Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was holiday wrestling in Witmer.
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In 1965 and 1966, when Christmas wrestling tournaments were a limited few, held in far-flung locales, Conestoga Valley hosted an intimate, four-team individual tournament in the down time between Christmas and New Year's Day.
One of the teams enjoying Buckskin hospitality back then was Berks County neighbor Wilson, and when holiday wrestling was renewed at CV, after a 35-year hiatus, the Bulldogs were a charter invitee to the new Buckskin Holiday Classic — along with a host of other competitors.
The defending team champion Bulldogs, who also claimed the inaugural Classic in '01, were one of four teams focused on the top rung of the tournament ladder after Tuesday night's quarterfinals.
Advancing six to this morning's 10:30 semifinal round, the 'Dawgs were two points behind Red Lion, the clubhouse leader with 100.
Westfield (W. Va.) was third, three points behind Wilson with Mechanicsburg, benefiting from a powerful effort in the semifinals and consolation round of eight, pulled into fourth with 92 points.
Locally, Manheim Township, tied for third after the prelims, fell to eighth with 78 points. The host Buckskins are 16th, with 57.
Focused, too, were Conestoga Valley's Cole Dillman and Manheim Township's Austin Schultz, half of the four-man local contingent still standing in the championship bracket at the end of the first day.
Dillman artfully flattened, then spun behind Waynesboro's Marvin Gaskill in overtime to nail down a 3-1 victory at 285 pounds.
The two heavyweights traded escapes after a scoreless first period, as well as stall warnings, but Dillman carried the attack to Gaskill.
"I was trying to work him around," said Dillman, who cut Gaskill off at every turn from neutral, refusing to let him back into the center of the circle. "I was trying to make him stall, so I could win on that."
Artful also was Schultz, who chose to contest Octorara's Nate Ronan on their feet at 215.
"He was bigger than me," Schultz said, "and I thought I could neutralize his strength there."
Schultz got the advantage, scoring an escape and takedown to go up 3-0 early in the second period. He let Ronan out, then let him out again at the start of the third period.
Picking up a penalty point, Schultz took a deep single-leg shot late in the match, holding on to hold Ronan at bay. "I felt it was there, and it was a good time to take it," he said.
Joining them in the semis are CV's Lucas Bragg, at 145, and Township freshman Alex Smith, at 119.
Leading all the way, Bragg went up 2-0 on a first-period takedown, then added another takedown in the third period to defeat Cody Miller of Juniata, 4-1.
Against Methacton senior Justin Andrews, Smith went toe-to-toe in a 4-4 first period, then slipped in front 6-5 after two. He dropped the hammer on Andrews in the third period, scoring an escape, takedown and stalling point to win going away, 10-5.
Remaining alive in the consolations are CV's trio of Nate Musser (103), Pavlik Teleguz (160) and Delis Kruup (189), while Township's Luke Sims (160) remains alive in the medal hunt.
