11 L-L League wrestlers advance to Class 3A District 3/Southcentral Region semifinals

SPRING GROVE — The first day of a multi-day wrestling tournament is a grind, doubly so when the tournament is the Class 3A District Three/Southcentral Region tournament.

But who better to compete in a grind, than a grinder? Manheim Township senior Leighton Underwood has embraced the grind and ground his way into the semifinals of districts/regionals.

Midway through the second period of a 5-5 quarterfinal match with Andrew Huesgen of Governor Mifflin at 172 pounds Friday at Spring Grove High School, he reversed Huesgen into a fall in 3:25.

Underwood is one of 11 Lancaster-Lebanon League wrestlers to advance to the semifinals, which begin at 10 Saturday morning.

Another 15 remain in the mix for a berth in the PIAA championships while navigating the shoals of the wrestlebacks. The top five place finishers qualify for states, set for March 6-8 at Hershey’s Giant Center.

After opening with an 18-0 technical fall over Isaiah Tasker of Chambersburg in the preliminary round, Underwood fell behind Huesgen 3-0 early, then reversed to close out the first period down 3-2. Underwood went ahead on a takedown early in the second period, but Huesgen reversed to tie the match at 5-5 and went to work on top.

“He went to put me in a tilt,” Underwood said. “I was able to roll through, catch his head and put him on his back.”

The fall quickly followed.

Being tall and lanky, Underwood is able to use his hips to leverage opponents.

“I’m longer and taller than most people (at) my weight,” he said. “Being able to flip over and roll through stuff, it makes it a lot easier.”

For Underwood, this year has been a journey from a career 30-35 record his first two scholastic seasons to 30-10 this year.

“The past few years I haven’t wrestled to my potential,” he said. “Over the summer I put in more work and started to see results. So, the grind has been real.”

Elco’s Kyle Miller did some grinding of his own Friday in a 13-9 quarterfinal win over Cole Staker of Eastern York at 215. Staker came in with just one loss and opened a 7-1 lead on Miller early in the second period.

Miller got an escape and takedown in the second, then scored two more takedowns in the third, the last coming with 19 seconds left, to post the win. He majored Nathan Stuckey of Lower Dauphin 11-0 in his preliminary match.

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He was one of three Raiders to advance. Miller’s brother, Klint, pinned Evan Baldwin of Dallastown in 3:02 to advance at 160. That followed a 1:01 tech fall, 15-0, over Matthew Spraut of Carlisle. Kane Kline majored Alex Mentzer of Boiling Springs, 10-1, then downed Keaghan Hewitt of Northeastern 4-1 at 114.

Conestoga Valley’s Caden Yanarella took the rubber match with Elizabethtown’s Francis Burke at 133, posting a 15-3 major decision. Burke won the dual meet 7-2, but Yanarella scored a 12-0 major at the L-L championships.

After Yanarella teched Cedar Cliff’s Kyle Zeigler, 16-0 in 2:26, he stepped in with Burke. Burke got the early takedown. Yanarella ran a bar-and-wrist combination to lead 8-3 after two and closed out with a seven-point takedown as the last seconds clocked down.

Joining Yanarella in the semis are teammates Tanner Kane (145), Teagan Ruble (160) and Tal Stoltzfus (285), as the Buckskins grabbed the team lead with 54 points, ahead of Wilson (44.5) and Elco (42.5).

Kane pinned Donegal’s Quinn Weymers in 2:40, then majored Getttysburg’s Reid Grossman, 11-1. Ruble teched Zethan Sleighter of Chambersburg, 16-1 in 4:16, then faced off with Kennard-Dale’s Michael Schmit. Ruble led Schmit 6-2 late in the second period, but Schmit took Ruble to his back in a cradle, just after the period ended.

That near miss sparked Schmit and the final two minutes were a war, a war that Ruble won, 11-7. Following a 2:57 fall over Shippensburg’s Wyatt Holderbaum, Stoltzfus ground out a 7-0 win over Antwon Bell of New Oxford, parrying Bell’s throw attempts in the final minute.

Noah Templin and Brodie Daugherty advanced for Manheim Central, each with a pair of falls. Templin pinned Willie Marshall-Travis of Mechanicsburg in 5:04, then decked Aiden Grim of Dallastown in 2:58 in the quarterfinals.

Daugherty planted Mason Rebert of Gettysburg in 1:49. It took a little longer in the quarterfinals, but he finished Ethan Brownback of Wilson in 4:16.

Donegal’s Brady Allessie backed up a fall in 2:51 over Princeton Dent of Cedar Cliff, taking a wild 15-14 decision over Davis Keppley of Conrad Weiser to advance. Allessie led 3-1 after a period. Keppley came back to tie the match at 6-6 after four minutes. Then things got interesting.

Keppley took a 12-8 lead with just over a minute to wrestle, but Allessie tied the match at 12-12 with 38 seconds showing, scoring an escape and takedown. Keppley got out, Allessie took him down, with 24 ticks left to take the lead one last time, then surrendered an escape for the 15-14 final.