WESTMINSTER, MD – The Johns Hopkins wrestling team got a second-place finish from senior Chris Roybal (174) and third-place showings from sophomores Connor Powell (157) and Jake Hoffmann (165) to highlight the Blue Jays' effort at the 30^th Centennial Conference Wrestling Championships at McDaniel on Saturday.  The short-handed Blue Jays, who had an entry in just six of 10 weight classes, placed sixth in the final team scoring with 26 points; Ursinus won the team title for the second consecutive year.
 
Roybal Grabs Second Career Silver
Roybal earned his second career runner-up finish at the Centennial Championships with today's second-place showing; he was previously the runner-up at 157 in 2022.  Seeded second, Roybal opened with a tough 4-1 win over Ivan Corral of the Merchant Marine Academy as he scored a takedown in the final seconds to advance.  He then topped third-seeded Dalton Pearl of McDaniel, 9-4, in the semifinals before falling to top-seeded Sean Cowan of Ursinus, 15-4, in the title bout.
 
Powell Goes 2-1 to Place Third at 157
Powell also earned the number two seed and had a bye into the semifinals, where he fell to Gettysburg's Gavin Pascoe, 11-10.  In the consolation bracket, he scored at 15-1 major decision of Merchant Marine's Austin Manning and locked down his third-place finish with a second-period pin of Max Parnis of Ursinus (4:07) in the consolation final.
 
Hoffmann Wins Three to Grab Bronze
Hoffmann added a third-place showing of his own at 165 as he picked up three wins in four matches on the day.  The third of Hopkins' three number-two seeded, he needed just 67 seconds to pin Matthew Ferrucci of the Merchant Marine Academy before dropping a tight 5-3 decision to McDaniel's Ryan Ohler in the semifinals.  He advanced to the consolation final with a win by forfeit in the consolation semis and then topped Gettysburg's Justin Richey, 4-2, in the third-place match.
 
What's Next
The Blue Jays will return to action on March 1-2 when they compete at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.