Saturday, Jan. 27, Elizabethtown College’s men’s wrestling team crowned a leading champion at the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational in Wheaton, Illinois.

Senior Joe Ghione used two pins to win the 141-pound weight class. This is the first Etown champion at this tournament since 2012.

Friday, Ghione found out that he advanced to the semifinals and was the lone Blue Jay in contention for a weight class championship following the opening day of wrestling.

During the semifinals, Ghione took on first-year James McAuliffe of Elmhurst College. The match nearly went the full seven minutes, but Ghione got the pin on McAuliffe with only five seconds remaining.

Ghione captured the Star City Open at 149 pounds in November, but has since then elevated his record to 17-3, with a perfect 4-0 record weekend.

He became the first Blue Jay to win a weight class at the tournament since Billy Meany claimed the 197-title of 2012.

Third-seeded senior Rocco Hladney also competed for the Blue and Gray and placed eighth at 197 pounds.

He dropped a quarterfinal to Mount Union University’s Grant Martin and was clipped for seventh by Heidelberg University’s Tyler Hammack.

Senior Chris Kummerer 157-pound took a similar path as Hladney to the quarterfinals.

Etown was one of eight teams to feature a weight class champion. They ended the weekend tied for 12th out of 35 teams with 48.5 points. This was the Blue Jays’ best result at Wheaton after the sixth-place finish in 2013.

Messiah College scored a tournament-high 137 points and Mount Union received 130.5, giving them a place in the top five.

The Blue Jays are wrestling against King’s College at home in Thompson Gym Friday, Feb. 2 for Alumni Night and Senior Night starting at 7 p.m.