Saturday, Feb. 24, Elizabethtown College’s men’s wrestling team competed in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regionals.
Senior Joe Ghione was ranked fifth in the country after continuing a great personal season as he took a win to the semifinals.
Senior Chris Kummerer was also almost put in the same position, but was on a setback in the quarterfinals. He set his eyes on capturing the third qualifying spot in the 157-pound weight class.
Seniors Quinn Ruble and Rocco Hladney faced the same task of winning three matches in a row at 184 and 197-pounds respectively. These four seniors have their sights on national titles.
The other six wrestlers were not able to get through the second day of competition, but they came out with some positives. First-years Austin Jones and Tyler Mentzer recorded their first career victories while at regional competition.
Senior Eric Eckstein suffered a first-round loss in a tough round against the nation’s second-ranked wrestler, junior Jake O’Brien from Ithaca College.
Sunday Feb. 25, Ghione placed third at the regionals clinching a spot in Cleveland for the NCAA Division III Championships at 141-pounds.
The Blue Jays finished tenth in the team standings for the first time since 2013 and just missed sending more wrestlers to accompany Ghione. Kummerer took fourth at 157-pounds and Hladney took fifth at 197-pounds.
Coming off his first loss of the season, Ghione was determined to finish his season off right. He was able to find just the right time about midway through the first period of consolation semis and pinned his opponent.
Kummerer had positive energy that was able to bring him to this match. Kummerer took the fall at the consolation finals. He ended the season 21-13, matching his career-high victories and finishing with 70 career wins.
Hladney dominated Muhlenburg College’s junior Gennaro Cerminara in the consolation quarterfinals but took a fall in the semis. He fought through to earn a fifth-place win with a 6-4 overtime.
Ruble also wrestled on day two but closed quickly with a 12-4 major decision loss in the quarterfinals.
Ghione will compete in the NCAA Division III Championships taking place at the Cleveland Public Auditorium Mar. 9-10.
