It’s not the biggest wrestling match of the year, but it’s the biggest match this week.
Conestoga Valley travels to Landisville on Wednesday evening for a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One showdown with four-time defending champion Hempfield.
While there are two more weeks to the regular season after this, that match will go a long way in determining if there is a stand-alone champion in the section — or co-champions, or even tri-champions.
CV (4-0 L-L, 10-1 overall) has already defeated Penn Manor, 35-24 — the Comets (3-1, 4-1) topped short-handed Hempfield 45-22 — and would take a Secretariat-in-the-Belmont-sized lead in the section with a victory over the Black Knights (3-1, 6-3).
Because of their tournament-heavy early schedule, for early January, the Buckskins bring some pretty gaudy records into the contest. Freshman 121-pounder Caden Yanarella leads the team in victories with a 31-7 record.
Other Bucks who stand out include seniors Luke Morley (24-7) and Luke Needham (21-4), juniors Abdoul Akala (23-5) and Tal Stoltzfus (25-4), sophomore Teagan Ruble (25-6) and freshman Tanner Kane (24-7).
Morley and Needham are, respectively, four and six wins away from achieving 100 career victories.
Hempfield can counter with senior veterans Seamus Mack (16-2), a member of the 100-win club; plus JJ Plaza (18-4) and Kyle Deisley (14-4), a transfer from Red Lion.
Twist of fate
Weather can wreak havoc on the best laid plans and schedules, and so it was on Saturday. Sitting in the deep accumulation area of Saturday’s forecast, in an abundance of caution, Newport and Trinity pulled out of Manheim Township’s Blue Streak Duals.
Meanwhile, CV, scheduled to compete in the Hamburg Duals, found itself with an open date when the plug was pulled in Hamburg. Not dateless for long, though, the Bucks joined the Streak Duals, where Stoltzfus, Zoll, Needham, Akala, Kane, Yanarella and Ruble all went 3-0 on the day. As a group they scored nine pins, four tech falls, two major decisions and collected three forfeits.
Also at Township, the Blue Streaks’ Anthony Cummons opened some eyes with a 17-0 tech fall over Cedar Crest’s Lucas Gerrett at 152.
A big slip
The weather didn’t keep Manheim Central from traveling to the Lehigh Valley on Saturday, when the Barons took part in the Lehighton Indian Duals. Perhaps it should have. Central went 1-3 on the day and dropped from No. 3 in the District Three 3A power ratings to No. 30.
Ratings check
Speaking of which, sitting at No. 7 and No. 12 respectively, Northern Lebanon and Annville-Cleona are in the mix for the District Three team championships in Class 2A. Currently, Annville has a comfortable .037 lead over Camp Hill for the final playoff spot in 2A. Northern Lebanon is .001586 ahead of No. 8 Tulpehocken, .004977 behind No. 6 Biglerville.
In 3A Conestoga Valley sits at No. 4 behind Wilson, Central York and, checking in at the top spot but with only one match, Exeter. Other L-L teams currently in the mix in the 16-team field are No. 7 Donegal, No. 14 Hempfield and No. 16 Solanco. Just outside qualification is Elco, at No. 18.
Given the ebb and flow of the power ratings, and that there are 19 days until the qualification deadline, there’s plenty of time to make your mark, or fade away.
Sports columnist Dave Byrne covers Lancaster-Lebanon League wrestling for LNP. Email him at lonborg41@gmail.com.
