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The Ephrata Mounts Wrestling team enjoyed a successful weekend at the recently concluded League Championships held at Conestoga Valley. Overall as a team the Mounts finished in 5th place.

Individually the Mounts had two wrestlers in the finals, but unfortunately neither came out on top and had to settle for a well deserved 2nd place finish.

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It was the best of times, even without the best times.

The Ephrata girls' swim team took command of Section Two by overpowering Lampeter-Strasburg 105.5-69.5 in a battle of previously unbeaten squads Thursday afternoon at the Ephrata Rec Center.
 

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The Lancaster-Lebanon League girls’ basketball Section 2 predictions hit the World Wide Web on Thursday, December 4, the day before the first game this season.

1. Garden Spot, 
2. Lebanon, 
3. Conestoga Valley, 
4. Ephrata

“As soon as we saw that, we knew we were the underdogs,” Ephrata’s Mel Andrew said. “We wanted to prove everyone wrong.”

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In a season that began with such high expectations for a veteran Ephrata wrestling team, the annual Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship Tournament proved to be the current high watermark.

With the injury bug biting hard this season, the Mounts have had their share of challenges throughout the dual-meet season, compiling an overall 5-10 mark and 0-4 section record. However, the L-L tourney provided a real opportunity to wipe the slate clean and find out what kind of talent still resided within the Mountaineer line-up. 

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This past weekend the wrestlers traveled to E-town for the 2nd annual E-town Duals. The Mounts were scheduled to wrestle West York, Cocalico, E-town, McCaskey, and Selinsgrove. The Mounts hoped to improve on last year’s 0-5 showing. The wrestlers finally decided to show what potential they have. It was the first time that all of the wrestlers’ wrestled their hardest and it showed as the Mounts finished 2nd with a 4-1 record on the day.

Their lone loss was to E-town 54-16. They defeated West York 43-18, Selinsgrove 51-30, McCaskey 45-31, and Cocalico 36-28. They had lost to Cocalico by a point earlier in the year. Jared Becker and Blake Crowther, both going 5-0 on the day, paced the Mounts. James Zimmerman and Jordan Becker going 4-1 followed them. Other records on the day were Mike Evans, Corey Horst, Jamar Horst, and Pat Baker finishing 3-2. Joel Yoder was 2-2, David Belousov 2-3, Mike Hanna 1-4, and Jeremy Martin 1-4. Dylan Binkley, who was filling in for Zach Zimmerman was 1-2 on the day picking up a huge win in the McCaskey match to help clinch the win.

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The Mounts finished impressively in 6th place over the weekend at the annual Lancaster-Lebanon League tournament. The Mounts improved 14 spots over last years 20th place finish. Although no champions were crowned from Ephrata there were six Mounts that did place.

Though he did not place Jeremy Martin (145) earned his first career win at the tournament with his 9-8 victory over Eric Kilhefner. Martin would later earn his 2nd victory with a forfeit win over Kevin Miller.

Corey Horst was alive on Saturday but failed to upset #4 seed Jason Weaver, of Elco, losing a tight 2-5 match. The loss prevented Horst from placing in the medal rounds.

The Mounts had three wrestlers earn 3rd place, starting with Jared Becker at 130. Jared lost to the #2 seed Matthew Myers on Saturday, but wrestled back defeating Jordan Stepanchik and Justin Lapp. At 189, Jared's brother Jordan followed a similar fate, losing to #2 seed Shane Rosenberry, before decking Kyle Diem and defeating Travis Nissley. James Zimmerman was upset by the #3 seeded Micah Byler, but came back to defeat Jake Walmer and Mike Stover to earn his 3rd place medal.

