With four wrestlers placing in the top three, the Muhlenberg wrestling team finished in fourth place at the Centennial Conference Championships.

Leading the way for the Mules was junior CJ Horvath, who breezed to the 125-pound title. Junior Nick Stump and senior Ryan Fairchild came in second at 184 and 197, respectively, while junior Tyson Derenberger placed third at 165.

Horvath (pictured above center) set two school records and tied a third in giving the Mules their fourth consecutive 125-pound champion. He won all three of his bouts on technical falls, opening up a 15-0 lead in the first minute of the second period in his opening bout and a 19-2 edge in the opening seconds of the third period in the semifinals.

In the final, against an Ursinus opponent who is ranked sixth in the region, Horvath recorded takedowns in each of the three periods, including one at the final whistle that, combined with a point for riding time, resulted in a 16-1 win.

The three technical falls gave Horvath 11 for the season, breaking the mark of eight he set last year. Horvath, ranked 19th in Division III, also tied the career record of 22 career technical falls and became the first Muhlenberg wrestler ever to notch three techs at the CC meet. No Mule had come away with two since 1999.

Horvath, who has reached the final in all four of his tournaments this season, will take a season record of 22-2 into the NCAA regionals.

Stump (pictured above left, top) reached the final for the first time in his career with a major decision and his 11th pin of the season. He was tied with the top seed, 3-3, entering the final period of the championship bout but was taken down twice and lost, 13-4.

After a major decision in the first round, Fairchild (pictured above left, bottom) faced a regionally ranked opponent to whom he had lost, 4-1, on a second-period takedown during the regular season. This time the bout didn't make it to the second period, as Fairchild took him down to his back for a pin in just 28 seconds to advance to the final for the second time in his career. He lost on a technical fall to the third-ranked 197-pounder in the region.

Derenberger (pictured above right) lost on a major decision in his tournament opener, but after scoring a major of his own in his first consolation match, he faced the same Gettysburg wrestler in the third-place bout. This time Derenberger flipped the script, pinning him in just 87 seconds.

complete brackets

Team Scores
1. Ursinus (U) 93.5
2. Gettysburg (G) 87.5
3. Merchant Marine (MM) 70
4. MUHLENBERG 48
5. McDaniel (Mc) 40.5
6. Johns Hopkins (JH) 33.5

Muhlenberg Results
125
CJ Horvath (Muhl) tech fall Isaiah Brewster (Mc), 3:39 (15-0)
Horvath tech fall Cayden Farver (MM), 5:16 (19-2)
final: Horvath tech fall Michael Adams (U), 7:00 (16-1)

133
Wesley Wydick (MM) pinned Max Rotter (Muhl), 2:05
Blaise Verdino (U) pinned Rotter, 3:46

149
Aidan Krass (MM) tech fall Eoghan O'Hara (Muhl), 6:56 (20-5)
Freddy Pimental (JH) tech fall O'Hara, 2:34 (16-1)

157
Gavin Pascoe (G) tech fall Charles Levine (Muhl), 4:11 (16-1)
Giorgio Difalco (JH) dec. Levine, 7-4 (sv)

165
Ean Wilson (G) maj. dec. Tyson Derenberger (Muhl), 10-2
Derenberger maj. dec. Ladaynean Simpson (Mc), 8-0
consolation final: Derenberger pinned Wilson, 1:27

174
Justin Richey (G) tech fall Noah Schlofer (Muhl), 5:04 (16-0)
Alex Taylor (Mc) dec. Schlofer, 5-1

184
Nick Stump (Muhl) maj. dec. Joe Dietz (G), 14-4
Stump pinned Kadin Khalloufi (JH), 2:11
final: Nils Updale (U) maj. dec. Stump, 13-4

197
Ryan Fairchild (Muhl) maj. dec. Isaac Ogunlade (Mc), 13-2
Fairchild pinned Sean Cowan (U), 0:28
final: Tyler Withers (MM) tech fall Fairchild, 5:11 (17-0)