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Clawson Takes the Gold at Solanco’s Mule Classic

BY MONA STEINHAUER

Nine members of the wrestling team competed in the season opening Mule Classic on Friday and Saturday, December 2-3. They left Quarryville with five medals and a ninth place team finish, out of 25.

“I’m really excited,” said head coach Brandon Vernalli. “We have a good group and a few more wrestlers than we did last year.”

Travis Clawson (121), grabbing gold, was the Comets’ highest place winner. He opened with an 18-0 tech fall, a 1:25 pin and an 8-2 decision to get to the finals. There he finished with a solid 9-2 decision over Red Lion’s Jackson Orrell, the returning champ.

“Travis is the horse who leads the team,” said head coach Brandon Vernalli. “He’s a returning state qualifier.”

New to the Comet lineup this year is Gavin Boland at 114. He was a silver medal winner, having dropped a 9-4 decision against Susquenita’s Mason McLendon. Boland worked a quick 29 second fall in his opening match and advanced to the finals with a 2-0 decision and an 8-2 result.

“Gavin’s dad is the new Millersville University wrestling coach,” pointed out Vernalli. “He is one of the hardest workers I’ve coached, and I expect nothing but the best from him this year.

Earning a bronze medal finish was Teagan Rogers. The lone senior on the squad will graduate in mid-January. “He stepped up and joined the national guard last year,” said Vernalli. “He is a wrestler that any team would hope to beg for. And Travis (Clawson) will have to step up next year and replace Teagen in terms of leadership.”

Rogers suffered a quarterfinals loss to the eventual second place finisher, Jesse Rappazzo (Red Lion), but rebounded with three straight wins, including a medalclinching 5-1 decision over Walker Murray (Pennsbury).

Rounding out the medal winners was Riley Evans (107) in fifth place and Josh Zook (160) who went 4-3 overall and finished in seventh place. Evans went 3-2 with a pair of falls and Zook, who lost to Ryan Gavlick (CD), the eventual champ in his opening match, also recorded two falls.

Also competing was Gabe Midile (127), Ethan Farmer (133), Evan Buswell (139) and Mason Garfinkel (145).

BOWLING

Despite losing four of their top bowlers to graduation in June, the Comets opened the season with a 4-3 thriller over Elizabethtown at Leisure Lanes Monday, December 5.

Josh Stock rolled the highest series of the afternoon, a 735 that included a gamehigh 254 in the opening game. Lacey Slaymaker followed with a 657 series and Eva Brubaker (601) and Corinne Smith (567) rounded out the top four. Chris Hull (396) and Kayla Wasche (164) also chipped in.

“It was a very exciting first match,” said head coach Chris Vital. “I did not expect us to do that well. The kids rose to the occasion. Josh and Lacey showed their senior leadership.”

Both teams combined for a 1015 in the first game and the Bears forged ahead, taking game two 1085-1040 but with four bowlers rolling over 200 in the third game, Manor earned a dominating 1065-873 final. They finished with a 3120 total pin count, 147 pins ahead of the visitors.

“It’s very rare to have a tie in bowling,” Vital noted. “I really thought we had that one. And then after losing the second game we had a meeting, and I told the kids how important that third game would be and that they needed to give it everything they had. And they did. Josh was a hammer all night and Lacey was impressive. The lanes dried out in that third game, and she really threw the ball faster.

“It’s going to be a challenging season for us to finish first or second and qualify for playoffs,” he continued. “A lot of teams have improved. But we came up with a big win and that’s a good confidence booster to start the season.”

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Penn Manor hosted Lampeter-Strasburg in the opening round of the Comet Classic Tip Off Tournament Friday, December 2 but a 46-22 loss prevented them from advancing to the championship round.

With no returning starters, the Comets struggled to maintain consistent scoring. They led 11-10 in the first quarter but managed just 11 points after that and failed to place a single player in double digits. Lilly Rineer scored four of her team-high eight points in that first quarter and Brin Groff added a triple.

“Our only returning varsity player was not available to play,” said first year head coach Mike Glackin. “We’re very young this year. We played nine different girls that had no varsity experience. It’s just going to be a daily process for us. There is no magic instant formula. We just need to be patient and work to get better each day we’re in the gym.

“Against L-S, we had 24 turnovers and gave up 18 offensive boards that turned into 14 second chance points,” he added.

Saturday, Central Dauphin dealt Manor a 58-21 defeat. The Comets were held to single digits in all four quarters, including just one point over the first eight minutes.

“I thought Carley Groff gave us some good minutes battling in the post and giving effort on the boards,” Glackin noted.

Freshman Alayzha Twyman was the top point-getter in this one netting six. B. Groff, Carley Groff, and Rineer each added three.

At home Tuesday, Dec. 6, Twyman netted a team-high ten points, going 6-for-8 from the foul line, but the Comets fell short against Oxford, 4527. Joelle Kroesen, also a freshman, added six points.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Despite outscoring Palmyra 19-10 over the final eight minutes, it wasn’t quite enough. The Comets dropped a 53-50 result in their season opener Friday, December 2. After a dead even first quarter, Palmyra forged ahead over the middle frames, outscoring the Comets 30-18 and held a 43-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Ethan Benne dropped a game-high 21 points and Aiden Mattern added 13 as the double-digit scorers. Dhamir Wesley (9 points), DeShawn Stanley (5) and Luis Frias (2) also contributed.

At Donegal Saturday night the Comets evened their record with a solid 51-41 win over York Tech. Manor controlled the tempo in the first half, using a 17-7 run through the second quarter to go up 28-14 at the break. YT’s second half rally, a 27-23 advantage, fell short in the comeback.

Benne went 7-for-7 from the free throw line and scored a game-high 19 points. Wesley chipped in with 11 and Nathan Schmidtke and Mattern combined for 13. Stanley (4), Frias (4) and Ian Lutter (2) also reached the scoring column.

At Oxford Tuesday, Dec. 6, Benne knocked down 18 points, 13 coming in the first half, and the Comets defeated the Hornets 63-36. Frias added 15 points as the Comets jumped out to a 35-12 lead at the half.

SWIMMING

The Comet swimmers hosted Lampeter-Strasburg in their season opener Tuesday, December 6, but despite a handful of closely contested races, they fell short. The boys’ team suffered an 81-60 loss while the girls fell 96-73.

Brayden Clow was the top point-getter winning both the 50 and 100 free. He also swam the opening leg of the winning 200 medley relay with Gage Myers, Spencer Barry and Noah Reen chipping in. Barry went on to win the 100 butterfly and Pol Linares swam the fastest 100 breaststroke.

The girls’ team also secured the opening relay with Kenzie Wolpert, Kari Anderson, Grace Bresch, and Emma Landis teaming for the win. Anderson added the fastest 100 breaststroke, nipping Lampeter’s Kara Scranton. Catherine Repkoe took the 200 free and Wolpert was tops in the 200 IM.

photo by Mona Steinhauer

Wrestling at 114, Penn Manor’s Gavin Boland worked three wins before setting for second place at the Mule Classic on Friday and Saturday, December 2-3.

R090860 photo by Mona Steinhauer

Penn Manor’s Josh Zook recorded two falls in his run through the consolation bracket en route to a seventh place finish at the Mule Classic on December 2-3.