Jorden Williams and four of his teammates wrestled their way to championship bouts at the District Three Class 3A Section Two Tournament, Saturday February 19 at Hempfield.

Williams, along with Reagan Lefevre, Braden Edwards, Dylan Bard, and Caleb Mussmon each took top honors in their weight classes, helping Hempfield outscore Central Dauphin 214-198 to also earn the team title.

"Central Dauphin has won 13 of the last 14 and we beat them by 16 points," said head coach Shane Mack.

Williams (106), Lefevre (145), Edwards (152), Bard (189) and Mussmon (285) all claimed titles.

In addition, Seamus Mack placed second at 126, Clay Gainer was third at 138, Grant Hoover (160) and Kamron Fickes (172) each placed fourth, Zy McCain-Murray was fifth at 120 and JJ Plaza sixth at 215.

Williams opened with a pin, setting down Hayden Best of Elizabethtown. After a 5-2 decision over Warwick's Marco Tocci (3rd place), Williams eked out an 8-7 victory over Liam Flanagan of Central Dauphin for the title.

"This is his first time in sectionals," said Mack. "He is putting it all together at the right moment."

Lefevre pinned his way to the crown. Each pin took under two minutes.

Nick Smith of E-town was the first victim followed by Donegal's Ruben Mumper - the eventual third-place finisher. Lefevre pinned Brodie Dougherty of Manheim Central just 58 seconds into the title bout.

"He's a returning district champ," Mack pointed out. "He has been one of our consistent performers."

Edwards also had a quick fall on his path to the crown. Following a pin in 34 seconds for his first match, he pinned CD's Jeremiah Cortes in 5:04, setting up a title bout with Andrew McClune of Warwick - a close 5-4 win by Edwards.

Bard was bumped up to 189 and began with a tight 3-1 victory over Liam Feister of Lampeter-Strasburg.

"The 189-weight class looked like a better path for him to make the state tournament," Mack explained.

Bard notched a third-period pin over Central's Rocco Daugherty and won a 13-8 decision over Solanco's Rob Castagna for the title.

Mussmon pinned Bradley Candy of E-town for his first match and edged Donegal's Nicholai Brontzman 1-0.

Mussmon won a sudden victory match 4-2 over Manheim Township's Tyrese Washington.

"He stayed in position and at the end of the match, he just poured it on," Mack noted.

Seamus Mack's second-place finish also involved a Manheim Township wrestler in the championship bout. After a pin in only 29 seconds and a 10-0 major decision to top E-town's Ryan Findlay, Mack suffered an 8-5 loss to senior Josh Hillard (27-5).

"He's a tough kid," Mack remarked. "He finished second last year and is making strides."

Gainer majored Bryn Hess of Warwick by a 9-1 count but came up on the short end of a 5-3 decision facing Mike Beers of Central Dauphin in the semis.

Gainer then earned a 10-0 major in his first consolation match, setting up his 7-1 defeat of Elizabethtown's Nate Thomas in the third-place match.

"Clay is a senior who has never made it to districts," Mack said. "He has put in so much time and effort and will hopefully make the state tournament."

Hoover (160) and Fickes each finished fourth. Hoover had a 9-6 victory in his first match. The 9-2 loss to David Woolley of Warwick sent Hoover to the consis where he pinned Central's Logan Forrest but came up short in a 3-2 loss to Penn Manor's Ty Grassel in the third-place bout.

"Hoover was in a loaded weight class," Mack remarked. "This was his first trip to districts. He wrestled hard."

Fickes (172) had a feast or famine kind of day. His day began and ended against the same opponent - Blaine Plastino of Solanco.

It was a 3-1 sudden victory over Plastino in that opening match. Fickes then fell to Brent Barbush of Manheim Central by a 9-0 margin.

In the consis, Fickes topped Palmyra's Jase Jones 9-2 and fell to Plastino in the third-place match by a 5-2 score.

"Kamron Fickes is a kid where we are so deep in certain spots, he went up two weight classes and ended up qualifying," Mack said. "That's a challenging thing to do. He is a 152 and wrestled at 172."

McCain-Murray finished sixth at 120. Following a pin, he lost a 7-2 decision to Weston Bare of Solanco. In the consolations, McCain-Murray took a 4-0 victory and fell just short in a 4-3 decision to Dallas Schorr of Central Dauphin. McCain-Murray posted a 12-5 win in the fifth-place bout, topping Austin Reitmeyer of E-town.

"He just missed qualifying for districts," Mack said. "The future is bright for him."

Plaza placed sixth at 215 - another bumped up wrestler.

"That was probably the best he has wrestled all year," said Mack.

Plaza posted a 6-3 win over Carson Cassel of Central Dauphin. Following a setback to eventual champ - Jose Garcia of McCaskey - he earned a 6-2 victory only to be nipped by Donegal's Owen Champ.

Having to settle for a shot at fifth, Plaza came up empty against Cassel - a 4-2 winner.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Hempfield girls' basketball team came up short against Manheim Township in a District Three Class 6A opening-round playoff game at home on Monday, February 21. In a game that pitted two familiar Lancaster-Lebanon League rivals against one another, the Blue Streaks were able to slow down the Hempfield momentum in the fourth period and earn a 46-33 victory.

Trailing by eight points at the half, the Knights (14-7) went on a 15-9 run, aided by three-point baskets from Lauren Moffatt and Sophia Ott.

The third period was probably the only stretch of the game where the bounces were going Hempfield's way, however.

"I don't think we did a good job on the boards - offensively or defensively," head coach Kendra Merrifield said. "We weren't winning the 50-50 balls either.

"We relied too much on the three-point shots late in the season," she added. "We practiced penetration, but it didn't translate well into games."

Ott, had a team-high 15 points, and Moffatt compiled 11.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

The Knights lost a 50-47 final to Lampeter-Strasburg in the L-L League Championship game on Friday, February 18 at Manheim Township.

L-S pioneered the first period, gaining a five-point edge before the Knights blitzed back for 27 points over the next two periods.

The surge by Hempfield (19-5) only shaved one point off the deficit heading into the fourth quarter where they outscored the unbeaten (25-0) Pioneers again, only to fall three points short.

Ben Troyer finished with 16 points on the night and Lampeter's Ty Burton led all scorers with 18 points, including the game-winner with 2.3 seconds left.

Miguel Pena chipped in with 15 points and Parker Wolfe added eight.