Ring Side Ramblings

So, the best the L-L League has to offer just got beat, by 27 points, by, arguably, the 3rd-best squad in the Mid-Penn Conference.

Maybe Cedar Cliff is better than Cumberland Valley, maybe not. They didn’t, and won’t, meet this year [and what’s up with that? The MP really has to take a look at its scheduling when its “best” programs don’t face off in the regular season, or need to compete in Invitational Duals to get it done.], so the point is moot. The Cliff is still standing [at least for six more hours]. CV is not.

But what do we care here in the L-L, where the Mid-Penn has once again bullied our lunch money away from us?

Here’s why, and here’s why 45-18 isn’t always 45-18.

Join me now in a parallel universe where Solanco beats Cedar Cliff on Thursday night, earning a real shot at finishing third overall and going to the state duals.

Anybody who can read a won-loss record, or figure out matchups, knew Solanco was going to have to hustle to build a bulge big enough to withstand Cedar Cliff’s strength from 145-215, and take one or two of the bouts within that stretch.

With the year-long forfeit at 112, and the very real potential of one at 103, starting the night at 119 was the best thing that could happen for the Golden Mules.

With a break here, a break there, and some gritting of teeth, Solanco could’ve been right where it wanted to be.

It’s the fault of the Mules’ L-L brethern that Solanco wasn’t.

Explain?

Solanco has a well-deserved reputation for being physical and aggressive, embodied by 130-pounder Dan Neff who, okay, I’ll say it, got jobbed at the L-Ls. There are no skirts in wrestling, and it’s time everybody in the L-L acknowledges that.

As physical and aggressive as Solanco is, it was not enough against a Cedar Cliff squad that fought like a mother bear protecting her den.

Colt wrestlers seemed to say, “You call that a cradle? You call that an armbar? That pancake’s the best you got? No way you’re turning me!”

Any other opponent, Connor Moran gets the pin. Jesiah Deibler gets the pin. Cedar Cliff kids refused to give in to the inevitable. Which, I’m afraid, happens too often here in the L-L.

And without bad luck, Solanco had no luck at all Thursday.

Down 3-2 with :15 left, Hans Herr crowds his opponent at 125 into the go-ahead takedown. But the microsecond before, the referee saw a stalemate and made the call.

Unable to defeat his opponent on his feet, Jordan Hastings trails 8-6 at 135 with :14 left after getting a reversal. Needing a reckless-abandon move, he comes out front and locks up a cement-mixer, taking his opponent to his back with time short. Too late. No points.

In a million years Joe Welk will not throw a full nelson while working a power half, much less two.

Down 7-4 at 160 Cole Martin, who survived a pair of reverse-cradle attempts by his opponent in the second period, hits a headlock from the bottom with :15 left …

[noticing a pattern here? everything seems to be happening in the last seconds of  periods. little of it good for Solanco]

… Martin can’t quite finish however, gets no points and goes on to lose.

Now, let’s say: Herr gets the takedown; Hastings gets his CJ; Welk works his power half for 3 back points; Martin gets the 5-point reversal and Moran and Deibler get their falls.

Now, instead fo 45-18 Colts, it’s 39-27 Mules.

And, if my aunt had …

The point is, you have to be lucky, but you also have to be good. And the Mid-Penn teams push each other to be better than good.

CV, Cedar Cliff, Middletown, Lower Dauphin, hunger to be on the same plain as Central Dauphin. Mechanicsburg, Chambersburg, etc., strive to challenge as well.

Here in the L-L, what are we doing? Do we fight each other tooth-and-nail? Or, do we surrender to the inevitable? There’s a reason we revere the Alamo.

Want to know how far we’ve fallen in reputation? Go on PennLive and read how fans from the York-Adams Conference, [York! for crying out loud!], are dissing the L-L.

Gotta laugh to keep from crying.

The old unbeaten list took a fierce beating at the league tournament.

When the L-L dust had settled at CV, Warwick’s Antonio Giorgio stood alone with the only unblemished record in the league. Giorgio’s record is - at least - 11-0 now. As soon as his 2-day results from the New Oxford tournament get posted, it will be better.

 Garden Spot’s Kyle Coblentz crashed the Century party during the Governor Mifflin Holiday tournament, becoming the first L-L wrestler to 100 wins this season.

Poised to join him, and very soon, are Solanco’s Dan Neff (93 wins as we write this), Hempfield’s Austin Miller and Woodie Hermann (both with 93), Manheim Township’s Austin Schultz (92) and Columbia’s Joey Ronca (91).

