By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Tournament host Bluffton finished a solid sixth at the 11-team Allen County Invitational wrestling meet this past Saturday.
Powerhouse Allen East won the tournament crown with 400.5 points. The Mustangs far out-distanced second-place Spencerville (215), with Shawnee in third (210).
The Pirates ended up with 125 points to tie Elida for sixth.
Pirate freshman Thayne Kleman went 3-0 with three pins at 106 lbs. to win his bracket title.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Junior guard Laykin Garmatter scored 12 fourth-period points to lead host Bluffton to a 55-49 win over Crestview in Northwest Conference girls basketball action Thursday night.
Bluffton led 13-6 early and held a 35-30 advantage heading to the fourth quarter. The Pirate girls outscored the Lady Knights 20-19 in the final stanza to hold off the visitors, despite eight points from Lexi Gregory in the last period.
Allen County wrestling fans will flock to Bluffton on Saturday for the Allen County high school wrestling tournament.
Bluffton is hosting the 11-school tournament for the first time in several seasons.
Jeff Kleman, Bluffton coach, expects over 100 wrestlers. “There will be 14 weight classes with at least eight wrestlers per class,” he said.
Weigh-ins start 9 a.m. and wrestling starts at 10 a.m. with all matches held in the Bluffton HS gymnasium. Kleman anticipates finals to started between 4:30 and 5 p.m.
By Cort Reynolds
NORTH BALTIMORE - Visiting Bluffton built an 18-point lead heading to the fourth period and held on to beat North Baltimore 52-45 in a non-league girls basketball contest Saturday afternoon.
Bluffton improved to 6-1 overall with its sixth consecutive victory.
The Lady Pirates turned a 29-22 halftime lead into an 18-point margin with a 20-9 third period.
By Cort Reynolds
McCOMB - Visiting Bluffton raced to a 34-point halftime lead at winless McComb and cruised to a 73-31 non-conference boys basketball win Saturday night.
The Pirates improved to 4-0 with the victory, while the Panthers fell to 0-4 with the defeat.
Bluffton led 18-1 after one period of play and stretched the margin to 45-11 by halftime to put it out of reach.