), Hailey Leaman (3), Jenna Daveler (3) and Kiersten Hostetter (3) also contributed as the Pioneers fell to 7-4 overall.