Two E-town wrestlers are also in the mix, we just don’t know how close.

Not counting the results of the E-town tournament held this past weekend [ results we do not yet have ] Calvin Anderton has 95 wins and teammate Matt Hoover has 89. That both are closer to 100 than 5 and 11 is a given. How close remains to be told.

Section I

Devin Anderson, McCaskey - The junior 140-pounder went 6-0 on the week, improving his season mark to 22-2. He avenged his L-L League tournament championship loss to Solanco’s Joe Welk with a 4-3 victory in their dual meet meeting, then went 5-0 at the E-town challenge on Saturday with a fall, a forfeit, a tech fall, a major decision, and a 7-0 shutout.

Section II

Nick Cook, Garden Spot - After collecting a forfeit at Lebanon, the Spartans’ freshman 103-pounder went 5-0 at the Tom Hecker Memorial Duals Tourney on Saturday. Nick had three pins (in :23, :8 and 5:21), a tech fall and defeated Solanco’s Evan Wertz for the second time in a week, improving his record to 22-7.

Section III

Phil Corle, Annville-Cleona - Recovering from the league tournament, where he took three of his four season losses, the Little Dutchmen’s 103-lb frosh went 5-0 with a fall and two major decisions last week. Included in that bounty was four wins at the Jack Welch Duals in Moorestown, New Jersey. Corle is now 17-4.

They’re stepping on the scales at CV, so let’s get my thoughts on the Top-5 finishers at each weight class in this weekend’s L-L League tournament.

Remember, once again, this is purely for entertainment purposes only, so put down the phone and put away your ATM card.

103: 1. Evan Wertz, Solanco; 2. A.J. Votano, Manheim Central; 3. Nick Cook, Garden Spot; 4. Nate Musser, CV; 5. John Fiorill, Catholic.

112: 1. Austin Miller, Hempfield; 2. Scott Lopez, Township; 3. Tim Beegle, Garden Spot; 4. Tony Yohe, A-C; 5. Owen Bradley, E-town.

119: 1. Matt Hoover, E-town; 2. Kyle Coblentz, Garden Spot; 3. Wink Charles, III, Solanco; 4. Dakota Minnich, Hempfield; 5. Alex Smith, Township.

125: 1. Bobby Rehm, Penn Manor; 2. Calvin Anderton, E-town; 3. Sean Irvine, Cocalico; 4. Brooks Kenderdine, Township; 5. Neal O’Malley, Garden Spot.

130: 1. Dan Neff, Solanco (O.W.); 2. Austin Wealand, Ephrata; 3. Matt Martin, Central; 4. Jared Whitcomb, Cocalico; 5. Adam Smith, Township.

135: 1. Jeremy Rivera, E-town; 2. Tyler Griffith, Central [if Neff is not the OW, the winner of this weight is!!]; 3. Jordan Hastings, Solanco; 4. Cody Schoenberger, Warwick; 5. Jordon Halter, Columbia.

140: 1. Dylan Killian, A-C; 2. Joe Welk, Solanco; 3. Chris Cain, Hempfield; 4. Devin Anderson, McCaskey; 5. Troy Ernest, E-town.

145: 1. Woodie Hermann, Hempfield; 2. Tyler Fittery, Cocalico; 3. Noah Gerdes, Cedar Crest; 4. Matt Flick, Penn Manor; 5. Lucas Bragg, CV.

152: 1. Conor Moran, Solanco; 2. Luke Sims, Township; 3. Dan Bennett, Hempfield; 4. Justin Lewis, E-town; 5. Derek Kreiser-Shifflet, A-C.

160: 1. Ben Kramer, Hempfield; 2. Jamie Mellinger, Warwick; 3. Nate Warner, Columbia; 4. Mitch Ball, Pequea Valley; 5. Pavlik Teleguz, CV.

171: 1. Keith Witmer, Lebanon; 2. Brandon Henne, Cocalico; 3. Zach Brubaker, Warwick; 4. Kyle Kinderwater, Township; 5. Arias Pappas, Donegal.

189: 1. Antonio Giorgio, Warwick [the “Well, Duh!” choice of the tournament]; 2. David Kennedy, E-town; 3. John Fair, Central; 4. Delis Kruup, CV; 5. Jay Morant, McCaskey.

215: 1. Austin Schultz, Township; 2. Chris Ahnert, Lebanon; 3. Sterling Goshea, Donegal; 4. Bryan McCall, Warwick; 5. Brandon Felus, Columbia.

