The two-day competition for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division III Wrestling Championships kicked off on Friday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. and Etown looked to be in terrific shape by the day’s end. Four different Blue Jays reached the semifinals for their respective weight classes that day. These Jays included junior Dorian Gonzalez, junior Dylan Waller, senior Brian Schneider and first-year Ganon Smith. The team’s overall score heading into Saturday was 59 points, holding fourth place out of 21 competitors.  

The team seemed to falter a bit on Saturday, but they regained their composure and finished with a solid team performance. Gonzalez and Waller both won their initial matchups in the semifinals. However, both would lose their third-place bouts and finish with well-earned fourth-place performances in their weight classes.  

The story was different for Schneider and Smith though. After impressive wins in their first matches of the day, Schneider winning 11-3 and Smith winning 9-2, the two Blue Jays found clutch performances in their third-place matches, winning and living another day. As Saturday ended, Etown took a slight fall in the overall leaderboards, but still posted an impressive score of 81.5 points. They found themselves in seventh out of 21 teams at the end of the event.

With that, Schneider and Smith earned a spot in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division III Wrestling Championships. Smith and Schnieder’s third place podium finishes in their respective events were key in the success Etown had this week. Overall, the team had a successful day and grabbed a top-10 finish in this big-time event with 81.5 points and the seventh place finish by day’s end comes out as one of the better posted results the wrestling team has seen in the past 10 years.  

Schneider and Smith will move on to the Division III Wrestling Championships on March 10 at 11 a.m. and March 11 at 10 a.m. The event will be hosted by Ferrum College in Roanoke, Va. at the Berglund Center.