ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown grabbed an early over Wilkes on a decision from Austin Jones at 125 and a major decision from Colton Rex at 141, Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium. The Colonels would rally, however, winning six of the last seven matches to defeat the Blue Jays 24-10.

Jones put the Blue and Gray on the board immediately by holding off Kyle Trout, 8-5, in the dual's opening match. The sophomore from Ephrata registered a takedown in every period and two third-period escapes in picking up his seventh win of the season.

Elizabethtown (0-2) got its only bonus points of the afternoon from Rex, who continued to display strong form after a run to the quarterfinals of the New Standard Corporation Invitational last weekend. Rex connected for a pair of first-period takedowns to build a 4-1 lead over Wilkes' Thomas Stokes after three minutes of action. Following a scoreless second, the Slatington native went on the attack again in the third. Four quick points on a takedown and two-point nearfall early in the period put Rex in control. He would add a point for riding time in a 9-1 major decision, and now leads the Jays with 14 wins this season.

Wilkes (7-1) moved in front, 11-7, on John Ritter's technical fall at 157 lbs., but freshman Colton Shriner responded with his first collegiate dual victory to keep the hosts close.

Shriner traded 2-for-1's with Michael Brown at 165 throughout the first, recording three takedowns to Brown's three escapes. Brown closed the gap to 6-5 by the end of the period on a takedown of his own with 39 seconds remaining. Tied six-all in the third, Shriner used a fast escape, takedown and riding time point to pull off a 10-6 decision.

Tyler Mentzer put in a spirited effort against nationally-ranked Nicholas Racanelli at 174 before falling 10-4. Racanelli, ranked No. 7 in his weight class by the NWCA and No. 10 by d3wrestle, only led 4-1 heading to the third before amassing two back points, a takedown and two penalty points. Racanelli's victory would be the first of four straight for Wilkes to close out the match. The Colonels win was their eighth straight against E-town since the 2011-12 season.

Rookies Nick Gonzalez and Dan Gorman each picked up wins in exhibition action for the Jays. Gonzalez dominated Cody Dix for a 16-2 major decision, while Gorman turned a late third-period reversal into a 6:49 pin of Austin Cominsky.

Saturday marked Elizabethtown's last match of the 2018 calendar year. The Blue Jays will return from the holidays on Saturday, Jan. 5, at the North/South Duals hosted by Ursinus College.

 

ELIZABETHTOWN vs. WILKES Saturday, December 8, 2018 // Elizabethtown, Pa. (Thompson Gymnasium)
WT.		ETOWN	WILKES
125	Austin Jones (ETOWN) dec. Kyle Trout (WILKES), 8-5	3	0
133	Brock Horton (WILKES) dec. Josh McLaughlin (ETOWN), 2-1	3	3
141	Colton Rex (ETOWN) maj. dec. Thomas Stokes (WILKES), 9-1	7	3
149	Kyle Medrow (WILKES) dec. Josh Paisley (ETOWN), 11-5	7	6
157	John Ritter (WILKES) technical fall Kyle Bythell (ETOWN), 18-2 (4:02)	7	11
165	Colton Shriner (ETOWN) dec. Michael Brown (WILKES), 10-6	10	11
174	#7/10 Nicholas Racanelli (WILKES) dec. Tyler Mentzer (ETOWN), 10-4	10	14
184	Ashton Gyenizs (WILKES) maj. dec. Dayne Ross (ETOWN), 16-3	10	18
197	Moustafa Almeky (WILKES) dec. Nikolay Savin (ETOWN), 4-0	10	21
285	Roger Horton (WILKES) dec. Max Rhoden (ETOWN), 7-4	10	24
EXHIBITION MATCHES
149	Max Shaffer (WILKES) maj. dec. Harry Marr (ETOWN), 9-1
157	Nick Gonzalez (ETOWN) maj. dec. Cody Dix (WILKES), 16-2
165	Allen Kokilananda (WILKES) pinned Eli Perry (ETOWN), 4:19
174	Cole Walters (WILKES) pinned Dan Jerrems (ETOWN), 6:22
285	Dan Gorman (ETOWN) pinned Austin Cominsky (WILKES), 6:49
Rankings: NWCA / d3wrestle.com NR - Not Ranked CT - Contender HM - Honorable Mention