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GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior Kevin Poplaski made the most of his first trip to the Centennial Conference Wrestling Championships, taking home the gold at heavyweight and leading Gettysburg College to a fourth-place finish overall inside Bream Gym on Saturday.

Poplaski earned his first individual title and will move on to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in La Crosse, Wis., on March 9-10. He'll be joined at the national tournament by teammate Zach Thomson who received the conference's wild card selection after placing second at 165.

Johns Hopkins University captured its first team title by edging runner-up Ursinus College 79-73.5. The Blue Jays totaled five individual champions on the day with junior Reid Mosquera clinching the team championship with a victory at 197.

Gettysburg grabbed fourth overall with 53.5 points, marking its highest finish since 2004. In addition to Poplaski's victory and Thomson's runner-up showing, the Bullets received a second-place finish by sophomore Jared Leon at 174, a third-place finish by senior Abe Evans at 125, and a fourth-place effort by sophomore Matt Spano at 133.

After two years wrestling behind Gettysburg all-time heavyweight wins leader Bobby Christopher '11, Poplaski shined in his CC Tournament debut. After receiving a bye in the first round, he easily dispatched Johns Hopkins' Evan Johnson 4-0 in the semifinals.

Poplaski was paired with William Cornely from Ursinus, the only returning place-winner from last season's conference finale where he finished fourth overall. No points were awarded in the first period, but the shutout broke apart in the second as Poplaski scored a pair of escapes sandwiched around a takedown by Cornely.

Cornely kicked off the final period with an escape to gain a 3-2 lead. The Bear grappler tried to take down Poplaski again, but the home crowd favorite slipped out and scored a takedown of his own. An escape by Cornely set the score at 4-4 with under a minute to go.

Poplaski's final move was his best as he shot below Cornely's arms, secured his left leg, and powered his way to the top position for the takedown and a 6-4 cushion. The Gettysburg grappler held on until letting up an escape in the final seconds for the victory. Poplaski, who is now 31-13 on the year, was the first Gettysburg heavyweight to win the title since Mike Pattanite '07 in 2006.

Arguably the day's most anticipated bout occurred at 165 where the first-year Thomson looked to capture his first championship. He was well on his way after notching a pin and a major decision in his first two bouts.

Thomson, ranked third in the latest national polls, faced eighth-ranked Joey Favia from Stevens Institute of Technology in the 165 finale. Favia outlasted another top grappler in his semifinal match up as he upended fourth-ranked David Rice of New York University 4-3 in overtime.

The bout started slow with neither grappler scoring a point in the opening round. After each grappler recorded an escape to start the second and third periods, it was Favia who finally provided a big blow, shooting in low at Thomson's legs and grabbing his foot.  Favia eventually worked his way to the takedown and a 3-1 lead.

Thomson escaped to cut the margin to one with less than 30 seconds left, but a last-ditch effort at a takedown resulted in a Favia takedown and a 5-2 decision. Thomson moved to 40-2 on the season, tying Gettysburg's single-season record for wins. Favia was later named the meet's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

In the very next bout, Leon went toe-to-toe with two-time 174-pound champion Ryan Dormann from Stevens. Leon's trip to his first finals was dramatic as he knocked off ninth-ranked Gregg Martino of NYU 8-6 in overtime in his semifinal match. In that contest, Leon pulled off a takedown in the fourth tiebreaker period to earn the win.

The 174 championship was headed down the same road with the score standing at 1-1 at the end of regulation. In the extra periods, Leon pulled off an escape in the first tiebreaker period to take a 2-l lead. Dormann fought back in the next tiebreaker session, working his way free of Leon's grasp and picking up a penalty point just before the buzzer to earn a 3-2 decision and his third conference title.

Evans placed for the third time in his career at 125. He knocked off Janik Santana-Quintana of NYU 7-3 in his first match before getting pinned by eventual champion Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins in the semis. In the consolation bracket, Evans pinned Stevens' Anthony Geiger in the third round to set up a showdown with McDaniel College's Mike O'Boyle. The Bullet senior, who placed fourth in 2009 and second last season, downed the Green Terror grappler 6-3. Evans finished his season sporting a 31-9 record.

After finishing third last season, Spano narrowly missed moving up the ladder at 133. He took out NYU's Adlee Fayyaz with a 10-2 major decision in his first match and faced McDaniel's Mike Tancredi in the semifinals. The affair went to overtime with Tancredi pulling off a takedown for an 8-6 victory.

Spano laid down a technical fall in his first consolation match, defeating Merchant Marine's Tom Healy 21-6. He was unable to repeat his finish from a year ago, however, as Washington & Lee University's Sam Campbell held him off for a 4-2 decision. Spano closed the year with a 34-12 record which puts him in a tie for fourth for wins in a single season at Gettysburg.

Gettysburg also received several wins from senior Anthony Iorio and junior Marshall Puls  at 184 and 197, respectively. Iorio notched a pair of pins in the consolation bracket before seeing his day end, while Puls defeated McDaniel's Mike Meekins 9-5 in his first consolation match.