By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Manheim Township wrestling coach Tim Rice no doubt cringed when he saw his team’s first-round match-up in the District Three Triple-A Team Duals.

It just happened to be Warwick, whom the Blue Streaks defeated 38-34 in a league meet on Jan. 10.

"Last year, we got paired up with (Solanco) in Districts. It’s like, I’m trying to get away from these (L-L) people," Rice laughed. "Not that I don’t like them, but I hate wrestling the same matches twice because if you win, you feel like you’ve got to re-create that exact thing and nothing ever goes the same way."

Tuesday’s match might not have unfolded the same way, but the 5th-seeded Blue Streaks still got the same result, as they wiped out a 32-31 deficit in the final two bouts on David Graves’ fall at 120 and Cortlandt Schuyler’s forfeit win at 126, leading them to a 43-32 victory over the 12th-seeded Warriors at Spring Grove High School.

"No excuses, they beat us," Warwick coach Ned Bushong remarked. "We had a couple of (bouts) that we had to have and we didn’t get them."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Photo by Preston WhitcraftLong-time wrestling volunteer Mike Clair (left) is shown with his son, Ephrata coach Josh Clair, during Saturday's L-L Hall of Fame ceremony.

Many people count it as a tremendous honor to be inducted into one hall of fame in their lifetime.

For Manheim’s Mike Clair, a long-time wrestling volunteer on the Lancaster-Lebanon League level, as well as the state and national scene, he will have his name immortalized in two Halls in a span of five months.

The first of those honors came last Saturday, when he went into the L-L Coaches Hall of Fame as a contributor prior to the finals of the League Tourney at Conestoga Valley High School.

In May, Clair will be inducted with 10 others into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in State College.

"It’s just a great honor," said Clair, who has devoted more than 50 years of his life to wrestling. "I do it for the kids. Everything I’ve done, even now with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, I do it because of the kids. Some kids are a lot older than others. But to be recognized in the same breath with some of these other people means an awful lot to me."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

As Manheim Central wrestling coach Troy Sunderland reflects on the team’s 2012-13 season so far, there is a trend that he finds to be a bit troublesome.

That is the number of reversals that his Barons allow.

"If you’re going to win close matches, you can’t give up reversals," Sunderland said. "That’s one of the things that’s bothered me all year is the number of reversals that our team overall has given up."

With Manheim Central’s Ben Metzler and Jared Siegrist competing in the 138 and 145-pound semi-finals at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships last Saturday against Manheim Township’s top-seeded Alex and Adam Smith, those moves again proved costly for the Barons. Unfortunately, Metzler (23-6) ended up dropping a 9-4 decision, Siegrist (24-7) suffered a 10-0 loss and the Central matmen were shut out from the championship round.

Despite that, however, the Barons had nine place-finishers and took fifth as a team with 139 points. With Manheim Township claiming three individual golds — including two from the Smith brothers — the Blue Streaks managed to hold off three-time reigning champ Solanco 199.5-198 for their first-ever L-L team championship.

Record Express file photoChristopher Cicala was among the Warwick swimmers who recorded a lifetime best time in the Warriors' meet against Manheim Township on Tuesday.

The Warwick boys swimmers hosted Manheim Township on Tuesday with an opportunity to win the Section 1 title outright.

Although they fell a little short, suffering a 97-73 setback to the Blue Streaks, the Warriors nonetheless shared the crown with Township and Hempfield, all with 4-1 league records.

The Lady Streaks ended up completing the sweep by defeating Warwick 100-70, clinching the Section crown with a 5-0 record. The Warwick girls finished at 4-2.

Warwick’s swimmers did all they could in the losses, as Christopher Cicala, Tim Greist, Jack Lance, Seth Cagno, Ryan Mitchell, Mark Newhard, Peter McCord, Nate Beard and Karl Bruhn all had lifetime best times on the boys side, while Annie Hess, Hannah Weidman,Maddie Schouten, Samantha Shields, Taylor Garner, Victoria Forbes did likewise for the Lady Warriors.

"Our swimmers performed the best they could — they left nothing at the end of their races," Warwick coach Mark Daum said.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

The bad news for the Warwick boys basketball team was two-fold Tuesday night.

Their 56-50 overtime loss to Cedar Crest in a battle for second place in Section One all but eliminated them the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff picture with just two games left in the regular season.

