The Pioneer matmen, in their last section match of the season, posted a 51-21 win over visiting Manheim Central, Tuesday, February 9 and in doing so earned a share of the Section Two title with Donegal. The Indians, in a must-win situation, defeated defending section champ Garden Spot, 35-21, on the same night. Both teams finish at 6-1.

In a match that lasted just 50 minutes and featured 10 total falls, L-S collected seven pins against Manheim, including four in the first period.

Tied at 9-9 after four bouts, the Pioneers finished with six falls over the last eight bouts.

"This was a great team effort," said head coach Brad Heeter. "Matches are won and lost with bonus points. We have been fortunate this season to win the bonus points battle."

Joel Bitler's 1:06 fall over Ethan Stoltzfus (160) broke a 9-9 tie. Liam Feister (172), Austin Reiff (113) and Conner Erb (120) all recorded first period falls while Treson Spahr (215) pulled out a thriller. Holding a slim 7-6 edge with :50 left, Spahr rolled Wyatt Kupres to his back for another L-S pin. Zach Shelley (285) followed, pinning Ryland Fittery in 3:20.

"Tre had the match of the night," said Heeter. "He is wrestling with an injury and it took a lot of heart to finish that match."

Arik Harnish opened the action with the fastest fall of the night, needing just 18 seconds to deck Uriah Warner. Alex Cardwell picked up an exciting 10-8 decision after holding to a 9-1 lead in the second period.

"Joel is having a good season and both Austin and Arik are heading into the L-L League tournament with 14-1 records," Heeter noted. "Zach is also heading into the tourney with one loss.

The Pioneers were coming off a ten-point league win over Ephrata on February 6. L-S won four bouts by forfeit, securing 24 points. Of the nine bouts actually wrestled, the hosts won three. Harnish (132) earned the fastest fall of the day, decking Tanner McCracken in 41 seconds. Bitler (160) and Feister (172) also pinned.

"We went nine days without a competition," said Heeter. "We just came out flat."

BOWLING

The Pioneer bowlers went up against the top team in Section Three on Thursday, Feb. 4 and despite suffering a 7-0 defeat, turned in some solid performances.

"Kaite Pope rolled a 151 in her first game and Sawyer Lancaster had a 157 in game three," said head coach John Achille. "Both were high games for the year."

Nick Bukowski continued to lead the Pioneers with a 537 series and a high game of 208. Ethan Snyder rolled a 201 in his second game and finished with a 511 series. Sawyer Lancaster (411) and Pope (381) rounded out the top four.

Tuesday the Pioneers lost 7-0 to Northern Lebanon but "Bukowski and Snyder were way above their season average," Achille noted.

Snyder led the way with a 525 series and Bukowski followed at 492. Lancaster (401), Pope (381) and Evan Mize also contributed.

SWIMMING

The swim team opened post-season action Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6 at Wilson High School, competing in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships.

The girls' hit the water Friday and settled for a seventh-place team finish while the boys' finished with a ninth-place effort.

"The girls' medaled in seven events and had 12 season best times," lauded head coach Kylie Turner.

Elizabeth Horner's third place medal in the 200 IM (2:12.30) was Lampeter's highest finish. She was also seventh in the 500 free and competed in two medal-winning relays. Horner, along with Bre Fluhr, Kara Scranton and Zara Paisley were fifth in the 200-medley relay while Scranton, Abby Welchans, Paisley and Horner, who swam lead, were fifth in the 400 free.

Paisley also grabbed a pair of individual medals, taking seventh in both the 50 free (25.79) and the 100 free (56.43).

"Zara, a freshman, has been our top free sprinter," said Turner. "Elizabeth dropped five seconds to earn third place. She is faster this year and is a second off her own record of 2:11.37 set at the 2020 PIAA District Championships," the coach continued. "And Abby, a sophomore, has dropped time in all events, specifically in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 free and qualified for her first League Championship."

The Pioneers also finished seventh in the 200-free relay with Welchans, Ashley Prouse, Krista Lambert and Fluhr clocking a 1:48.61.

The boys' team placed ninth. Andrew Reidenbaugh was their top place-winner, tying for sixth in the 100 free (51.35). He was also eighth in the 50 free (23.23) and anchored the sixth place 200-free relay team of Ryan Smucker, Nathan Eberly and Kyle Spaulding (1:35.69). That same foursome turned in a sixth-place effort in the 400 free (3:35.97) as well.

Eberly was also seventh in the 500 free (5:17.63).

"The boys' medaled in five events, had eight season best times and broke the school record in the 200-free relay previously set in 2013," Turner commended. "This relay dropped ten seconds from the start of the season.

"Andrew keeps getting faster. The 50 and 100 free are hard events to continuously drop time in," Turner continued. "He was seeded 9th in the 50 and dropped .55 to place eighth. He was seeded 10th in the 100 and dropped 1.53, earning sixth place.

"Nathan also dropped a total of 22.77 in the 500 free to place seventh and Kyle had a fantastic race in the 200 free (12th place), dropping another two seconds for a PR."

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The Pioneers traveled to Denver Thursday, January 28 for a second-round matchup with the Eagles. But a 21-2 first half run by Cocalico proved to be the difference in a 47-32 setback for L-S.

The hosts jumped out to a 15-4 first quarter lead and kept the momentum for a commanding 22-4 advantage.

L-S closed the gap in the third and cut the lead to ten with Hailey Leaman's buzzer beating 3-ball. Leaman dropped in another trey early the fourth and just like that, it was a seven-point game, 29-22.

Just as quickly, however, the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run and regained a 15-point lead. Megan Manion knocked down a pair of treys late in the game, but it wasn't enough.

The Pioneers dropped in four treys on the night and were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line but the home team went 7-for-10 from downtown to pull away.

"Their three-point shooting and our turnovers in the first half doomed us," said head coach Tony Fink.

"Jenna Daveler's defense, again, was great with nine steals," he continued. "Hailey and Jada Willard gave us some good minutes and Megan Manion was solid."

In their last Section Three game of the season, the Pioneers did what was expected and defeated a winless Garden Spot squad (0-9 overall), 55-31.

L-S went 3-for-4 from three-point range in the first quarter and enjoyed a 17-9 advantage early. They canned two more treys in the second, including Maggie Swarr's opening bucket of the frame and jumped out to a commanding 36-16 lead at the break. With the damage done, the Pioneers rotated everyone into the lineup and settled for a 19-15 second half advantage.

Emma Drouillard collected a team-high 11 points, all in the first half and Leaman added 10. Nine different players contributed to the point total.

"We hit eight threes and when we do that, we're tough to beat," said Fink. "Everyone contributed and I liked how we scrapped on defense."