Wrestling 2/24/2018 8:10:00 PM

Four still vying for national berths at Mideast Regionals

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The dream of a trip to nationals is still alive for four Elizabethtown College wrestling seniors at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional following competition Saturday. Joe Ghione advanced to the semifinals at 141 pounds, while Blue Jay teammates Chris Kummerer (157), Quinn Ruble (184) and Rocco Hladney (197) forge ahead in their respective consolation brackets.

Ghione, ranked fifth in the country by d3wrestle.com and sixth by the NWCA, continued to stake his claim as one of the nation's premier grapplers with a pair of commanding wins to move into the semifinals.

The Brick, N.J., native pinned RIT's Shane Murphy at 4:46 of their first round match and breezed past TCNJ's Robert Dinger with a 19-3 (5:48) technical fall in the quarterfinals. Ghione extended his winning streak to 11 matches in the process and has yet to lose in 2018 (10-0). More impressively, all 11 victories have come via pin (seven), tech fall (two) or major decision (two).

The math is simple for all four remaining Jays to qualify for the NCAA DIII Championships in Cleveland two weekends from now, but it is most closely attainable for Ghione. A victory against nationally-ranked No. 3/3 Brett Kaliner of Stevens in Sunday's semifinals locks Ghione into a top-two finish and an automatic berth. A loss would require Ghione (22-3) to win a consolation semifinal and third-place match to qualify. The top three finishers in each weight class move on to nationals.

E-town's 157-pound entry, Chris Kummerer, nearly put himself in the same position as Ghione, if not for a 3-2 setback against d3wrestle.com contender Kaidon Winters of RIT in the quarterfinals.

Kummerer collected a 16-8 major decision over Hunter's Sean Miller in round two and recovered from the loss to Winters with a 4:35 pin of Ursinus' Jarrett DiGiantomass in the third round of consolations. Kummerer opens day two with a consolation quarterfinal bout against Oneonta's Daniel Murphy and must win three straight matches to capture the third and final qualifying spot in the weight class.

Ruble and Hladney face the same task of winning three in a row at 184 and 197 pounds.

Ruble fell to Merchant Marine's Kurtis Hahn, 8-6, in the first round, but came through with a pin of Muhlenberg's Michael Cannon (2:18) and a 5-4 decision over TCNJ's Thom Anderson in the consolation bracket. The pin of Cannon was the Southampton, N.J., product's team-best 11th of the year.

Hladney routed RIT's Matt Cicco with his fifth tech fall of the season, 21-6 (6:24), but came out on the wrong end of an 8-6 decision with Cortland's Mike Beckwith in the quarters. A 2-0 shutout over Ursinus' Deon Edmund sets up a meeting of d3wrestle.com honorable mention picks in the consolation quarters Sunday, as Hladney will face Muhlenberg's Gennaro Cerminara.

Elizabethtown was unable to push its remaining six wrestlers through to the second day of competition, though there were positives to be taken from a few matches.

Freshmen Austin Jones (125) and Tyler Mentzer (174) recorded their first career victories at regionals. Jones posted a 17-5 major decision over Hunter's Hamad Amir in a consolation second round match and Mentzer pinned Mount St. Vincent's Patrick Polintan in a first round wrestle back.

Senior Eric Eckstein was dealt a tough draw and suffered a first round loss to the nation's second-ranked wrestler in Ithaca's Jake O'Brien. Eckstein defeated Stevens' Joseph Moreno 2-0 in a first round consolation, before falling to Brockport's Austin Dean in the second. The Bel Air, Md., native ended his Blue Jay career with 54 wins, including 44 over the last two seasons.

The Blue Jays amassed 30.5 team points to rank 12th of 17 teams at the conclusion of Saturday's action. Elizabethtown is within 10 points of seventh-place Merchant Marine as it tries to obtain its first top 10 team finish at regionals since winning the inaugural Mideast Regional in 2013.

Nationally-ranked No. 3 Ithaca looks well on its way to capturing this year's title on its home campus. The Bombers put up 82.5 points to lead No. 16 Stevens by 26. No. 18 TCNJ is third (49.5), No. 17 Centenary fourth (49.0), while No. 20 Brockport and Cortland share fifth with 47 points apiece.

Semifinals are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday. To follow the Blue Jays' progress live, visit Tournament Central or follow @BlueJaysWR on Twitter.

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

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

Tyler Mentzer: 174; 5' 10"; Freshman

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

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

Tyler Mentzer
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: 174