Columbia's Joey Ronca, right, battles Chris Cain of Hempfield during Friday night's L-L League Wrestling Championships quarterfinal action at 140 pounds. Ronca outlasted Cain for a 6-5 decision.
A.J. Votano of Manheim Central works toward a fall over Lancaster Catholic's John Fiorill at 103.
The sharp spear got blunted.
On a night when being a top seed, or unbeaten, put one on the endangered species list, the biggest extinction of the first night of the Lancaster-Lebanon League wrestling tournament was Dan Neff's drive to be a four-time L-L champion.
Neff lost by disqualification — for the second time this year — when he hip-tossed Columbia's John Markley onto his neck in the 130-pound quarterfinals.
Neff, who was leading 6-0 in the first period when it happened, had an underhook and took Markley over his hip and to his back.
Instead of more scoring back points, Neff was penalized for a slam and Markley, who was carried out on a stretcher after a long delay while receiving medical attention, was declared the winner by disqualification.
Neff's loss was one of three dealt to top-seeded wrestlers in the quarterfinals.
Annville-Cleona took the brunt of the damage as Phil Corle (103) and Dylan Killian (140) both went down to defeat.
Donegal's Bryan Ceaser, who lost 10-3 to Corle last week, expanded on a 4-1 lead with a second-period takedown, then hit a 5-point takedown in the third for a 13-3 major decision over Corle.
"My strategy was not to lock up," said Ceaser, who won the battle from neutral. "I just read his legs and attacked. It was really big (scoring the third-period 5-pointer), I just wanted to keep getting more points and more points."
Penn Manor's Kevin Kann turned a first-period single leg takedown into a bottom-leg cradle, taking a 5-0 lead while nearly pinning Killian in the first period.
"I was pretty happy (to go up early)," said Kann. "But I just had to keep thinking about the match. I didn't want to do anything dumb."
He kept his head, and never lost the lead. Up 5-2, he reversed Killian into a cradle in the second period, but couldn't turn him for back points. He kept Killian at bay in the third, walking off a 9-5 winner. It was Killian's first loss of the year.
Also taking his first loss of the year, Columbia's top-seeded Nate Warner fell behind Pequea Valley's Mitch Ball early and never recovered, losing 7-1 at 160.
Elizabethtown's third-seeded Calvin Anderton also lost for the first time this year, getting pinned by Manheim Township's resurgent Brooks Kenderdine at 125.
Trailing 3-2, Kenderdine scored a takedown early in the second period, then as Anderton came to a stand, Kenderdine slipped an armbar in.
"I tripped him to the side, switched my hips and got him in a stack," said Kenderdine, who stuck Anderton like he was glued. "That's my bread and butter," he said.
Despite the Neff loss, Solanco leads the team race after the first night by a point over Manheim Township, 98-97. Penn Manor is third with 93 while Garden Spot (86) and E-town (85.5) round out the top five.
It wasn't all gloom and doom for top seeds. Hempfield's Austin Miller (112), E-town's Matt Hoover (119) and Jeremy Rivera (135), Penn Manor's Bobby Rehm (125), Cocalico's Tyler Fittery (145) and Brandon Henne (171), Solanco's Conor Moran (152), Warwick's Antonio Giorgio (189), Manheim Township's Austin Schultz (215) and Conestoga Valley's Cole Dillman (285) all advanced convincingly.
Miller, Hoover and Rehm each had a pair of falls — Rehm's in 34 and 27 seconds — as did Fittery, Moran, Schultz and Dillman. Giorgio opened the evening with a tech fall, then took a forfeit in the quarters.
All but two second seeds advanced as Lancaster Catholic's John Fiorill was pinned by Manheim Central's A.J. Votano at 103 and Lebanon's Keith Witmer lost a 4-3 decision to Garden Spot's Anthony Huber at 171. Witmer's teammate Chris Ahnert, the No. 2 seed at 215, got taken to the wire by Garden Spot's Nate Kramer, locked in a scoreless match with under five seconds to go in regulation.
Taking one last chance to win in regulation, Ahnert hit a switch and Kramer locked his hands in defense. Ahnert picked up the penalty point, and the reversal, as time ran out to win 3-0.
Two other upsets of perhaps lesser surprise, but equally important, occurred at 103 and 112.
Garden Spot's fifth-seeded Nick Cook and Solanco's fourth-seeded Evan Wertz went to overtime tied 2-2 with Cook emerging the winner in sudden victory overtime, 4-2, when he battled through a great flurry to finish a single leg he initiated.
Manheim Township's sixth-seeded Scott Lopez trailed third seed Sean Hughes of Cedar Crest 6-5 in the third period at 112. Working from on top, he picked up a stalling point to tie the match, then stuck Hughes, who was trying to roll, for three back points and a 9-6 win.
Doors open at 9 a.m. today and wrestling resumes at 10 a.m. with the second round of consolations. The semifinals will begin at 11:30 with the championship finals, and third- and fifth-place consolations, set for 4:30.