March 16, 2006
• NCAA Wrestling
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Three of five Navy wrestlers advanced in the championship bracket during Thursday afternoon's first session at the 76th NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Ford Center. John Cox, Matt Stolpinski and Tanner Garrett all advanced, while Joe Baker and Chris Pogue will be forced to earn All-America status from the consolation bracket. As a team, the Mids posted a 4-2 mark and sit in 25th place with seven points after session one.
Navy's first match of the day came in a pigtail bout at 197 pounds between Navy senior Chris Pogue (Chesapeake, Va.) and Edinboro's Joe Fendone. Pogue fell behind early 2-0, but rallied with two reversals, a three-point near fall and a takedown to claim a 9-5 victory. The win moved Pogue into the round of 32 and a matchup with 11th-seeded Ryan Goodman of North Carolina State. Pogue's championship run would end in the first round with a 4-1 setback to Goodman. Goodman made a first-period takedown stand up and held off a spirited Pogue charge in the third period to claim a hard-fought 4-1 decision.
Freshman Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) made his NCAA debut in the first round, but fell to Gabriel Flores of Illinois, 9-3. Flores scored the initial takedown, but Baker countered with a reversal late in the period to tie the score at 2-2 after one period. Flores scored an escape with 15 seconds left in the second period, but Baker had accumulated almost two minutes of riding time in the period. With Baker choosing down in an attempt to get the escape, Flores scored two three-point nearfalls early in the third period and held on for a 9-3 decision.
Junior John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) decisioned Cleveland State's Ryan Hurley, 9-4. Cox gave up an early takedown to fall behind 2-0, but dominated the rest of the match to gain the first-round victory. Cox used a takedown and a two-point nearfall to take a 5-3 lead after one period. He added an escape, a takedown and over a minute of riding time in the third period for the 9-4 decision. The win moved Cox into the round of 16 against second-seeded Ty Eustice of Iowa.
Sophomore 174-pounder Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) made his first NCAA bout a good one, as he pinned Kent State's Aaron Miller in 3:45. Miller took a 2-1 lead into the second period, but chose down to start the period. Stolpinski then turned Miller over and completed the fall in 3:45 to give Navy added bonus points. The win moved his record to 30-9 overall and moved him into the round of 16 where he will wrestle second-seeded Jake Herbert of Northwestern.
Navy senior heavyweight Tanner Garrett (Tulsa, Okla.) advanced in the championship bracket with a 6-3 decision over Illinois' Matthew Weight. After a scoreless first period, Weight took a 1-0 lead with an escape early in the second period. However, Garrett would grab a 2-1 lead with a takedown with 20 seconds left in the frame. Weight would score an escape with just three seconds left to send the match into the third period tied at two. Garrett escaped early in the third for a 3-2 advantage, then added a single-leg takedown with 1:25 remaining to put the match out of reach. Garrett would add over a minute of riding time and cruised home to a 6-3 victory. Garrett will wrestle North Carolina's 11th-seeded Spencer Nadolsky in the round of 16 tonight. Garrett defeated Nadolsky, 3-1 in sudden victory, earlier this year.
Check back on Navysports.com for results after Thursday night's second round, which begins from the Ford Center at 7:00 p.m. EST.
Updated Records
133 - Joe Baker Season Record: 11-3 Career: 11-5
149 - John Cox Season Record: 32-10 Career: 81-27
174 - Matt Stolpinski Season Record: 30-9 Career: 55-26
197 - Chris Pogue Season Record: 29-11 Career: 60-38
HW - Tanner Garrett Season Record: 42-3 Career: 113-31
Navy Meet Notes
• Chris Pogue's pigtail opponent was Edinboro's Joe Fendone, meaning Pogue wrestled two NCAA qualifiers from Edinboro. Pogue wrestled 184-pounder Alex Clemsen of Edinboro in the Southern Scuffle, falling 6-3. The match was one of the last times Pogue wrestled at 184 pounds, before moving up to 197 and qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
• Joe Baker's first-round opponent was Gabriel Flores of Illinois, who placed fifth at the Big 10 Championships. Baker and Flores were familiar with each other, as both wrestlers are from California. Flores, a junior, is a Madera, Calif., native, while Baker is from Poway. Flores wrestled one heavier weight than Baker in high school, but both are the same age.
• John Cox's first-round triumph pushed his single-season record to 32-10. The 32 wins are the 20th most in a single season in school history.
• Matt Stolpinski wrestled his first-round opponent, Aaron Miller of Kent State, in the Southern Scuffle. The NCAA result for Stolpinski was a little bit better than his first meeting with Miller. Miller pinned Stolpinski in 1:23, the Navy sophomore's only loss by fall against collegiate competition in his two years at Navy.
• Stolpinski became the 31st Navy wrestler in school history to reach 30 wins in a season. He is also the fourth Navy wrestler to do so this year, marking the first time ever Navy has had four 30-win wrestlers in a single season.
• Garrett improved his senior-season record to 42-3. The 42 wins are the most in the country and now he needs just two wins to match the school record of Mark Conley's 44 victories in 2001-02. Garrett's career record is 113-31. He needs just one more victory to tie Dan Hicks for fourth place on the Navy career victory list (114). The win moved Garrett's record in matches determined by decision to 28-1, and pushed his record against Big 10 foes to 10-1 this season. His lone loss was to top-seeded Cole Konrad of Minnesota.
• Attendance for the first session was announced at 15,694.
PIGTAIL MATCHES197 - Chris Pogue (Navy) dec. Joe Fendone (Edinboro), 9-5
FIRST-ROUND MATCHES133 - Gabriel Flores (Illinois) dec. Joe Baker (Navy), 9-3149 - John Cox (Navy) dec. Ryan Hurley (Cleveland State), 9-4174 - Matt Stolpinski (Navy) pinned Aaron Miller (Kent State), 3:45197 - (11) Ryan Goodman (North Carolina State) dec. Chris Pogue (Navy), 4-1HW - (6) Tanner Garrett (Navy) dec. Matthew Weight (Illinois), 6-3
# GO NAVY #
