Junior Pat Dowty will make his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Wrestling National Championships Thursday.

The 133-pound wrestler will face Cleveland State’s Phil Manseuto at noon Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., in first round action.

Dowty’s first-round pairing with Manseuto will be a rematch from last year’s NCAA National Championships, where Manseuto defeated Dowty in the first round.

However, Dowty earned Eastern’s only win of the NCAA tournament faring 1-2 in the 2002 tournament.

Dowty’s attempt to avenge last year’s loss to Manseuto will not be easy. Manseuto’s record is currently 25-6 and he owns the No. 11 seed in the tournament.

Prior to the West Regional Tournament, held in Lantz Arena March 8, Dowty lost four consecutive matches.

A final-round loss in the regional against Northern Iowa’s Pat Garcia prevented him from receiving the automatic bid to the national tournament, but Dowty was selected as one of the 11 wild-card wrestlers to participate in the tournament.

If Dowty can defeat Manseuto, he could also have a chance at revenge against Garcia in round two if Garcia cane get by No. 6 Cory Cooperman of Lehigh University.

Last season, Dowty and his teammate Frank DeFilippis qualified for the tournament in Albany, N.Y.

Dowty had to overcome a laundry list of injuries during the regular season, but was able to qualify for the tournament again. Dowty’s extensive collection of injuries limited him this season. In 2002, Dowty had a record of 33-13, but only competed in 31 individual matches this season while compiling a 16-15 record.