Brad Cieleski never placed at the PIAA meet as a high school wrestler at Brookville.

The 157-pound junior is trying to make up for that as a collegiate wrestler at Slippery Rock University.

Cieleski, 93-22 at The Rock, including 31-4 this year, has been to the national tournament twice as an SRU grappler. He is favored to make it a third time this weekend.

SRU hosts the NCAA Division I East Regional Tournament Saturday at Morrow Field House. The winner of each weight class moves on to nationals.

"The self-motivated wrestlers are the ones who succeed in college," said SRU coach Jim Harshaw, a Seneca Valley graduate. "A lot of kids blossom late in this sport."

Cieleski is the younger brother of former Rock wrestler Doug Cieleski, who was a three-time national qualifier at SRU before transferring to the University of Oklahoma.

Despite winning more than 100 matches in high school, the younger Cieleski was not heavily recruited.

"I came to Slippery Rock because of Doug," he said. "Slippery Rock was about the only school to give me a call."

Cieleski was 31-8 as a redshirt sophomore last season and won the PSAC title at 149 pounds. He was 31-10 as a freshman. His improvement this season has been drastic.

Cieleski enters the regional with a 21-match winning streak. He has pinned his last four opponents after recording just two pins all of last season.

"He couldn't turn his opponents on his back very well last year," Harshaw said. "This year, he's much better from all positions.

"He's a machine. He never gets tired. I've never see anyone work out like he does in the room."

Cieleski attributes his improvement to simply getting ready sooner in the off-season.

"I put in a lot of work over the summer," he said. "There's that and the fact we have a lot of solid freshmen who have helped create a good attitude in the room."

Freshman 157-pounder Liam Powell, a Slippery Rock High graduate, wrestles Cieleski in practice, as does 165-pounder Jason Cardillo.

Cardillo is 27-12 this season.

"Both of those guys have helped Brad mature a lot," Harshaw said.

Cieleski will likely reach the 100-win plateau this postseason. His stumbling block has been the nationals, where he has yet to win a match.

Three of his four losses this season have come against nationally ranked opponents: Scott Roth of Cornell, Ken Burleson of Missouri and James Woodall of Penn State.

"Physically and technically, Brad can compete with anybody in the nation," Harshaw said. "The difference this year is I think he's ready mentally.

"When that first whistle blows, we'll see how he reacts."

Cieleski has not been ranked in the top 20 of his weight class all year, but has made honorable mention.

"I feel like I can be an All-American this year," Cieleski said. "It's up to me to get it done. I know I'm more confident on the mat now than I've ever been."

The top eight placers at the national meet become All-Americans.

Slippery Rock University junior 157-pound wrestler Brad Cieleski is 93-22 thus far at SRU. He is 11 wins short of cracking SRU's all-time top eight in victories:<b>Wrestler Years Record</b>Anthony Calderaio 1979-83 140-25Stan Dziedic 1969-72 118-2Derek DelPorto 1996-99 116-38Jack Spates 1972-75 108-9Tony Abbate 1997-01 107-34Chris Elliott 1995-00 106-52Steve Roberts 1978-85 105-28-1Steve Perdew 1975-80 104-17-1