Johns Hopkins holds off E-town

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Joe Ghione won his 20th match of the season and Rocco Hladney claimed his 60th career victory for Elizabethtown, but a trio of pins helped Johns Hopkins emerge with a 24-21 victory in the annual battle of the Blue Jays Thursday evening at Thompson Gymnasium.

E-town and Hopkins evenly split the 10 weight classes, but the visitors held a 9-6 advantage in bonus points, which made all the difference.

Hopkins (8-3) took a quick 9-0 lead two bouts in, but nationally-ranked Joe Ghione (#6 NWCA, #5 d3wrestle.com) used an aggressive approach to lock down his 20th win and eighth pin. The senior collected four takedowns and a two-point nearfall to lead Lucas Escobar 10-4 after a period. Ghione reversed Escobar from the bottom 45 ticks into the second and a late-period takedown quickly turned to a fall at 4:50. Ghione joined Rocco Hladney (27) and Eric Eckstein (21) as the third Blue Jay with 20 or more victories this season.

An inspired overtime victory for Dan Smith at 149 pounds tied the match at nine, but E-town could not pull in front. Smith trailed Connor Joyce 6-2 entering the third, but rallied with an escape, takedown and two-point nearfall in the final 48 seconds to go in front 7-6. Joyce's 1:30 of riding time sent the match to overtime, but Smith kept his momentum rolling and wrapped up the win, 9-7, with a takedown 24 seconds into the extra session.

Johns Hopkins, which claimed the newly-minted Blue Jay championship belt, went on to win three of the next four weights and got pins from Dominick Reyes at 157 and Miles Gilliam at 174 to take its largest lead, 24-13.

Chris Kummerer ran his dual record to 10-2 with a 9-1 major decision over Nathan Wertheimer at 165 that kept E-town's (6-6) chances alive.

Elizabethtown needed a pair of pins in the final two weight classes to win the match outright, but had to settle for two bout victories instead.

Rocco Hladney hounded Karl Tayeb for more than six minutes, recording 10 takedowns in a 22-7 (6:03) technical fall. Eric Eckstein's takedown of Henri Behaeghel with 10 seconds left in the second proved to be the difference in the heavyweight matchup, a 4-2 triumph for the E-town senior.

E-town finishes the regular season with a 6-6 dual record, a four-win improvement over last season. The Blue Jays also recorded their first .500 dual record or better since 2012-13.

Elizabethtown will travel to Ithaca College for the NCAA DIII Mideast Regional Championships on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25. The top three weight class finishers at regionals will qualify for March's NCAA DIII Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.

Elizabethtown vs. Johns Hopkins Thursday, February 15, 2018 // Elizabethtown, Pa. (Thompson Gymnasium)
Wt.		EC	JHU
125	Christian Vallis (JHU) pinned Austin Jones (EC), 4:35	0	6
133	#NR/CT Ricky Cavallo (JHU) dec. Josh McLaughlin (EC), 7-1	0	9
141	#6/5 Joe Ghione (EC) pinned Lucas Escobar (JHU) 4:50	6	9
149	Dan Smith (EC) dec. Connor Joyce (JHU), 9-7 (SV1)	9	9
157	#NR/HM Dominick Reyes (JHU) pinned Chad Rosenberger (EC), 4:26	9	15
165	Chris Kummerer (EC) maj. dec. Nathan Wertheimer (JHU), 9-1	13	15
174	Miles Gilliam (JHU) pinned Dan Jerrems (EC), 2:42	13	21
184	#NR/HM Isaac Morales (JHU) dec. Quinn Ruble (EC), 5-4	13	24
197	Rocco Hladney (EC) tech fall Karl Tayeb (JHU), 22-7 (6:03)	18	24
285	Eric Eckstein (EC) dec. Henri Behaeghel (JHU), 4-2	21	24
Exhibition
165	Dane Morgan (JHU) pinned Eli Perry (EC), 6:12
Rankings: NWCA / d3wrestle.com NR - Not ranked CT - Contender HM - Honorable Mention

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Players Mentioned

Eric Eckstein: 285; 5' 10"; Senior

Rocco Hladney: 197; 5' 11"; Senior

Dan Jerrems: 165/174/184; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

Chad Rosenberger: 157/165; 5' 11"; Junior

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

Dan Smith: 149/157; 5' 8"; Junior

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

Austin Jones: 125/133; 5' 3"; Freshman

Josh McLaughlin: 133; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Eric Eckstein
: 5' 10"; Senior
: 285

Rocco Hladney
: 5' 11"; Senior
: 197

Dan Jerrems
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: 165/174/184

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

Chad Rosenberger
: 5' 11"; Junior
: 157/165

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

Dan Smith
: 5' 8"; Junior
: 149/157

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

Austin Jones
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: 125/133

Josh McLaughlin
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: 133