EAST SHORE TOP 10 TALKING POINTS
No. 1 Hockey moved onto the East Shore center stage last weekend with the AHL Outdoor Classic on Jan. 20 and the Hershey Bears alumni game the day before at Hersheypark Stadium’s newly erected outdoor rink. Over 30,000 fans flocked into the Concrete Palace for the two days of hockey.
No. 2 Hershey lost both games to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pens and their alumni. The ex-Bears lost 9-4 and the current Bears dropped a 2-1 decision in overtime. One of the highlights of the alumni game was a goal by Mike McHugh, who was a Hershey captain in 1996-97 when the Bears won the Calder Cup. Not bad for a guy whose daughter, Riliegh, is a junior soccer player at Pitt, and another, Courtney, is a senior soccer player at Hershey High.
No. 3 The CPIHL all-stars took to the outdoor ice on Jan. 23. Leading Hershey this season is senior Luk Devorsky and junior Nick Shenberger. Hershey recently scored convincing wins over Central Dauphin, Mechanicsburg and Hempfield to remain in the thick of the Tier 1 race. Among those competing in the all-star games were Hershey's Luc Devorki, Adam Hrabovsky and Nick Shenberger, Palmyra's Alex Daley and David Bramley and Marshall Kiessling of Lower Dauphin.
No. 4 As usual, there was also some good East Shore wrestling action recently. In Mid-Penn Keystone action on Jan. 19, Middletown held off stubborn Hershey 35-25 on the Blue Raiders’ mats. Hershey was 15-0 on the year before losing back-to-back matches to Mechanicsburg and Middletown. Leading the way for Middletown was Zach Ulerick, who pinned John Voyles in 3:40 at 120, and Bryce Killian, who moved up to 145 to defeat Andrew Boyer (tf. 4:14, 18-2).
No. 5 Central Dauphin wrestlers continued to dominate at the Tom Hecker Duals on Jan. 19 at Garden Spot by going 5-0. In the championship round, the Rams beat Downingtown East 52-9. Two Rams, senior Tyson Dippery at 138 and junior Garrett Peppelman at 160, are the No. 8 and No. 7 ranked prep wrestlers in the country, respectfully, by intermatwrestle.com.
No. 6 In East Shore basketball action, the Harrisburg boys were 14-1 and ranked No. 3 among AAAA schools in the state behind Chester (12-3) and Lower Merion (14-2) as of Jan. 22, while the Susquehanna Twp. boys improved to 16-1 and rated a No. 8 ranking in the PIAA-AAA division.
No. 7 The Indians of coach Vince Rogers doubled up Hershey in the first half 32-16 on their way to a 67-52 win on Jan. 21 at Susquehanna Twp. Nehemiah “Bud” Mack led the Tribe with 14, followed by Joe Marshall with 12. Leading the ‘Hanna cheers were Kyal Page, Kendra Seegards and Tyler Chandler.
No. 8 The Palmyra girls remained unbeaten at 17-0 with a 48-39 win on Jan. 21 at Red Land. Coach Ron Berman’s club moved into the top spot in the District 3-AAA power ratings, as seniors Kait Carmo and Gabi Gundermann, junior Carly Richardson and sophomore Kristen Smoluk continue to lead the way. Freshman Molly Gundermann has also worked her way into the rotation.
No. 9 For those who follow the sport of kings (horse racing), the Jan. 17 card at Penn National featured a very interesting late double. Horses ridden by Dana Whitney and Clinton Potts, two of the most accomplished riders in the PN jockey colony, finished 1-2 in the 8th and 9th races to produce some friendly exacta returns.
No. 10 Whitney won the 8th on Cherokee Empire ($7 to win), followed by Potts on Light Sentence ($5.40 to place). The 5-3 exacta paid $33. In the 9th, Whitney’s heavily favored Tiempo Libre returned $3.20 to win, with Potts booting home Sierra Royalty for second at $16.20 to place. The 2-8 exacta paid $54.60. A $2 exacta parlay from Whitney-Potts in the 8th to Whitney-Potts in the 9th would have returned a friendly $900.