Earning fourth place for the Mounts was a pair of wrestlers, one living up to their pre-match seed, the other finishing considerably better. Blake Crowther (160) was seeded fourth and had a tough go with #1 seed Julian Colon losing 0-10 early Saturday. Crowther came back with a tough 10-9 victory over Daniel Olan, before losing by fall to Tim Greiner in the 3rd place bout. Joel Yoder (171) was seeded 10th coming into the tournament. But after losing his first match of the tournament came back to win 4 straight, including 3 on Saturday. Yoder eventually ran out of gas losing to Cameron Gill in the third place match.

Earning a 5th place showing was Zach Zimmerman who moved up even more places then Yoder. Zach finished 7 places higher then his 12th place pre-tournament seed. After upsetting the #5 and #4 seed on Friday, Zach got decked by #1 seeded Teal Stutzman, then lost a tough decision to Doug Weaver before deckign Josh Pavlik to earn the fifth place medal.

The Mounts return to action on Thursday as they host the Manheim Central Barons. 

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Seven Ephrata wrestlers remain in contention at the LL League tournament. Five remain in contention for first place, while the other two are battling for third place.

First the bad news, Michael Evans (112, 0-2), Michael Hanna (125, 0-2), Pat Baker (135, 1-2), Jamar Horst (140, 0-2), Jeremy Martin (145, 2-2) and David Belousov (152, 0-2) have all been eliminated from the tournament.

At 119 Corey Horst remains in the loser's bracket, Horst the #7 seed will face the #4 seed from Elco Jason Weaver who was upset earlier in the tournament. At 171 Joel Yoder (seeded 10th) remains alive as well, albeit in the loser's bracket. He faces #12 seed Toby Greenawalt (PM).

The good news for Jared Becker, seeded 3rd at 130, is that if he can get by Matthew Myers (LC), the number two seed, he's guaranteed to face a lower seed in the finals as both the #1 and #4 seeds have been moved to the consolation bracket. 

Blake Crowther, seeded 4th at 160, has a tall task ahead of him today as he faces off against Hempfield's Julian Colon the number one seed. Jordan Becker, seeded 3rd at 189, will face #2 seed Shane Rosenberry. James Zimmerman, seeded 2nd at 275, faces three-seed Micah Byler.

Zach Zimmerman has been the surprise of the tournament for the Mounts, earning a rather low seed (12th), Zach made quick work of #5 seed Nick Lacock earning an 8-3 decision then decked #4 seed Brandon Lawrence with an early second period fall (3:42). To keep the streak alive, Zach will have to defeat #1 seed Teal Stutzman.

Second round conolations begin at 10:00 today (Saturday); Semifinals and 3rd round consolations begin at 11:30; consolation semifinals begin at 1:30; 3rd, 5th, and 7th place matches begin at 4:00; and Finals begin at 6:00. All matches are being wrestled at Lampeter-Strasburg High School.

Good luck Mounts! 

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Falling behind proved to be fateful for Ephrata's hockey team Friday night.

The Mounts nearly climbed out of a 3-0 hole but Cedar Crest held them off at the end to skate away with a 4-3 win in a Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 2 game at Body Zone.

Ephrata's Nicholas Fetter scored with 3:20 to play to draw the Mounts within one at 4-3. Ephrata pulled goaltender Devon Williams for an extra attacker in the final minute but could not get the equalizer.

The loss snapped the Mounts' six-game winning streak and was only their second defeat this season, to go along with eight wins. The Falcons (7-3) have now won two straight after losing three in a row.

Cedar Crest senior center Peter Potena scored two goals, the second on a penalty shot in the second period.

But it was the Falcons' ability to score three unanswered goals in the game's first seven minutes that pressured Ephrata to climb a mountain it just couldn't scale.

"We can't wait until the third period to start playing,'' said Ephrata's Frank Gatti, who was standing in for head coach Keith Allen.

Allen missed the game to attend his son's travel hockey tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y. His son is Shane, who happens to be the Mounts' leading scorer.

But Gatti wouldn't use Allen's absence as an excuse.

