COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College wrestling team suffered a hard-fought Centennial Conference defeat at the hands of Muhlenberg on Tuesday night, falling 24-20 in a match that was not decided until the final seconds ticked off the clock in the heavyweight bout.

Senior Christopher Tan and freshman Ben Maack picked up pins for the Bears (5-4, 0-4), who took a 20-17 lead after Maack's fall at 184 only to watch the Mules (6-5, 1-3) come out on top by claiming the final two matches of an intense night inside Helfferich Hall.

Tan continued his recent hot streak with a dominating performance to kick off the match at 125. He started with a quick takedown against Cliff Cornell and added a four-point near fall just under a minute into the first period. Starting down in the second period, Tan opened with an escape and tacked on a second takedown before pinning Cornell on the left side of the circle with 15.6 seconds left in the stanza. With the victory, Tan ran his individual winning streak to 12.

Junior Derek Gulotta recorded his second technical fall of the season at 133, a bout that began with a takedown and a four-point near fall in the first 30 seconds. Gulotta repeated the same sequence shortly thereafter for a 12-0 lead before Connor McGee got on the board with an escape, then sealed the win with a takedown and two near fall points for a 17-1 triumph.

Freshman Daniel Bliss narrowly avoided a technical fall against nationally ranked Austin Sherman, who still controlled all the way to an 18-5 major decision at 141.

Junior Edward Howlette used an immediate takedown to take a 2-0 lead on Josh Hickey at 149, but the Mule grappler turned the tables with two take downs and a four-point near fall to go ahead 9-3 after the first period and went on to win 15-3.

Michael Dougan got the first takedown on freshman Jake Folk at 157, but the Bears' rookie scored a reversal and ended the first period with 1:26 of riding time. After a minute of grappling, Folk netted a takedown near the boundary to take a 4-2 lead midway through the second period. He started on bottom in the third and registered a reversal with just under a minute to go, and Folk's margin stood at 7-2 factoring in nearly two minutes of riding time.

After nationally ranked Dylan Schwartz netted a pin at 165, Muhlenberg was even at 14-apiece entering the final four bouts of the night, and Jimmy Fratantoni put the Mules up by three with a 7-3 decision over senior Cody Richmond at 174.

Freshman Ben Maack turned the tide at 184, using two takedowns and a four-point near fall just before the horn to build a 9-2 advantage on Mike Cannon after one. After a quick escape to start the second, he tallied another takedown before pinning Cannon with 7.9 seconds remaining to give Ursinus the lead right back with his team-leading eighth fall of the year.

Gennaro Cerminara, one of the nation's leaders with 14 pins, ended senior Deon Edmond's seven-match winning streak and handed Muhlenberg the upper hand right back with a 14-2 major that made it 21-20 heading into the heavyweight bout.

It all came down to a controversial, tightly-contested heavyweight bout. Junior William McGinley had a 3-1 lead in the second period, but Muhlenberg's Scott Schaeffer used a takedown to tie it and had 1:46 of riding time entering the decisive frame.

After a neutral start, McGinley grabbed a 5-4 advantage with a takedown, but Schaeffer escaped to tie it at 5 and had well over a minute of riding time. The Mule heavyweight managed to keep McGinley at bay the rest of the period, despite calls for stalling from the Ursinus sideline, to seal Muhlenberg's victory.

The wrestling team heads to nationally ranked Stevens for a CC dual on Saturday.

Results

125 – Chris Tan (UC) pinned Cliff Cornell, 4:45 (6-0)

133 – Derek Gulotta (UC) tech fall Connor McGee, 17-1 (2:47) (11-0)

141 – Austin Sherman (M) maj. dec. Daniel Bliss, 18-5 (11-4)

149 – Josh Hickey (M) maj. dec. Edward Howlette, 15-3 (11-8)

157 – Jake Folk (UC) dec. Michael Dougan, 7-2 (14-8)

165 – Dylan Schwartz (M) pinned Jarret DiGiantomasso, 1:10 (14-14)

174 – Jimmy Fratantoni (M) dec. Cody Richmond, 7-3 (14-17)

184 – Ben Maack (UC) pinned Mike Cannon, 4:52 (20-17)

197 – Gennaro Cerminara (M) maj. dec. Deon Edmond, 14-2 (20-21)

285 – Scott Schaeffer (M) dec. William McGinley, 6-5 (20-24)