ELIZABETHTOWN, PA – The Wilkes University men's wrestling team finished in second place at the 2025 Blue Jay Classic hosted by Elizabethtown College Saturday afternoon. Thirteen different Colonels finished in the top-six at the event with two runner-ups and three third place finishers.
 
As a team, Wilkes finished with 152-5 points on way to second place in the team standings. Host Elizabethtown captured the title with 181.5 team points and five first place finishers while Albright College followed in third place with 139.5 points and two first place winners.
 
The Colonels saw two wrestlers finish runner-up in their respective weight classes in Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) (141) and Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) (157). Santiago raced to the finals going 3-0 with three extra-point wins including two falls (6:15 and 2:14) and a major decision (11-3). Santiago then fell in the finals by a 14-8 decision to champion Rocco Futla of Cortland. Hartranft also went 3-0 to reach the finals including back-to-back falls (2:27 and 1:46). He then fell to champion Trent Mahoney of Albright College getting pinned in 1:29 to settle for second place.
 
Three Colonels earned third place in the event including Gus Smith (Royersford, PA/Springford) (125), Ashton Romberger (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) (141) and Joshua Wilkins (Mount Laurel, NJ/Holy Cross) (174). Smith scored two falls (2:18 and 2:57) and a major decision (10-1) to reach the semifinals. He fell 11-6 in that bout before besting Hezekiah Molina-Hagdu of Albright College 20-7 in the third place match. Romberger opened the tournament with two falls (2:24 and 3:28) before losing by fall to eventual champion Futla of Cortland. Romberger then took home third place after a medical forfeit in the third place match. Wilkins was impressive to start his run with two falls (3:24 and 2:08) before a 6-4 decision to reach the semifinals. There he lost 8-3 to Scranton's Donnell Young before receiving a medical forfeit win in the third place match.
 
Sam Kimmel (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) (133), Ben Grater (Saddle Brooke, NJ/Saddle Brook) (141) and Souleymane Diarra (Philadelphia, PA/Overbrook) (184) each took home fourth place in their respective weight class. Kimmel began the day with three straight falls (3:13, 2:32 and 4:15) before falling in the semifinals and consolation second round. Grater used a major decision (20-12) and fall in 5:54 to start the tournament before falling in back-to-back tough decisions 10-3 and 6-3 to close out his run. Diarra had the best finish of his career in tournament competition starting with two straight decision wins 7-5 and 5-3 before falling in his next two matches to settle for fourth.
 
Other top-six finishers for Wilkes included: Patrick Gordon III (South Riding, VA/Freedom) 197/5^th place), Wilfred Jimenz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) (141/6^th place), Jared Bilinski (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville Central) (184/6^th place), Xaiden Schock (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack) (197/6^th place) and Trevor Gitski (Alburtis, PA/Emmaus) (285/6^th place).
 
Wilkes remains idle until Friday, December 19 when the Colonels host the Wilkes Open at 9:30 a.m.