Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Commonwealth proves mettle

If we learned one thing from the first round of the District 3 Team Wrestling Tournament, it's that the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division might have the best shot to bring home district gold.

Posting a 3-0 record on opening night in the 3-AAA bracket, the division won without breaking much of a sweat. Division champ Central Dauphin crushed Reading, Lower Dauphin took care of Dallastown, 34-21, and Cedar Cliff used a fall in the evening's final bout to knock off South Western.

The road becomes more difficult in the quarterfinals as Central Dauphin hosts YAIAA Divison 1 runner-up Red Lion, Lower Dauphin hosts a much-improved Cumberland Valley squad and Cedar Cliff travels to YAIAA Division 1 champion Spring Grove on Thursday.

Two of those pairings are rematches. Lower Dauphin beat CV by one in December and Cedar Cliff handed Spring Grove its first and only loss this year at the Ephrata Duals in December.

The other Mid-Penn divisions weren't as fortunate as the Commonwealth.

Colonial champion and fourth seed Big Spring lost by two to Hempfield and third-place finisher Carlisle fell to Red Lion. The only winner here was CV, who cruised past Wilson after falling behind, 18-3, early.

In the 3-AA bracket, Boiling Springs carried the Capital flag with a win over ELCO while division foes Milton Hershey and East Pennsboro put up little fight in losses to Schuylkill Valley and Biglerville, respectively.

Overall the Mid-Penn finished 5-4 in the first round.

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