Mark Piotrowsky will be expected to bring leadership to the mat.

It seems as though Mark Piotrowsky came out of his mother's womb wearing a wrestling singlet -- he's been competing in the sport almost as long. Born into a family of wrestlers, Piotrowsky started wrestling before he started kindergarten. He pinned opponents at an age when most people can't even spell "pin." He advanced to the national level of competition at every possible age group. He starred on the top-ranked prep team in the nation. But now in his senior year at Penn, Piotrowsky is facing the end of a wrestling career that has lasted nearly fifteen years. "Wrestling's been a part of my life forever," he said. "I'm not going to be able to just walk away from it completely." Fortunately for Piotrowsky, he has one more season to enjoy before he is forced to walk away as a player -- and this season has the potential to be his best. Piotrowsky is 12th in the nation in his weight class (141 pounds) in the Intermat Preseason Rankings and 11th according to the Amateur Wrestling News. He will, however, face a stiff challenge to open the season. In the finals of Saturday's tournament, Piotrowsky will likely face Harvard's Dustin DeNunzio. DeNunzio defeated Piotrowsky all four times they wrestled last year. "One of those matches went into overtime," Piotrowsky said, "and I wrestled him well all four times. I don't plan on losing." Losing is something Piotrowsky has done little of in his wrestling career. Rarely beaten prior to high school, he continued to dominate as a prep and compiled a 107-13-1 record. But the competition at the college level jolted Piotrowsky back to reality. "It was a huge transition to college wrestling," he said. "In high school you have guys who you have no problems with on the mat, but it seems like everyone in college was a state champion or an All-American." He went winless in January of that year, but soon recovered and went on to be named Honorable Mention All-Ivy League. This momentum carried over to Piotrowsky's sophomore season, culminating in the semifinals of the Eastern Region. "If I won that match, I'd be going to nationals," Piotrowsky recalled, "and when I won I felt so excited. That has been the high point of my career so far." What made Piotrowsky's victory even more satisfying was the fact that he was wrestling with a badly injured knee at the time. "Mark maintained impressive focus with a severely injured knee throughout the course of his sophomore year," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "He wrestled with a brace and refused to admit he was hurt until after he qualified for nationals." The knee was so badly injured at that point that Piotrowsky was forced to miss all of the '96-'97 season after knee surgery. Fortunately, he was granted another year of eligibility for a medical hardship. His knee was fully recovered in time for last year, however, and Piotrowsky qualified for nationals again and earned Second Team All-Ivy League Honors. "There's only one way to go, and that's forward," he said. So how has Piotrowsky been able to become the wrestler that he is? "He is an exceptional athlete," Reina explains, "very fast, very strong, exceptional balance." His athletic abilities were evident throughout his high school career. In addition to wrestling, Piotrowsky starred in baseball and football, earning All-State honors as a defensive back and second-team All-State recognition as a pitcher at Jefferson Township. "It's been hard to give up those sports in college," Piotrowsky said, "but I knew my future was in wrestling." From an early age, Piotrowsky's future has been focused on wrestling. His dad was a wrestling coach, and his older brother was a wrestler. He has been around wrestling and wrestlers his whole life. Now in college, it is no surprise that his best friends are on the wrestling team. "We all are close friends and can rely on each other on and off the mat," Piotrowsky said. One of his friends, junior Brett Matter, recalled a match against Piotrowsky in high school. "Pio beat me 6-4 in overtime the only time I've wrestled against him. I knew then he was a heck of a wrestler." As good a wrestler as he is, Piotrowsky knows his future is not in wrestling. A strong student, he is a Biological Basis of Behavior major and is planning on a pharmaceutical career. But Mark Piotrowsky will not be able to escape the world of wrestling. "I'll stick around as either a coach or just someone who helps during meets," he said. Or maybe he will just run for governor.