BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Elizabethtown College wrestling team was defending its Battle of the Blue Jays belt Friday night at Johns Hopkins. Etown, victorious over Hopkins in 2020, needed Dylan Waller's decision in the final bout to get the 21-18 win over their Blue Jay foes and retain the belt.

Elizabethtown (6-4) was down 3-0 after a decision went Johns Hopkins' (2-3) way at 125 in the first match of the night.

Etown got going at 133 as Scott Reagan led 4-1 after the first period. Reagan put forth a high-scoring second with a reversal off the bat after starting down. He had a pair of near falls and earned four back points twice to take a commanding 14-1 lead into the third. Reagan added another takedown and tack on the point for riding time to give the sophomore a tech fall victory. That put EC ahead 5-3.

Zach Rupp wasted no time in his bout at 141. He had a pair of takedowns before getting the pinfall victory at just 1:16 of the first, a big six points for Elizabethtown, who now led 11-3.

Shane Strausser added on to that lead. His takedown in the first period led to two back points at the latter end and the junior took a 4-0 advantage into the second. Neither wrestler produced a point in the second as he maintained his four-point lead going into the final period. Strausser started down and got the escape to make it 5-0. He was able to earn another takedown and with his riding point, finished with an 8-0 major decision to get Etown to 15-3.

JHU didn't go away, however. They had decisions at 157, 165, and 174 to climb back to within three, 15-12. Then, at 184, a pinfall for Hopkins put them into the lead at 18-15 with two bouts left.

Elizabethtown needed something out of junior Tyler Phenegar, and they got just that. He went up 2-0 early on with a takedown and slowly built up his lead through two periods at 6-2. His opponent, Will Shiber, started down in the third and got the escape to cut the deficit to 6-3, but a stall on Shiber later in the third gave that point back and then Phenegar really put it away with a final takedown to get the decision, 9-3, and tie the match score at 18-18 heading into the heavyweight battle.

Waller, responsible for Etown's 26-20 win over Gettysburg on Jan. 12 after the score was tied going into his match, was up for the moment once again. Though he didn't get a pinfall in 25 seconds like he did against the Bullets, the sophomore methodically worked Hank Behaeghel over three periods. Waller got an early two points with a takedown and never looked back. He led 4-2 after the first and 7-3 after the second. Waller put it away in the third with another pair of takedowns. Also with enough riding time for the point, Waller clinched the belt for Elizabethtown with a 12-6 decision.

The wrestling team is back in action tomorrow night when they host Penn State Mont Alto at Thompson Gymnasium. The match is set for 7 p.m. The Blue Jays will also be celebrating their Alumni Night along with the match.