Sophomore Matt Loesch earned his second straight bid to the NCAA Division III Championships by winning the 197-pound title at the Centennial Conference Wrestling Championships, hosted by Muhlenberg at Memorial Hall. The Mules finished with 48.5 points as a team for fourth place.

After pinning his opponent in 2:30 in his first round match, Loesch scored an 8-1 decision in the semifinals to reach the 197-pound final against the

Loesch’s current 20-bout winning streak is tied for the fifth-longest in Muhlenberg history.

same Johns Hopkins opponent he met in last year’s championship bout. Unlike their matchup at the 2004 conference championships, this time Loesch never trailed and took an 8-4 decision.

“Last year, I got down early and had to make a comeback”, said Loesch, who became the first Muhlenberg wrestler in three years to win consecutive CC titles. “It was nice not to be down early this year.”

With the 197-pound championship win, Loesch advances to the NCAA Division III Championships that will be held March 4 and 5 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

“It was such a high to get to that point,” said Loesch, who as a freshman came only one win short of All-America status at last year’s championships. “This year, I realize that I have a purpose.”

Junior Dale Mills (149) and sophomore John Hesse (184) also reached the championship bouts of their respective weight classes, but were defeated.

Mills, who missed much of this season with an injury, reached the

Hesse (behind) reached the final by pinning Steve Jennings of McDaniel (front) with 10 seconds left in the third period. He finished his first complete season with the Mules with a record of 18-10.

149-pound final for the second straight season. In the final, Mills was matched up with a Kings Point wrestler who had been ranked as high as second in Division III earlier this season. Mills battled from behind, and tied the match at seven with just over a minute left in the third period before falling by decision, 10-7.

Hesse advanced to the 184-pound final with a major decision and a pin in his first two matches. In the final, Hesse was pinned by an Ursinus wrestler who entered the CC championships with a 35-1 season record.

Freshman Joe Tartar placed third at heavyweight, winning the consolation bracket with a 4-3 decision over a Johns Hopkins opponent.

Ursinus won the team competition for the third straight year. The Bears finished with 89 points, 7.5 points ahead of second place, McDaniel. CC newcomer Stevens Tech finished third with 57.5 points.

Other wrestlers who won their respective weight classes and received automatic bids to the Division III Championships were Ursinus’ Eddie Murray (125), Scott Roesch (165) and Mike Troutman (184), McDaniel’s Dan Patterson (133), Tony Howard (174) and Drew Reinecker (HWT), Stevens Tech’s Mike Detsis (141) and Brandon MacWhinnie (157) and Kings Point’s Danny Song (149).

Click here for complete results.

Click here for Muhlenberg results.