Individual Results | Team Standings

BALTIMORE – Sophomore Zach Thomson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) began the postseason on a high note by capturing the Centennial Conference title at 174 pounds inside Johns Hopkins University's Goldfarb Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
Gettysburg finished seventh in the team standings with 17 points. The Bullets did not take a full lineup, resting a number of their key starters for next weekend's NCAA regional. Ursinus College took home the team championship with 113 points, while host Johns Hopkins finished a close second with 98 points.
 
Denied the title at 165 pounds in his opening campaign, Thomson cruised to his first conference title with the NCAA Division III East Regional looming next weekend. Entering the tournament as the top seed, he took down Ron Tassoni from Washington and Lee University by major decision 13-1 and pinned McDaniel College's Nick Cross in 2:38 to reach the finals.
 
Pitted against Josh Miller from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Thomson jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first period. The Bullet sophomore added a reversal to start the second stanza and rode the period out in the top position. He secured another takedown and held Miller on the mat for most of the third period to close with the riding-time point and a 7-0 win.
 
Thomson improved to 27-2 on the year and will head into next weekend's NCAA qualifying tournament as one of the top seeds. He is the first Bullet to win a conference title at 174 pounds since Chris Beck '00 in 2000.
 
Making their final appearances at the conference event, seniors Joe Fiore (Hicksville, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and Marshall Puls (New York, N.Y./Hotchkiss) went down swinging at 165 and 197, respectively. After falling in his first match to the eventual runner-up, Fiore scored a 9-2 win over John Fitzsimmons from New York University in the consolation bracket. He concluded the tournament with 4-0 loss to eventual third-place finisher Thomas Walker from Merchant Marine.
 
Puls proceeded down a similar path to his classmate, dropping his opening bout before securing a 7-6 win over Stevens Institute of Technology's Will Sharkey in the consolation quarterfinals. Puls just missed an opportunity to compete for third place as NYU's Sam Galassi edged the Bullet senior 11-10 on his way to the consolation title.
 
Freshman Will Cauffman (Malvern, Pa./Westtown) picked up a win in his opening match of the consolation bracket at 157, defeating Josh Weldon from W&L 8-6.
 
The Bullets will now turn their focus to the NCAA East Regional which will be hosted by the College inside Bream Gym on March 2. The top three place-winners in each weight class will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. Opening bouts next Saturday are slated to begin at 9 a.m.