Wrestling 1/26/2018 9:30:00 PM

Ghione advances to semifinals in 141 debut at Wheaton

WHEATON, Ill. -- Joe Ghione spent the first half of his senior season hanging around the national rankings at 149 pounds, but the first-year Blue Jay has much loftier goals. Ghione debuted at 141 pounds Friday at the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational, where he pinned his way to the semifinals for the Elizabethtown College wrestling team.

Ghione is the lone Blue Jay in contention for a weight class championship following the opening day of wrestling. Rocco Hladney can finish as high as third at 197 pounds. The senior reached the quarterfinals in the championship bracket and later staved off elimination to reach the consolation quarters.

Ghione, the No. 2 seed, needed less than three minutes to dispose of his first two opponents en route to the semis. After a first-round bye, the Brick, N.J., native pinned Olivet's Dean Roberts 1:53 into the first period. Mount St. Joseph sophomore Nate McClanahan wasn't as fortune, lasting just 52 seconds before Ghione had his second fall in as many matches. Ghione will face third-seeded Jimmy McAuliffe of Elmhurst in the semifinals on Saturday.

Hladney and Chris Kummerer (157) took similar paths to the quarters before each was defeated by a seeded opponent.

Hladney outscored Olivet's Clayton Higelmire and Wisconsin-Platteville's Billy Busse a combined 30-10, moving into the quarterfinals via 14-4 and 16-6 major decisions. Sixth-seeded Tyler Maclellan, a former NCAA qualifier out of Baldwin Wallace, slipped past Hladney, 3-1, in a matchup of d3wrestle.com contenders.

Elizabethtown's winningest grappler this season, Hladney registered his 25th victory (25-5) with a 6-4 decision over Chicago's Joe Scheidt in a fourth-round consolation. Hladney will open day two against Mount Union's Grant Martin needing three wins to lock down a third-place finish.

Kummerer also fashioned back-to-back major decision wins, blanking Muskingum's Michael Kashuba 14-0 in the first round and routing Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Seth Vosters 12-1 in the second. The Hamburg, Pa., product fell to sixth-seeded Brad Kerkhoff (Buena Vista) 9-4 in the quarterfinals and saw his tournament close with a 5-2 loss to Baldwin Wallace's Benjamin Hooff in the fourth round of consolations.

The Blue and Gray got three wins from heavyweight Eric Eckstein, including a pin of Elmhurst's Zach Dixon (6:30) in the consolation first round. Eckstein bounced back from a first-round defeat to nationally-ranked Nathan Barcaskey (Ohio Northern), making the fourth round of consolations before being ousted by Olivet's Jalen McFerrin-Pace, 6-5.

At 184 pounds, all three of Quinn Ruble's matches ended with a pin. The E-town senior earned his team-leading ninth fall early in the first period (1:22) of his first round consolation match with Mount St. Joseph's Nick Rose. Tyler Menzter collected his fourth win of the season with a 9-3 decision over Alma's Erik Arnegard in a 174-pound second round consolation.

The Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational resumes Saturday at 11 a.m. EST/12 p.m. CST. Fans can follow the action with live results or watch on FloWrestling (subscription required). Blue Jay wrestling's official Twitter account @BlueJaysWR will also have updates.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Eric Eckstein: 285; 5' 10"; Senior

Rocco Hladney: 197; 5' 11"; Senior

Chris Kummerer: 157/165; 5' 7"; Senior

Quinn Ruble: 184/197; 6' 0"; Senior

Joe Ghione: 141/149; 5' 5"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Eric Eckstein
: 5' 10"; Senior
: 285

Rocco Hladney
: 5' 11"; Senior
: 197

Chris Kummerer
: 5' 7"; Senior
: 157/165

Quinn Ruble
: 6' 0"; Senior
: 184/197

Joe Ghione
: 5' 5"; Senior
: 141/149