As is often the case in high school sports, success one week does not guarantee success the next. A perfect example would be the Elizabethtown wresting team who followed up an 11-1 opening to their season with a 31-30 setback to Manheim Central on January 13th.

The two sides each gave one weight class with Austin Reitmeyer (126) enjoying the easy win. The Bears even held a 3-2 edge in falls, but the Barons claimed seven of the bouts to just six for E-town, giving the one-point edge to Central. Hayden Haver (189), Aiden Robinson (160) and Nathan Thomas (138) posted pinfall wins while Hayden Best (106) and Anthony Salcedo (152) earned the two standard decisions. For more photos, see townlively.com

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

The new year has been unkind to the Lady Bear basketball team as Elizabethtown remains winless for 2022 after losses to Cedar Crest, Manheim Township, Ephrata, and Penn Manor. E-town sits at 4-9 with those four losses coming as part of a six-game slide.

Elizabethtown fell to Cedar Crest on January 12th with the Lady Falcons posting a 55-30 victory. E-town did manage a slim 9-8 second quarter edge but that only slowed the Cedar Crest train for a bit. Three players did all the scoring led by Ainsley Raybold's 13 points. Jade Love-Morris added 11 points while Kallee Locker accounted for the final six.

Two nights later Elizabethtown welcomed Manheim Township with the Lady Streaks taking a 45-25 win back to Neffsville. Township controlled three of the four frames with E-town managing a 6-6 draw in the third. Love-Morris was the lone Lady Bear to crack double digits with 14 points.

January 15th had the Lady Bears playing their third game in four days. Despite the heavy workload E-town was able to keep things close with the Lady Mountaineers collecting a 38-29 victory. Elizabethtown looked to turn a 19-11 halftime deficit around with a 12-10 push in the third, but Ephrata regained control in the fourth to finish out the win. Love-Morris netted a team high 10 points while Locker added nine.

January 18th saw the Lady Bears fall to Penn Manor 73-41 with Love-Morris (14 points) and Raybold (10 points) finishing as the top scorers. Elizabethtown was able to crack double digits in each quarter, but it was not enough to hang with the Lady Comets.

for photos see townlively.com

BOWLING

The bowling team continues to roll, moving to 63-0 after wins over Ephrata and Lebanon. Not only have the Bears remained perfect on the season, but they also set state and league pin count marks in their 7-0 win over the Mountaineers on January 14th. E-town eclipsed 1200 pins in all three games, setting a new high mark in Pennsylvania and the L-L with 3617 total pins.

"I wasn't even thinking about it or even aware of it until Zach (Wentzel) was bowling in the 10th frame," said head coach Frank Telenko. "I know it sounds cliche, but the only thing we worked on all week at practice was filling the frame and supporting each other. We became a stronger TEAM this week, and by that, I mean ALL 27 KIDS WHO WEAR ETOWN on their jersey. Every bowler on this team had a part in this historical night...and my kids would tell you that too!!"

Derek Deardorff fronted the historic night with an 822 series while Ayden Pope followed with a 767. Daniel Eberle (696), Wentzel (673) and Alaina Telenko (659) completed the historic scoring five.

A few nights later the Bears posted a 7-0 win over Lebanon thanks to healthy wins of 1070-627, 1051-632, 1142-629 as well as a 3263-1888 edge in total pin count. Wentzel moved to the top of the team standings with a 694 series with Deardorff (674), Pope (668) and Eberle (666) close behind. Alaina Telenko rolled games of 199, 171 and 191 for a 561 series.

BOYS' BASKETBALL

As the boys' basketball team nears the end of the Section One-Two crossover games the Bears can say their crossover slate was a success. E-town added wins over Manheim Township and Penn Manor to their Hempfield victory while suffering a setback to Cedar Crest. But with only a McCaskey game remaining the Bears will emerge with a winning crossover record no matter that result.

Before the Bears could get to the good, they had to endure the bad in the form of a 51-31 loss to Cedar Crest on January 12th. A sluggish final frame saw E-town outscored 22-6, accounting for 16 of the 20-point final deficit. Matthew Gilhool tallied 14 points while Patrick Gilhool and Braden Cummings combined for 14 points.

Two nights later the Bears managed to slip by Township 51-47 despite trailing by four after the opening frame. Matthew Gilhool scored six of his team high 17 points and Patrick Gilhool five of his 16 points in the decisive second quarter where Elizabethtown outscored the Blue Streaks 11-5 to flip that four-point hole into a two-point lead. Slim one-point margins followed in the third and fourth quarters to give E-town the four-point victory. Cummings joined the Gilhool's in double digits with 12 points.

Elizabethtown made it two in a row with a 52-37 trouncing of Ephrata on January 15th. Patrick Gilhool erupted for 29 points, 13 of them coming during E-town's decisive 22-4 third quarter run. A 12-4 second quarter edge, coupled with that monster third, allowed the Bears to survive Ephrata's 29-18 advantage in the first and fourth frames. Cummings made it to double digits with 10 points.

The Bears went full on streaking thanks to a 53-39 romp over Penn Manor on the 18th. Behind Matthew Gilhool's 19 points and Patrick Gilhool's 17 points, Elizabethtown controlled all four quarters to collect the 14-point win. Techeal Gonquoi added 10 points.

RIFLE

The rifle team continues to creep toward a perfect season, adding wins over Conestoga Valley (498-483) and Manheim Township (592-591) to improve to 8-0.

Cali Bryant, Kate Kraft, and Kyle Lloyd fronted the near perfect win over CV on January 13th while Luke Turner and Emily Bonsall just missed a perfect score with their 99s. Elizabethtown needed an extra shooter on the 18th but thanks to a quartet of 99s leading the way the Bears picked up the win over Township. Rachel Broomell joined Bonsall, Kruft and Turner as near perfect shooters while Bryant and Brander Rain posted matching 98s to secure the win.