Making matters worse for the Warriors was the dark cloud that hung over the defeat after senior star Tyler Morris left the game with 3:45 left in OT due to a right ankle injury. Morris missed 10 games to start the season with a left ankle injury sustained in the pre-season.

"He’s in a lot of pain. I don’t know the extent of it, but he did the same thing — stepped on somebody’s foot and rolled it to the outside," Warwick coach Jeff Landis said. "We’ll re-evaluate and then go from there."

Where Warwick as a team goes is back to preparations for its game against Penn Manor this Friday and Manheim Township next Tuesday. The loss dropped the Warriors (8-6 L-L, 10-10 overall) into a third-place with Township, who lost 71-48 to McCaskey, one game behind the Falcons (9-5 L-L).

By: RICHARD REITZ Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Photo by Stan HallCommunity teammates at last week's GOP dinner include (left to right) Sen. Mike Brubaker, school board member Todd Rucci, WARC chairman Andy Spade and State Rep. Steve Mentzer.

Don’t just watch; be a participant.

Former NFL star and Lititz resident Todd Rucci stressed the importance of "teamwork and community" as the featured speaker for the Warwick Area Republican Committee at its annual Winter Dinner, held Friday evening at the General Sutter Inn.

Although he now serves as executive director for the Pennsylvania Lottery Commission, Rucci is not a person who believes in leaving success to chance. Collaborative effort, he said, is an essential element.

"I was brought up in a locker room, and I was fortunate to play eight years in the NFL," he said. "The biggest thing I learned is the importance of teamwork."

When players work together for a common goal, victory is attainable. Rucci experienced that as a former star offensive lineman at Penn State, and spent eight years with the New England Patriots, playing in Super Bowl XXXI and retiring in 2000.

By: RICHARD REITZ Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

How cool is Lititz?

Well if early voting returns are an indication, Lititz may be America’s Coolest Small Town.

Budget Travel Magazine is sponsoring its annual America’s Coolest Small Towns contest, and last week, online voting began with 15 finalists going head-to-head for support from residents and fans of their communities. Lititz was the only Pennsylvania location nominated for the honor.

"We are putting on the full court press to win this contest," said Kelly Withum, executive director for Venture Lititz, which is spearheading this effort in cooperation with Lititz Borough. "We have been pushing it on social media, contacting friends on Facebook… everything we can think of to get the word out."

This is the eighth year Budget Travel is sponsoring the nationwide contest. Recent winners include Hammondsport, N.Y. and Beaufort, N.C. (2012 tie); Lewisburg, W.Va. (2011); Saugatuck, Mich. (2010); and Owego, N.Y. (2009).

Will Lititz join that list? The early returns are promising. As of Wednesday morning, Lititz was climbing steadily and leading the pack with 23.5% of the total vote, leading second place Watkins Glen by a comfortable 9.6%.

By: GARY P. KLINGER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Perhaps in the future there could be a Shoppes of Kissel Village East, but that future is not now.

Warwick Township Supervisors were asked by the operators of the current shopping complex, which houses Target and Giant, to consider modifying the township’s Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map and Growth Area Map to accommodate the expansion. The proposed complex would sit on about 32 acres of the Buckwalter family-owned Buckhill Farm directly across from the existing Shoppes at Kissel Village.

Alex Peel of RGS Associates, a Lancaster land planning and engineering firm, was on hand to present the request at the Jan. 16 supervisors meeting. Peel was representing the owners and operators of The Shoppes at Kissel Village, R.J. Waters and Associates.

"The proposed Shoppes of Kissel Village East would almost mirror on a smaller scale the Shoppes of Kissel Village," he said. "There would be four pad sites along Lititz Pike and the project would be done in two phases."

Peel explained that the project would have access points at Lititz Pike, Peters Road and Millport Road. The existing barn would remain intact.

The winter fun photos are in!

Deadline has passed for our next "It’s All About You" photo section. Winter photos submitted by Record Express readers will be published in the Jan. 31 edition.

In the meantime, readers can start sending photos for our February theme, "Love is in the Air," a play off of Valentine’s Day. We’re looking for photos that display love and togetherness. Photo deadline is Feb. 19 and publication is Feb. 28.

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Stephen Seeber at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com. Photos can also be dropped off at our Ephrata office or mailed to P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

When submitting photos, please include all necessary identifications and your contact information (in case we have any questions). Submitted information should include names of those in the photos, your local connection, where and when the photos were taken, and identity of the photographer.

Please limit the number of submitted photos to three.