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Last night the Mount mat men ventured to Elizabethtown for their contest with the Bears of E-town. The evening started at 125 lbs. with Mike Hanna. He didn’t quite achieve the fall, but picked up a major decision. Jared Becker followed with his sixth victory in a row picking up the second period fall.

The mounts would fall in a hole before Blake Crowther’s electrifying fall. Blake’s opponent learned that when you charge in there is a good possibility you will go for a ride, via the air. Blake upped his record to 16-5. James Zimmerman picked up a fall for the Mounts at heavyweight pushing his record to 15-1. Corey Horst would finish the night with a fall at 119. Not to be satisfied with a decision Corey kept working until he flattened his opponent.

The final score was 39-28. The wrestling action resumes this Saturday at 1:00 when the Mounts host the Garden Spot Spartans.

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Congratulations to our Lady Mounts swimmers with 1st place finishes at their meet against Warwick last Thursday (1/4).  Shannon Ream, 100 Fly, Heather Ashton, 100 Breaststroke, Courtney Reading, Lia Denlinger, Noelle Brossman, and Nicole Martin in the 400 Free Relay, and Lia Denlinger in the 500 Free with another District qualifying time.  We would also like to congratulate Alex Martin in the 200 Free and 100 Breaststroke, Tyler Eshelman in the 200 IM, Mickey Molchany in the 100 back with respectable 2nd place finishes and some personal bests acheived by Levi Smucker, Santiago Carvajal, and Mickey Molchany.  The Mounts will swim Hempfield tonight (Tuesday 1/9) at home.  Great Job and Good Luck!

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Last night the wrestlers traveled to Denver for their backyard rival with Cocalico. Last year the Eagles beat the Mounts twice, 67-3 and 48-18. This year the Mounts hoped things would be a little different. 

The match started at 130 with Jared Becker pulling out a hard fought decision.  At 140 Jamar Horst entered the win column with a fall.  Before the fall Jamar was taking his opponent down at will, showing his vast improvement from last year.  David Belousov picked up a huge victory at 152 by way of fall.  Belousov was taken down to his back early in the first, but as always he kept fighting until he secured the 3rd period fall.  Following that performance, Blake Crowther (160), earned a tech fall beating his opponent 23-6. At heavyweight James Zimmerman secured a quick fall to rebound from his first loss of the season. Corey Horst closed out the scoring at 119 with a forfeit. It was a nail-biter that came down to the final match with the Eagles picking up a 33-32 victory. The Mounts resume action at home on Saturday 1/6 at 1:00pm against the Lebanon Cedars.

Alumni night announced
The Ephrata Wrestling team will be hosting Alumni night on Thursday January 25th against Manheim Central. All former wrestlers are encouraged to attend and to be recognized. Following the match there will be a social gathering for all current and former wrestlers.

The Ephrata Mounts Wrestling team had a long row to hoe this weekend heading into the Elizabethtown duals. The Mounts forfieted five weight classes (103, 112, 125, 152 and 160) in four matches and four weight classes in their fifth match (not 152) leaving the Mounts with a huge hole to climb out of.

It was a hole that, unfortunately, was just too deep, the Mounts lost all five matches; losing to Selinsgrove 24-58, Elizabethtown 33-40, Columbia 18-51, McCaskey 21-48, and Cocalico 18-48.

A couple of individuals had strong performances led by Blake Crowther (140) who went 4-1 on the day, including two pins. Zach Zimmerman (215) went 3-1 recording three falls. James Zimmerman (275) also went 4-1.

The Ephrata indoor track team participated in the Franklin and Marshall College High School Track and Field Invitational this past Saturday. Dana Haas captured first place in the 3000 Meter run with a time of 11:46.89. The Mounts also captured first place in the 4x800 meter relay, as the team of Samantha Fink, Alicia Harbold, Haas, and Kate Anderson finished with a time of 10:32.04.