285: 1.Cole Dillman, CV; 2. John Martin, Solanco; 3. Dominique Smith, McCaskey; 4. Bryan Range, E-town; 5. Alex Vigilante, Township.

TOP TEN TEAMS: 1.  Solanco; 2. E-town; 3. Manheim Township; 4. Hempfield; 5. Cocalico; 6. Conestoga Valley; 7. Garden Spot; 8. Warwick; 9. Manheim Central; 10. Annville-Cleona.

The list of unbeaten wrestlers in the Lancaster-Lebanon League is shrinking, going into this weekend’s L-L tournament.

Current members are: Nate Warner, Columbia, 17-0; Chris Ahnert, Lebanon, 15-0; Tony Yohe and Dylan Killian, Annville-Cleona, both 12-0; Calvin Anderton, E-town, 9-0; David Fair of Manheim Central and Antonio Giorgio of Warwick, both 6-0.

Lurking just under the necessary number of qualifying matches (six) are two wrestlers late to the party, but making up for lost time: Donegal’s Sterling Goshea, 3-0, and Solanco’s John Martin, also 3-0.

Here are this week’s Wrestlers of the Week, as chosen by the L-L coaches:

Section I

Dominque Smith, McCaskey – The Red Tornado junior is 12-2 on the season at 285 and is riding a 9-match win streak,  including 3 wins by fall last week.

Section II

Chris Ahnert, Lebanon – The Cedars’ junior 215-pounder is 14-0 on the season with 12 falls.

Section III

Arias Pappas, Donegal – Pappas is currently on a 7-match win streak and the Indians’ junior is 14-4 for the season.

Here are the Wrestlers of the Week, as chosen by the L-L coaches, for the week ending  January 10.

Section I

Alex Smith, Manheim Township - Smith, a freshman 119-pounder, won all five of his matches Saturday at the Octorara Duals, running his season record to 11-6.

Section II

Lucas Bragg, Conestoga Valley -  Bragg was 6-0 on the week including five wins at the Octorara Duals, where he recorded four falls. He is now 15-5 with seven falls.

Section III

Colton Dunkle, Elco - Elco’s sophomore 152-pounder went 6-0 with four falls and two forfeits over the week and extended his record to 12-4 on the season.

Happy New Year!

Here are the Wrestlers of the Week, as chosen by the L-L League coaches:

Section I

Joey Welk, Solanco – Placed first at 140 pounds  at the Dallastown Tournament, running his season record to14-1.

Section II

Kyle Coblentz, Garden Spot – Won the 125-pound title at the Governor Mifflin Tournament, surrendering only two points in four bouts.  His career win total now stands at 99.

Section III

Aaron Law, Lancaster Catholic – Went 5-0 at 152 at the Delco Duals .

‘Twas the season to be jolly, but for seven of the original eleven unbeatens, not so much.

They were toppled from the list over the holidays, but three wrestlers make their debut, bringing the new total to seven.

Unexpectedly, one of the toppled was Solanco’s Dan Neff, who lost on a disqualification in the semifinals of the Dallastown tournament. Bringing Northeastern’s Derik Myers to the mat in a standing turk, Neff was ruled to have injured Myers, after Myers could not continue. Myers did compete in the finals, losing 9-5 to Henderson’s Charlie Grab.

The new list is as follows: Nate Warner, Columbia, 12-0; Jeremy Rivera, E-town, 12-0; Chris Ahnert, Lebanon, 8-0; Annville-Cleona’s Dylan Killian and Tony Yohe, both 7-0; Calvin Anderton, E-town, 6-0 and, hanging in there - but soon to be under the number of qualifying matches - Antonio Giorgio, Warwick, 4-0.

Warwick’s senior 171-pounder Zach Brubaker was honored recently with the John Fenstermacher Senior Scholar Athlete Award, given at the Hurricane Classic Wrestling tournament, held at Bethlehem Liberty High School on the 28th & 29th of December.

This award is named for John Fenstermacher, one of the founders of the Bethlehem Holiday Classic, who lost a valiant, eight-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2007.

Based on scholarship, class rank, GPA, extra-curricular activities, community service, and determination, the award is presented by the Fenstermacher family to a senior wrestler who embodies the determination of character in the sport that John displayed in his battle with his disease.

Brubaker received the award prior to the finals of the tournament from Scott Fenstermacher, John’s brother and a tournament organizer, who was impressed with Zach’s credentials, and, in particular, his determination and fighting spirit that reminded him of his brother.

Zach and his family were able to meet and chat with the entire Fenstermacher family following the award presentation.

When you see Zach, congratulate him!