There are three seniors on the Garden Spot wrestling team whose stories cannot yet be written because their high school wrestling careers are continuing.

Blake Weaver, Tyler Hurst and Mason Musser all finished second in their respective weight classes at the District Three Section 1 AAA tournament, which was held at Governor Mifflin on Saturday, February 18.

They each earned a spot in the South Central AAA Regionals for February 24-25 at Spring Grove.

Musser, who made it to the championship bout of the 285-pound weight class, pinned his first two opponents - Jayvian Morales of Reading and Hunter Unger of Gov. Mifflin.

"He faced off against Unger, the number three seed," Adam Bunting, the Spartans' coach, pointed out. "Unger jumped out to a 4-1 lead midway through the second and was leading 4-2 at the start of the third.

"Mason picked up a big takedown to go up 6-4," Bunting continued. "After Unger reversed to even the score, Musser reversed Unger to his back for a fall with 50 seconds left in the match."

Musser's championship match opponent was Twin Valley's Ean Winchester. The Spartan senior was unable to claim another victory as Winchester earned a pin with 20 seconds left in the second period.

"Winchester is ranked number nine in the state," Bunting explained. "He proved to be too much."

Hurst opened his quest for the 215 title by posting a pin. He followed with a formidable foe - Tuckerr Bellanca of Muhlenberg.

"He's faced off against the second seed and 10th-ranked wrestler in the state," Bunting said of Bellanca. "Tyler picked up a big takedown near the end of the first period and then was able to keep Bellanca down and scoreless for the entire second period.

"He weathered a final turn attempt by Bellanca to hold and win 5-2," Bunting continued. "It was a big confidence-building, signature win for Tyler Hurst - the kind he'll need to replicate if he wants to make the state tournament."

Hurst faced Ryan McMillan of Wilson in the title bout. McMillan is a returning state qualifier currently ranked ninth in the state.

"Tyler was holding his own going into the second period with the match tied at 0-0," said Bunting. "But he surrendered a big reversal to his back, which quickly made it 5-0 and changed the trajectory of the match."

McMillan came away with a 13-3 major decision.

While Hurst entered the tournament as the number three seed in the 215's, Weaver came in at number two in the 189 pound bracket. Weaver demonstrated that dominance with an 18-5 major decision, dispensing with Drew Koller of Wilson.

"He cruised to a victory then wrestled Sam McCracker of Ephrata - the number three seed," Bunting said.

The battle between the second and third seeds was a close one with Weaver griding out a 3-2 win. It was an opponent Weaver had faced earlier in a Lancaster-Lebanon League regular-season match.

"Blake had beaten him 5-1 way back in December in our dual meet with Ephrata," Bunting recalled. "This match was a little closer as Blake led 1-0 going into the third period.

"He surrendered a reversal but then quickly reversed McCracken," continued the coach. "He held him down for the remaining 45 seconds of the match."

As is usually the case when one advances through the brackets, one faces tougher and more talented opponents. In Weaver's case, there was no exception to this reality. And that opponent was Tucker Hogan of Daniel Boone.

"In the finals, Blake faced Tucker Hogan, returning state bronze medalist," said Bunting. "He is currently ranked number two in the state. Blake gave it his best effort but was overmatched in this one."

Hogan finished on top with a 17-2 technical fall.

"The semifinals was a thrilling 30 minutes for us with Weaver, Musser and Hurst each winning tough close matches in clutch fashion to punch their tickets to the finals and return trips to district championships," Bunting added.

Though unable to reach the finals, senior Josiah Smucker went 2-3 on the day with both losses coming at the hands of Cocalico wrestler Wyatt Fritz. Smucker finished sixth in the 133-pound class.

"Josiah has been a leader and an example of great work ethic in our program for the past four years," Bunting commented. "He was actually leading 2-0 heading into the third period of his second match against Fritz. He then was caught in a headlock for five points that totally flipped the momentum of the match. He lost a tough, hard-fought 5-2 match."

Smucker's great work ethic was evident in how he bounced back from a 7-0 first-round loss to Fritz. In the consolation rounds, he registered a first-period pin over Conestoga Valley's Bryce Bowman followed by an intensely close 6-4 victory over Ayden Elzalada of Daniel Boone.

Bryant Kranwinkel of Muhlenberg pinned Smucker in the third period of the consolation semis, setting up a rematch with Fritz in the fifth-place bout.

On the day, the team tally was 73 points for Garden Spot. The Spartans finished 10th in the team standings.

In addition to McMillan's gold medal at 215, the Wilson Bulldogs had two more first-place finishers and a second-place finish, compiling 158 points - the top team total. Cocalico took second at 147. And with 142.5 points, including two gold medals, Daniel Boone was a close third.