ELIZABETHTOWN, PA – The Wilkes University wrestling team placed second of 10 teams Saturday at the Blue Jay Classic hosted by Elizabethtown University on the strength of 11 top-six finishes including weight class championships by juniors Christopher Nuss (Gore, VA/James Wood) at 184-pounds and Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) at 197-pounds.

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The Colonels placed second of 10 teams with 145.5 team points. No. 21 Elizabethtown earned the team championship with 152.5 points. Among the teams Wilkes finished ahead of was No. 12 McDaniel College, who was fifth with 119.5 points.

Butka, ranked No. 7 in the nation at 197-pounds by the NWCA and No. 6 by d3wrestle.com, stayed undefeated on the season with a 4-0 day to improve to 13-0. He earned his third tournament title of the season and made it three-for-three for his career in winning championships at the Blue Jay Classic. Butka won his Round of 16 bout by fall in 26 seconds over Derrick DeMann of Keystone College. He then moved past Will Shiber of Johns Hopkins University in the Quarterfinals before a fall in 1:24 over Garrett Eddy of Davis & Elkins College in the Semifinal round. In the Final, Butka defeated Jaedyn Harris, ranked No. 8 by the NWCA and No. 9 by d3wrestle.com, by a 4-1 decision to earn the championship. He used a takedown with 45 seconds left in the first period to score three points to put him in control of the bout.

Nuss made his 2023-24 debut and in doing so earned his first career tournament championship as he went 4-0 at 184-pounds. The junior started his run in the Round of 16 with a fall in 2:14 over Louis Frisenda of Keystone. He then won a 10-1 major decision over Jonathan Sklavounos of the University of Scranton in the Quarterfinals. A 5-2 decision over Robert Cunningham of SUNY Cortland pushed Nuss to the Finals where he met teammate Hunter Lowe (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill). Nuss earned the title with a tight 4-1 win over Lowe as he used a second period escape to take a 1-0 lead and a takedown in the third period to seal the win.

Lowe was one of nine other Colonel grapplers to place in the top six on the day as he took second at 184. The senior started with a fall in 2:22 over McDaniel's Thomas Bunce in the Round of 16. He then defeated Christos Avgeros of Roanoke College by a fall in 2:55 in the Quarterfinals. Lowe then upset top seeded Will Davis of Elizabethtown in the Semifinals with another fall in 4:04 to set up the title bout with Nuss.

Jack Bauer (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central), who was seeded second at 141-pounds, earned a runner-up finish. In the Round of 32 he defeated Roanoke's Garrett Hughes by a 14-9 decision. He then picked up a 15-0 technical fall over Scranton's Nicholas Harder in 1:45 for a Round of 16 win. The graduate student won his Quarterfinal bout over McDaniel's Connor Bollinger by a 16-0 technical fall in 4:37. Bauer took down Shane Walczyk of Cortland in the Semifinals with a 15-5 major decision and Cortland's Culley Bellino in the Finals where he settled for the runner-up placement on a 4-1 day.

Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) placed third at 149-pounds. The first year started with a Round of 32 win over Konstant Mavrikidis of Scranton by a 16-1 technical fall in 4:59. He then picked up an 18-3 technical fall over McDaniel's Tyriel Jefferson in 4:29 in the Round of 16. A 13-5 major decision over Elizabethtown's Shane Strausser moved Santiago into the Semifinals. Angelo Centrone of Cortland, who is ranked No. 8 by the NWCA, won a technical fall over Santiago in the Semifinal. In the Consolation bracket he defeated Freddy Pimental of Johns Hopkins by a 17-3 major decision to take third place.

Melquan Warren (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) also earned third place for the Colonels at 174-pounds. The first year began his run in the Round of 16 with a fall in 4:13 over Yoann Olympio of McDaniel. A Quarterfinal fall in 1:08 over Kolin Driscoll of Elizabethtown followed. Kyle Lee the eventual champion at the tournament from Roanoke defeated Warren in the Semifinals by a 15-10 decision. In the Third-Place Warren earned an early takedown of Corland's Pat Ross before Ross exited with an injury as Warren earned his first career placement for the Colonels in third place.

Caleb Burkhart (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville), ranked No. 13 at 285-pounds by the NWCA, was the third Colonels to place third on the day. He picked up a Round of 16 fall in 2:07 over Jimmy Yeingst of Elizabethtown. He then won his Quarterfinal by a 4-0 decision over Keystone's Rocco Arduini. Cortland's Leo Rabinovich defeated Burkhart in the Semifinals. The junior won his Third-Place bout by fall in 4:36 over Darius Green of Elmira College.

Michael Richardson (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) earned a fourth place finish at 133-pounds for Wilkes. He began his day with a Round of 16 win over Thomas Brattole of Scranton by a fall in 1:41. The senior then beat Cody Merwin of Cortland by a 2-0 decision in the Quarterfinals. Deven Jackson of Elizabethtown won a tight 11-0 decision in the Semifinals over Richardson. Richardson lost the Third-Place match by a 12-6 decision to Jayden Cardenas of Cortland, who was ranked No. 5 by the NWCA and No. 7 by d3wrestle.com.

Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) also earned a fourth-place result at 157-pounds. He started the day with a Round of 16 win by an 8-3 decision over Andre Allen of McDaniel. The sophomore then won by fall in 6:22 in the Quarterfinals over Nate Puchalski of Johns Hopkins. Daniel Kosinski of Scranton defeated Hartranft in the Semifinals and Hartranft settled for fourth with a medical forfeit in the Third-Place bout.

Mason Livio (Little Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Pinelands Regional) placed fifth at 141-pounds for the Colonels for his first career placement. The first year started with a Round of 16 win by a 1-0 decision over Shkeb Nadir of Scranton. Top seed Dustin Smith of Roanoke then won an 8-1 decision in the Quarterfinals. In the Consolation bracket Livio picked up a fall over teammate Conner Sklavounos (Township of Washington, NJ/Westwood Regional) in 1:14. He then won by fall in 6:27 over Scott Reagan of Elizabethtown which earned him fifth place after a forfeit by his opponent.

Connor Kerwin (Totowa, NJ/Passaic Valley) placed sixth at 125-pounds. He began the day with a 14-2 major decision over Kale Quigley of Elizabethtown in the Round of 16. Nicholas Ammirati of Davis & Elkins defeated Kerwin by a major decision in the Quarterfinals. Kerwin then defeated fellow first year Noah Rosa (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) by a 4-2 decision in the Consolation bracket. That was followed by a 7-6 decision over teammate Cadden Kucek (Forty Fort, PA/Wyoming Valley West) to move him to the Fifth-Place bout where he lost to McDaniel's Romeo Tsai.

The Colonels return to the mat for a road dual match at Delaware Valley University on Friday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m.