The 4x400 relay team (Leah Sipe, Kelly Martin, Taylor Fletcher, and Fink) also gave the Mounts a third place finish with a time of 4:19.26.

In sprints, Caiti Strausser finished in 4th place with a time of 28.24 in the 200M dash.

In the field, Cariline Epler earned 6th place in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet 3.5 inches, while Amber Davies went 20 feet 3.5 inches in the triple jump for 4th place.

Katie Ream went and Lily Sears both went 4 feet 8 inches, while Ream took second place (fewer misses) and Sears took fourth.

Devon Williams put of 46 feet 5.5 inches was also good for third place. You can find the complete results here.

Marcy Dull joined an elite group of Mountaineers when she scored her 1000th point on Friday night. Dull, who came into the night needing only 6 points to set the mark, finished with 1010 points. Marcy passed both Diane Kopp and Ali Balmer settling into 4th place on the all time list. Ahead of Marcy on the list is Carla Wenger, Tonya Wenger and Carrie Yoder-McCarty.

The Mounts survived the final seconds as the Warriors turned the ball over on their final possession with two seconds remaining.

Dull who scored 16 in the game, had missed two crucial free throws on the other end of the floor, on the previous possession.

Aislinn Sutcliffe led the Warriors with 10 points.

Jordan Becker was named Section Two wrestler of the week, after going 2-0 at 171. Becker beat E-town's Adam Zollman 8-0, then bumped up a weight class and pinned Garden Spot's Jeremy Diehm in 4:16 to clinch the Mounts victory over the Spartans.

The Mounts are preparing for the League Championships held this weekend at Garden Spot. The following are the first round pairings for the Mounts.

119 Becker (EPH) vs Wissler (GS)
125 Supplee (GS) vs Hanna (EPH)
130 Horst (EPH) vs Notter (A-C)
135 Baker (EPH) vs M. Blaszczyk (LC)
140 Hughes (LC) vs Crowther (EPH)
145 Davis (EPH) vs Elvey (SOL)
152 Yoder (EPH) vs Reynolds (MC)
160 Becker (EPH) vs Rodriguez (McC)
189 Rubenstein (MT) vs Burkholder (EPH)
215 Miller (CC) vs Lillis (EPH)
275 Koch (CV) vs Zimmerman (EPH)

At halftime of every game this year, the Lady Mounts have been in a close game.  Not Friday, as Penn Manor ran out to a 34-19 lead at the break, in the first section crossover game of the year.  But Brynn Lyons came to the rescue, pouring in 19 of her career-high 25 points after halftime.  When Penn Manor's potential game-winning three-pointer clanked away at the final horn, Ephrata escaped with a 57-55 win.

Lyons also did it defensively, with an amazing eight steals.  She scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the third quarter, as Ephrata scored 25 points in the frame and cut the margin to 48-44.  The sophomore guard opened the quarter with a trey, stole the ball a few seconds later, and scored a layup to give Ephrata a lead they'd never lose.

Marcy Dull nearly had a triple double, with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, and added 5 steals of her own.  Arielle Gordon added 7 assists for Ephrata, who now has sole possession of second place in Section Two, with a 4-2 mark, just one game behind Lebanon.

Earlier in the week on Tuesday, Ephrata dominated the inside against the league's best post player, building an early lead en route to a big Section Two win at home over Elizabethtown, 56-49.  Ephrata's forwards combined to shoot 10-for-11 from the field, while holding Bears' star Janelle Garber to 14 points.

Behind a strong first quarter from Nicole Martin (8 points) and Arielle Gordon (5 points), Ephrata raced out to a lead that they'd retain throughout.  The Bears closed to within five at the break and within three in the second half, but couldn't catch the Mounts.

