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Lefevre, Mack, and Williams Qualify for States

BY ARA GRIGORIAN

Reagan Lefevre, Seamus Mack, and Jorden Williams all had stellar performances at the Class 3A District Three/South Central Regional championships Saturday, February 26, at Spring Grove High School. The three Hempfield wrestlers qualified for PIAA 3A state championships with their strong finishes in their weight classes.

As a team, Hempfield finished in third place. Manheim Township finished atop the team standings with 146.5 points.

Mack took third place in the 126-pound weight class while Williams and Lefevre placed second in the 106- and 145-pound classes, respectively. In addition, Dylan Bard wrestled his way to a fifthplace finish at 189. Clay Gainer did the same at 138.

“He had a great sectionals tournament and followed it up with a strong districts tournament,” Hempfield head coach Shane Mack said of Williams. “He is putting it all together at the right time.”

Williams poured it on early with a pin versus Justin Adams of York Suburban. The Hempfield sophomore’s day also involved a 9-8 victory over Oley Valley’s Chase Parisan followed by a 6-4 triumph over Louis Malave of Manheim Township.

“He got off to a huge lead was up by 5-0,” Mack pointed out, “and was able to squeak out a 9-8 win.”

In the finale, however, Williams came up short, losing a 4-1 decision to Liam Flanagan of Central Dauphin.

Lefevre was in a tough weight class that also featured Octorara’s Mike Trainor and York Suburban senior Noah Rice, who compiled a 32-4 record on the year while earning the championship at the Section One sectionals the previous week.

The Hempfield senior registered an 18-2 technical fall in his opening match and went on to gain a 6-4 decision over CV’s Keaton Fischer in the quarterfinals.

Aiden Swann of Cocalico had already ousted a sectional champ in the quarterfinals, narrowly escaping with a 1-0 win versus Max Haas of Cedar Cliff. In the semis, Lefevre earned a 73 win but came up short in the overtime period of the finale. Trainor worked a 7-5 sudden victory to earn gold at 145.

“It was a match that could have gone either way,” Evans said. “Trainor is a good competitor.

“Lefevre and Trainor were definitely two of the best kids in that class,” he added.

After a pin that only required 37 seconds, Mack was pinned by Karl Schindledecker, the eventual champ at 126. In fact, Schindledecker blanked Manheim Township’s Josh Hillard 6-0. Hillard was the wrestler Mack had faced the previous week at Hempfield in the Sectionals, losing a close 8-5 decision in the championship bout there.

“He is a returning state finalist,” the Hempfield coach said of Schindledecker. “Seamus shook it off and won a few matches in a row.”

Mack’s wrestlebacks included a pin against Levi Snyder of Spring Grove, a 6-2 defeat of York Suburban senior Zach Emory and a hard-fought 5-2 defeat of Trenton Walker of Carlisle.

“He did well on his way back to qualify for third,” Evans said. “Walker is a tough kid.”

Mack came on to win a very close 5-4 match over Zach Lukenbaugh of Dallastown to earn third place.

Dylan Bard finished fourth for Hempfield at 189. He earned two consecutive decisions - 7-3 over Turk Baum of Cocalico and 7-4 over Diesle Koser of Shippensburg.

A loss in the semifinals to eventual champion Johnny Miller of Exeter sent Bard to the consis where he was pinned by Ephrata’s Jim Ellis and eventually majored Tegue Conover 123 to earn fifth place.

“If the brackets had broken differently, Dylan Bard could’ve been third,” Evans said. “It was just the way the brackets broke down in the wrestlebacks. He wrestled very well.”

Clay Gainer also had a tough break and had to settle for fifth place at 138.

Following a 7-2 victory, Gainer lost in a technical fall to eventual runner-up Dom Jado of Wilson - a senior who brought in a 32-4 record.

Gainer wrestled back by first defeating Nate Thomas of Elizabethtown 7-1. He then pinned Brett Marchiano before an 8-4 loss sent him to the fifth-place match. There he notched a victory over Reese Polulak of Red Land.

“Clay is right on the cusp,” Mack said. “He had worked his tail off. He was just one win away.”

Caleb Mussmon suffered two heartbreaking losses to end his quest for state qualification.

In the 285-pound brackets, Mussmon was pinned by Spring Grove’s Mike Hershey. In the consolations, he bounced back with a pin against Garden Spot’s Mason Musser and followed with a 60 dominance of Mukhammed Karayev of Conestoga Valley.

“Even though he wrestled well, he lost a close match against a tough kid in Carlisle’s Layton Schmick,” Mack said.

The eventual third-place finisher defeated Mussmon 31 in the third round of the consolations.

Grant Hoover also came on strong following an early defeat. Cumberland Valley’s Anthony Brusciro won on a pin, but Hoover bounced back to post a 6-1 victory over CV’s Abdul Akala and a 9-5 victory over a familiar foe- Penn Manor’s Ty Grassel.

“He had a good tournament,” Mack said. “He was also in a tough bracket. He had lost to Grassel in the sectionals but came back to beat him in districts. Grant is a junior with a lot of potential.

“You’re happy for some of the kids and your heart breaks for some kids who finish just short of their goal,” Mack went on.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Following their heartbreaking setback in the quarterfinals of the District Three 6A playoffs, the Hempfield boys’ basketball team rebounded in the Tuesday night, March 1, consolation contest with a 56-47 win at home over Wilson. The victory kept the Knights alive and assured them a spot in the PIAA Class 6A championships. Not having to await the outcome of a possible seventhplace consolation game was a relief for Hempfield. The top seven teams from District Three qualify for states.

The setback in the quarterfinals was a 42-40 victory by Cedar Cliff. The Colts (21-4) entered districts as the fifthseeded team. While number four seed Hempfield earned a first-round bye, the Colts edged Muhlenberg 55-54 prior to facing the Knights at Hempfield on Friday, February 25.

The Knights, who fell to 19-6 with this loss, battled back and had a short-lived 38-37 fourthquarter lead thanks to a threepoint shot by Miguel Pena, who finished with nine points.

The consolation match on Tuesday was against the Wilson Bulldogs, who entered the districts as the ninth seed. The Bulldogs (15-9) inched ahead 23-21 at intermission.

The second half went in favor of the Knights, however, as they earned their 20th win of the season. Outscoring the Bulldogs by 11 points, they posted the 56-47 victory, led by Ben Troyer’s 18point production. Pena poured in 12 points while Cole Overbaugh scored 10.

Staff photo

The Black Knights’ Reagan LeFevre works Cumberland Valley’s Dayne Miller for an 18-2 (3:43) Tech Fall in a 145-pound opener in the South Central AAA Regionals at Spring Grove on February 25.

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Hempfield’s Ben Troyer goes to the basket on Cedar Cliff’s Trenten Smith during the Black Knight’s 42-40, District Three Class 6A quarterfinal loss at home on February 25.

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Hempfield’s Jorden Williams bars up York Suburban’s Justin Adams and turns him for a 2:17 fall in a 106-pound first-round bout at the South Central AAA Regional Championships in Spring Grove on February 25.

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