Barons jump Mounts

Bam! Pow!! Krunch!!!

Like the campy, sound effect captions on the mid-1960s Batman TV series, Manheim Central opened the night with the 1-2-3 punch of three straight falls and never looked back in a 36-27 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two victory over Ephrata Wednesday night at Manheim Middle School.

In an evening featuring several firsts, Leo Bonanno, Braxton Kieffer and Barrett Kieffer boosted the Barons (3-0 L-L Section Two, 6-3 overall) to the early advantage.

“We’ve been working a lot on finishing,” said Braxton Kieffer, whose 30-second fall over Nathan Horst at 121 ran his season mark to 14-5 with five falls. “Our pace has improved a lot as well.”

For Bonanno, who broke open a tight match by taking Graham Mendenhall (4-4) down to his back and a fall in the final minute of their 114-pound clash, it was his first career varsity victory on the mat. Prior to Wednesday, he had two forfeit victories in three matches.

Barrett Kieffer (13-7) followed at 127, running a half-and-wrist combination to clamp Brady Thomas (2-4), beating the first-period buzzer by 10 seconds.

The Mounts (2-2, 5-4) won three of the next four bouts as Noah Tlumach (6-3) pinned Cody Hess (25) at 133, Brandon Shimp (2-0), down 8-2, reversed Landen Sauder (0-1) into a fall at 145 and Kaleb Sweigart (3-4) posted three takedowns in a 6-3 decision over AJ Hondru (6-7) at 152.

Interrupting that run was Manheim’s Jake Hess (6-8), whose third-period headlock, for three back points, proved the difference in a 7-5 victory over Brody Musser (6-3).

The Barons’ Brett Barbush (18-3) followed with a surgical 19-3 tech fall over previously unbeaten Quincy Myer (3-1) in 1:58 at 160 to increase Manheim’s advantage to 26-15 and, with an Ephrata forfeit lurking at 285, Brodie Daugherty clinched the victory with a 12-0 major decision over Travis Martin (2-3) at 172.

Daugherty, sectional runner-up at 145 last year as a freshman, was making his season debut and looked sharp doing it. “I’m here now and I’m here to wrestle,” said Daugherty, who trained in Freestyle and Greco over the summer with Mounts coach Sean Lees.

He scored three times on takedowns, adding a tilt and a cradle into the mix. “Everybody tonight did what they had to do,” he said. “We’re not looking back.”

Ephrata closed on falls from Sam McCracken (72), who headlocked out of Rocco Daugherty’s (7-7) headlock at 189, and Gavin Moyer (3-4), who wrapped up Noah Templin (8-10) at 215.

The Barons travel to Elizabethtown next Wednesday for a winner-gets-all, first-place showdown with the Bears. “We’re ready, for sure,” assured Braxton Kieffer.

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