Indoor track and field

wrestlers score upset win in last dual

The Muhlenberg wrestling team closed out its dual-meet season with a 25-21 upset

Hall will take a team-best 25-4 record to the Centennial Conference Championships, where he will try to win his second title in a row.

of 26th-ranked Messiah. It was the first win for the Mules against a nationally ranked foe since they toppled No. 25 McDaniel early in the 2002-03 season.

The pivotal match came at 165, where senior David Lavin was declared a winner by default over Trent Zempel, who is ranked seventh in Division III. Zempel was called for an illegal move when he dropped Lavin to the mat on the back of his head.

In its final competition before the Centennial Conference Championships, Muhlenberg (4-8) wrestled with its complete starting lineup for the first time in almost a month. Each team won five bouts in a seesaw match that saw the lead change hands in every bout from 149 to 184.

After falling behind 9-0, the Mules grabbed a 10-9 lead on junior Billy Hall’s third consecutive pin and a major decision by junior Rob Kein. The Falcons (10-12) won the next bout by fall to retake the lead at 15-10.

Lavin’s default win made it 16-15 Muhlenberg, but David Jones gave Messiah an 18-16 edge with a 6-2 decision against Justin Fitch in the fourth meeting this year between the two wrestlers.

Junior Matt Horn gave the Mules the lead for good, at 22-18, with his team-leading 11th pin of the season at 184. Another Falcon win by decision kept Muhlenberg in front by a single point, meaning Joe Tartar had to win at heavyweight in the final bout of the evening. The senior came through, prevailing 7-0 for his 23rd win of the season.
Click here for box score.