The team's leading scorer was Arielle Gordon, who poured in 15 points while forcing the Elizabethtown defense to widen.  The forwards took advantage by making everything they shot:  Nicole Martin (5 of 6), Christine Weaver (3 of 3) and Gabrielle Hondros (2 of 2) combined to make over 90% of their shots.  Marcy Dull drew much attention and still scored 13 points while adding 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Ephrata rifle team turned in a strong performance Tuesday, but it was still not enough as host Manheim Township held on for a tight 484-482 victory.

Ephrata was paced by John Landis and Laurelin Smith, who both shot scores of 98. Mike Snader and Caitlin Mull were next in line, shooting a pair of 96s while Zach Silbert rounded out the lineup with a 94.

In addition to Tuesday's match, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday at home vs. CV where the Mounts dropped a 489-470 decision to the Buckskins.

John Landis was the top shooter for Ephrata, firing a score of 97 while Andrew Renford and Laurelin Smith each scored a pair of 94s. Erin Felak (93) and Caitlin Mull (92) rounded out the top five for Ephrata.

The Ephrata boys and girls swim teams went up against a tough foe Tuesday afternoon on the road at Manheim Township.

The host Streaks overpowered Ephrata on both sides, earning a clean sweep of the Mounts.

In the girls meet which ended up a 125-58 Blue Streak victory, Ephrata claimed just one win on the day and it came in the 200 free relay as the Lady Mounts swam to victory in 1:46.48.

On the boys' side, Ephrata managed two wins on the day as the Streaks earned a 134-34 decision. And both came from Dereck Fritz who earned both the 200 free (1:56.74) and 100 free (51.57) titles.

In addition to Tuesday's meet, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday afternoon when they earned a split with host Lancaster Catholic.

The EHS girls pulled out a tight 86-84 win over the Crusaders.

Amber Davies and Megan Royer led the way for Ephrata as both swimmers enjoyed a two-win day. Davies copped both the 200 IM (2:20.50) and 100 back (1:03.42) while Royer earned wins in both the 50 free (25.36) and 100 free (58.14) events.

The Ephrata girls also took all theree relays to help key the victory.

The Ephrata boys, meanwhile, suffered a 116-32 loss to Catholic.

Fritz again was a bright spot, winning both the 200 free (1:58.68) and 100 free (52.72) titles. Tom Ossman added the other Mount victory and it came in the 50 free as he recorded a winning time of 24.74.

Brynn Lyons started the game 0-for-6 from three-point range, but with her team trailing 53-50 in the game's final seconds she gave it one more try.  She connected with less than two seconds remaining, forcing overtime.  After earlier trailing by seven points with two minutes left, Ephrata went on to pull out a 66-57 victory in the consolation game of the Ephrata Holiday Tournament.
 
Marcy Dull poured in a career-high 32 points, including 25 after halftime.  She also nabbed 18 rebounds.  Nicole Martin had 9 points and 12 boards, and held L-S star Meredith Chura in check throughout the game.  Christine Weaver added 12 points and 7 rebounds.
 
Lyons kept her streak of at least one three-pointer in each game alive with her game-tying shot.  Arielle Gordon played all 36 minutes for the Mounts while collecting 5 steals.
 
Ephrata improves to 3-6 overall, and are 2-2 in the league.  They return to section play Tuesday against 3-1 Elizabethtown, in a key battle as the Mounts currently sit just one game out of the section lead.

Two weeks ago, the Lady Mounts picked up another exciting win.  On Friday night in Quarryville, the Mounts edged Solanco, 43-40, to move to 2-2 in Section Two.

Arielle Gordon connected on 4 of 4 free throws in the final three minutes to boost Ephrata to the victory.  After trailing 36-31 in the fourth, Ephrata ran off 8 straight points to hold off the Golden Mares.

Marcy Dull had 16 points and a career high 20 rebounds.  Brynn Lyons added 9 points and 5 steals for Ephrata.

The JV team pulled out an exciting come-from-behind win as well, rallying from down 11 in the fourth to win 51-45 in overtime, behind 14 points from Aly Goodman and 12 from Jan Woolley.