The Muhlenberg wrestling team crowned three champions - junior Dylan Schwartz at 165, senior Jimmy Fratantoni at 174 and senior Gennaro Cerminara at 197 - en route to finishing in fourth place at the Centennial Conference Championships.

The Mules scored 58 team points, coming in just a point behind third-place Merchant Marine and 3.5 points behind second-place Washington and Lee. Stevens, which is leaving the conference after this year, won its fifth straight title.

The fourth-place showing was the best for Muhlenberg in 10 years and a three-place improvement from last year. The 58 points were the most scored by the Mules, who were picked seventh in the CC preseason poll, since 2007.

That year - 2007 - was also the last time more than one Muhlenberg wrestler came home with a gold medal.

Two other Mules earned places, with junior Austin Sherman winning the 141-pound consolation bracket and junior Josh Hickey coming in fourth at 133.

Cerminara (pictured above center) won his second straight title, becoming the program's first multiple-time CC champion since Matt Loesch (2004-07). After receiving a first-round bye, Cerminara pinned a Johns Hopkins opponent in the first period of his semifinal bout. The final was a back-and-forth affair with the two wrestlers trading reversals in both the first and third periods, but two takedowns by Cerminara were the difference in an 11-6 win.

Schwartz (pictured above left) improved on his third-place showing from last year, breezing to the final with a technical fall and major decision. Schwartz trailed 3-0 after the first period of the championship bout, but took control with two takedowns in the second period, one midway through and one in the final seconds. He scored another takedown in the third period, rendering a late takedown by his Washington and Lee opponent meaningless in a 7-6 win.

Fratantoni (pictured above right), who had to default out of the 2017 CC meet due to injury and missed last year's championship entirely, won his first career tournament title after moving down from 184 to 174 midway through the season. He advanced with a major decision and 6-5 decision and scored takedowns in each of the three periods of the title bout. Leading 5-3 after his opponent conceded an escape at the start of the third period, Fratantoni secured the win with a takedown after a long tieup and went on to an 8-3 decision.

Sherman had an impressive pair of consolation bouts after suffering a 4-3 decision in the semifinals. In the consolation semis, he overcame an early takedown to score a first-period pin against a McDaniel opponent he defeated by just one point last weekend. In the third-place bout, he scored a 9-6 decision against a two-time national qualifier from Washington and Lee.

Hickey went 2-2 in placing at a tournament for the first time in his Muhlenberg career. Both of his losses were to the same opponent, and he needed only 55 seconds to pin a Merchant Marine foe to whom he lost earlier this season.

Juniors Brian Jamison (157) and Scott Schaeffer (heavyweight) each won their first-round bouts.

complete results

Team Scores
1. Stevens (S) 83
2. Washington and Lee (WL) 61.5
3. Merchant Marine (MM) 59
4. MUHLENBERG (Muhl) 58
5. Gettysburg (G) 51
6. Johns Hopkins (JH) 43.5
7. Ursinus (U) 34.5
8. McDaniel (Mc) 18

Muhlenberg Results
125
Akhil Vega (S) pinned Matt Ferrante (Muhl), 5:40
Jeremy Berger (JH) maj. dec. Ferrante, 12-4

133
Ryker Eckenbarger (Mc) maj. dec. Josh Hickey (Muhl), 12-4
Hickey dec. Brandon Miller (U), 9-6
Hickey pinned Kimo Dial (MM), 0:55
consolation final: Eckenbarger dec. Hickey, 9-2

141
Austin Sherman (Muhl) dec. Dan May (MM), 6-2
Sean Thompson (G) dec. Sherman, 4-3
Sherman pinned Isaiah Edmond (Mc), 2:48
consolation final: Sherman dec. Zach Bylykbashi (WL), 9-6

149
Patrick Rowe (U) dec. Mathew Castimore (Muhl), 11-6
Chad Puglio (MM) pinned Castimore, 0:44

157
Brian Jamison (Muhl) dec. Ray Martin (G), 8-6
Dominick Reyes (JH) pinned Jamison, 1:04
Joe Salerno (WL) pinned Jamison, 3:22

165
Dylan Schwartz (Muhl) tech fall Marc Larson (G), 7:00
Schwartz maj. dec. Zachary Goranson (U), 12-2
final: Schwartz dec. Shane Conners (WL), 7-6

174
Jimmy Fratantoni (Muhl) maj. dec. Garrett Vandervalk (Mc), 11-1
Fratantoni dec. Nathan Wertheimer (JH), 6-5
final: Fratantoni dec. Robert Gennat (S), 8-3

184
Josh Glantzman (MM) pinned Tommy DiSisto (Muhl), 2:24
Daniel Ebert (G) maj. dec. DiSisto, 9-1

197
Gennaro Cerminara (Muhl) pinned William Gilliam (JH), 2:03
final: Cerminara dec. Kurtis Hahn (MM), 11-6

HWT
Scott Schaeffer (Muhl) pinned Joseph Moreno (S), 1:10
Paul Traindafilou (G) dec. Schaeffer, 5-3
Clay Chadwick (WL) pinned Schaeffer, 5:24