ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College wrestling team had four wrestlers advance to their first-place matches in their weight class and all four Blue Jays would come out on top as Etown took home the team title for a second consecutive year.

Ethan Liptzin had a pair of byes to begin his day at 125, but went to work right away in his first match, pinning Rocky Finnegan of Wilkes in 1:17. The senior would get his second pin of the day in his next match, the semifinal against Davis & Elkins' Nicholas Ammirati. Down early in the first place match against Riley Parker of Johns Hopkins, Liptzin calmly worked his way back after an early takedown with a few escape points and then as the match wore on, got the final take down and added on a riding time point to claim the 125-pound title.

Deven Jackson was the second Blue Jay to advance to the first place match in his weight class as he maneuvered his way to the 133-pound title tilt. Jackson's opening match was a close 11-7 decision over Justin Amendola of Cortland. He was no match for Ethan Washburn of Wilkes, dominating for a 17-7 major decision to claim a spot in the semifinal round. There, he won close, 11-9 decision, over Michael Richardson to face off with Corey Messick of Roanoke in the first place match. It was another close matchup, but another one that Jackson was able to win as he took the 133-pound championship with a 4-2 decision.

Brian Schneider was on a mission in the Bowers Center. Unlike Liptzin and Jackson, at 165, Schneider wrestled from the beginning and went for five matches on the day and all five did not go the entire way. Schneider made quick work of McDaniel's Michael Binder with a win by fall at 1:10. Nassem Smith of Cortland suffered the same fate, getting pinned by Schneider, this time in 2:01. It was third match, third victory by fall for Schneider as he got Jack Bobeck in 1:57 to advance to the semis. There, he had no issues with Roanoke's Andrew McDougal, winning via tech fall at 6:07, 18-2. Then, in the 165-pound first place match against another Blue Jay of a different color, Schneider pinned Jake Hoffmann of Hopkins in 1:55 to take the crown.

Dylan Waller was also dominant through the rounds on his way to the heavyweight title match. First, he dispatched Ezekiel Gayle of McDaniel with an 18-8 major. He followed with a tech fall at 5:41 (19-3) over Roanoke's Marco Malerba. Waller would put himself into the first place match with another major, this one 13-5 over Darius Green of Elmira. The senior would have to work from behind over Leo Rabinovich of Cortland in the final, but Waller was able to get in front and hold on for a 5-4 decision.

Elizabethtown had several others reach the podium in their weight classes:

149: Shane Strausser, 6th
157: Gavin Fehr, 3rd
184: Will Davis, 3rd
197: Trai Roland, 3rd
285: Kurt Driscoll, 6th

The Blue Jays won the tournament with 152.5 points. Angelo Centrone of Cortland was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament. Centrone was the 149-pound champion.

The Blue Jay Classic marked the final action for the wrestling team in 2023. They will be back on the mat to start 2024 at Johns Hopkins for the Battle for the Belt on Friday, January 5, at 7 p.m.