The Muhlenberg wrestling team is looking to avenge last year’s second-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships, which will be held at Ursinus tomorrow, beginning at 11:00.

Defending CC champion Western Maryland, ranked 15th in Division III,

Salerno, a third-place finisher at 157 last year, is one of the wrestlers who could help the Mules get a leg up on the competition.

stands in the way with a 17-2 record and the 2002 dual-meet championship. The Mules were 17-8 overall.

Mule Coach Tom Schleicher said, “Western Maryland is the team to beat this year and we know winning the CC tournament will be no easy task. We will need someone else to step up and to receive a little help from other schools to knock off Western Maryland.”

Seniors Tyler Cathey and Bill Holsinger and junior Nate Yeasted are all looking to repeat as CC champions.

Cathey (8-0) is going for his fourth gold medal in a row at heavyweight. He will be challenged by Johns Hopkins’ Karol Gryczynski (24-6) and Western Maryland’s Drew Reinecker (9-2). Cathey won a 3-0 decision over Gryczynski in the regular season matchup and did not face Reinecker.

Holsinger (26-1) is shooting for his third gold medal and is the favorite to repeat at 149. Holsinger’s only loss came to a nationally ranked competitor. His biggest competition figures to come from Ursinus’ Scott Roesch (36-8) and Western Maryland’s Mikey Blake (19-7). Holsinger won on an 8-4 decision over Roesch in the regular season match up and did not face Blake.

Yeasted (29-7) was voted most outstanding wrestler of last year’s meet in the 133-pound weight class. Now competing at 141, Yeasted will be challenged by Gettysburg’s Mike Russo (16-10) and Ursinus’ Dan Williams (23-10) Yeasted lost to Russo, 8-4, but recorded an 11-10 overtime decision over Williams in the regular season

Another returning champion for Muhlenberg is senior Andrew Faust (17-3) at 165. He captured the 149-pound weight class at the 1999 CC championships. Faust is a perfect 5-0 in CC matches, while Dan Cwalina of Ursinus (22-12) boasts a 4-0 record.

Freshman Brian Marcotulli (12-17 at 125), freshman Jeremy Hart (17-12 at 133) and junior Joe Salerno (18-16 at 157) could also be deciding factors in the Mules quest to capture the CC championship.

The 10 individual winners tomorrow receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held at the First Union Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on March 1-2.

The Muhlenberg indoor track teams competed in the Bears Den Invitational in their final tuneup for next weekend’s Centennial Conference Championships.

Junior Brendan Gallagher set a school record in the 3,000 meters, finishing

Gallagher (above) set the Mules’ lone school record at Kutztown; Hankee (below) recorded the highest finish.

fourth with a time of 9:11.32. He now owns four school records: indoors in the 3,000 and the 5,000 and outdoors in the 5,000 and 10,000.

Freshman John Brodowski took fourth place in the long jump, while junior Jason App (pole vault), sophomores Ben Phillips (500), Rob Uniszkiewicz (mile) and Frank Santini (shot put) and freshman Christopher Martin (1000) all took fifth-place finishes.

Two Muhlenberg women – freshmen Ashlie Hankee (second) and Carolyn Schoen (sixth) – placed in the 55-meter hurdles. Sophomore Diana Garretto was third in the 800 meters, as was freshman Meghan Douglas-Snyder in the pole vault.

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