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On Tuesday night, the Palmyra Cougars kicked off their District 3 AAA team tournament run with a first-round win over the Donegal Indians — a Lancaster-Lebanon League power that had just captured the league team title — then followed it with a dramatic, one-point quarterfinal upset of the Northern York Polar Bears, avenging last week’s Keystone Division championship loss and punching their ticket to the semifinals.
That momentum carried into Thursday’s semifinal session at Spring Grove High School — and while Palmyra came up short against the tournament’s top seed, Gettysburg, the Cougars responded in the only way they could in the consolation round: win with the season on the line.
With a pressure-packed 41-24 victory later in the night over Spring Grove, Palmyra not only secured its place in Saturday’s third-place match — the Cougars also solidified a spot in the PIAA State Team Championship Tournament as one of the District 3 AAA top four finishers.
Semifinals: Gettysburg Warriors 47, Palmyra 21
Gettysburg entered Thursday as the top-ranked team in District 3, and the Warriors showed why with a 47-21 semifinal win.
Palmyra battled early and actually won three of the first five bouts, highlighted by a clutch one-point decision from Tyler Detwiler (139) and a dominant tech fall from Myles Grossman (145) that briefly gave the Cougars an 11-10 lead.
But Gettysburg flipped the dual in a hurry with a decisive run through the upper weights, rattling off six straight pins from 152 through 285 to create separation.
Palmyra closed the night with bonus points of its own — Elijah Foltz (107) earned a tech fall, and Russell Cisney (114) added a pin — but the Warriors’ mid-dual surge was too much to overcome.
Consolation Semifinals: Palmyra 41, Spring Grove Rockets 24
With their season suddenly on the line after the semifinal loss, Palmyra responded the only way it could — by winning a pressure-packed consolation semifinal that kept the Cougars alive for Saturday and clinched a spot in the state tournament.
Palmyra set the tone immediately with a blistering start, jumping out to a 17-0 lead behind four straight wins — including tech falls from Nicolas Gordon (127) and Tyler Detwiler (139).
Spring Grove made it a fight with a strong middle-weight run and briefly grabbed the lead late, but Palmyra answered in championship fashion down the stretch. The Cougars closed with four straight falls from 107 through 121 — with Elijah Foltz, Russell Cisney, and Grayson Cisney all pinning — to slam the door and secure the 41-24 victory.
What’s next?
Palmyra will wrestle for third place on Championship Saturday at Central York High School, where the Cougars will face the #2 seed Central Dauphin Rams in the 3rd-place match.
No matter who lines up across the mat next, the Cougars have earned the right to keep wrestling — and they’ll have one more chance to finish the District 3 tournament run with hardware before turning their attention to the State Championship Tournament.
Best of luck, Cougars!
AAA Tournament Bracket
Palmyra Stuns Northern York, Advances to AAA Semifinals After Opening-Round Win Over Donegal
Semifinals: Gettysburg Warriors 47, Palmyra 21
121: Grayson Cisney dec. Aiden Black, 7-6 (Gettysburg leads 3-0)
127: William Yordy pinned Nicolas Gordon, 3:07 (Gettysburg leads 6-3)
133: Owen Clark maj. dec. Cain Sieg, 14-2 (Gettysburg leads 6-7)
139: Tyler Detwiler dec. Isaiah P. Jackson, 6-5 (Gettysburg leads 6-10)
145: Myles Grossman won by tech. fall over Nicholas Weidman, 18-0 (Palmyra leads 11-10)
152: Blake Haines pinned Evan Andrew, 1:58 (Gettysburg leads 17-10)
160: Reid Grossman pinned Aaron Andrew, 2:44 (Gettysburg leads 23-10)
172: Matthew Rebert pinned Alex Csongradi, 1:56 (Gettysburg leads 29-10)
189: Reid Whitmoyer pinned Kyler Sparks, 0:52 (Gettysburg leads 35-10)
215: Nolan Reinert pinned Kenneth Coles, 1:17 (Gettysburg leads 41-10)
285: Keegan McGrew pinned Jackson Smith, 0:20 (Gettysburg leads 47-10)
107: Elijah Foltz won by tech. fall over Brayden Lush, 16-1 (Gettysburg leads 47-15)
114: Russell Cisney pinned Owen Wagner, 0:16 (Final: Gettysburg 47, Palmyra 21)
Consolation Semifinals: Palmyra 41, Spring Grove Rockets 24
127: Nicolas Gordon won by tech. fall over Van Ferguson, 17-2 (Palmyra leads 5-0)
133: Owen Clark dec. Andrew Telencio, 11-5 (Palmyra leads 8-0)
139: Tyler Detwiler won by tech. fall over Darryn Gross, 16-0 (Palmyra leads 13-0)
145: Nicholas Weidman maj. dec. Davis Baum, 15-6 (Palmyra leads 17-0)
152: Jack Rohrbaugh pinned Evan Andrew, 4:09 (Palmyra leads 17-6)
160: Aaron Andrew dec. Alfonzo Rivera, 11-6 (Palmyra leads 20-6)
172: Chase Amspacher pinned Nathan Holt, 1:44 (Palmyra leads 20-12)
189: Cameron Hershey pinned Kyler Sparks, 1:56 (Palmyra leads 20-18)
215: Kenneth Coles dec. Chance Boose, 6-3 (Palmyra leads 23-18)
285: Oliver Rumbaugh pinned Jackson Smith, 1:04 (Spring Grove leads 24-23)
107: Elijah Foltz pinned Elias Ross, 1:03 (Palmyra leads 29-24)
114: Russell Cisney pinned Ryder Linker, 1:42 (Palmyra leads 35-24)
121: Grayson Cisney pinned Ezra Henning, 3:29 (Final: Palmyra 41, Spring Grove 24)
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