Joe Ghione at NCAA DIII Championships 3/10/18

Wrestling

Ghione takes fourth at NCAA Championships

CLEVELAND -- Joe Ghione's storybook season came to an end with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.

A pair of near misses in the semifinals halted Ghione's opportunity to become the first Blue Jay to wrestle for a national championship since Tyler Erdman in 2010.

Ghione appeared to fire the opening salvo with a takedown of top-seeded Brett Kaliner 30 seconds into the semifinal bout, but no signal came from the official. Elizabethtown head coach Eric Walker challenged, but the no-call was upheld. Instead, Ghione and Kaliner went to the second period scoreless.

Another excruciating decision came early in the middle stanza. Working from the bottom, Ghione nearly threw a reversal on the talented Stevens freshman for a 2-0 lead, but instead settled for an escape a few seconds later.

Kaliner hit a takedown with 30 ticks left in the second for his first lead of the match and opened a 5-1 advantage with an escape and takedown in the opening minute of the third. Ghione freed himself with 20 seconds remaining, but it wasn't enough in a 6-2 defeat.

Visibly distraught with the result and exhausted from months of tireless work, Ghione refused to let the loss define his season. He bounced right back in the consolation semifinals and punched his ticket to the third-place match with a 1:25 pin of Cornell College's Josh Martin, the NWCA's top-ranked grappler and second seed in the tournament.

Unseeded --but nationally-ranked-- Chris Williams of Millkin University was Ghione's opponent in the consolation final. Williams advanced to the match with a pair of narrow wins that required extra time, but got off to a fast start against the E-town senior with a pair of first period takedowns. The second came right before the buzzer.

Ghione collected his first takedown with 10 seconds left in the second, but Williams escaped quickly and took a 6-3 lead to the third. Williams took advantage of an opponent needing points in any way possible, picking up a pin at 6:22, to seal Ghione's fourth-place finish.

Ghione's finish is the highest at nationals for Elizabethtown since Julian Meaney took fourth at 184 back in 2013. The Brick, N.J., native posted a career-high 27 victories (27-6), won a pair of tournament titles and spent a majority of the season nationally ranked in both major polls (NWCA and D3wrestle).
 
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Players Mentioned

Joe Ghione

Joe Ghione

141/149
5' 5"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Joe Ghione

Joe Ghione

5' 5"
Senior
141/149