March 17, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Navy senior heavyweight Tanner Garrett and junior 149-pounder John Cox saw their All-America hopes end with a pair of two-point losses in the round of 12, thus ending one of Navy's run at the NCAA Tournament. Navy finished the tournament with 12.0 points, which was good for 30th place entering Friday night's session IV.

Cox's (Grand Haven, Mich.) quest for All-America status finished just two points short in a 13-11 setback to ninth-seeded Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan. Tannebaum, who defeated Cox 14-2 at the Eastern Michigan Open a year ago, scored four first-period takedowns, but led just 8-6 after one period. Cox tied it up with a takedown midway through the second period, but Tannenbaum escaped shortly after and scored a key takedown late in the period to take an 11-9 advantage into the final period. Again, Cox rallied tying the match at 11 each when the Michigan sophomore was called for stalling for a second time and a Cox escape. However, Tannenbaum ended the match with a takedown with just 15 seconds left to put the match away.

Cox ended his junior season with a 34-12 record with 10 of his losses coming to opponents that competed in the NCAA Tournament and both of his losses in the NCAA Tournament were to All-Americans.

Garrett (Tulsa, Okla.), meanwhile, dropped his second match in two weeks to Harvard's Bode Ogunwole, this time by a 3-1 margin. Ogunwole scored an escape and takedown in the second period to take a 3-0 lead, heading into the third period. Garrett would add an escape early in the third period, but couldn't get the equalizing takedown, ending one of the most successful individual seasons in school history.

Garrett finished the season with a 43-5 record, the second-most wins in school history in a single season. He finished with a 114-33 career record, which were tied for the fourth-most victories in school history. The 48 matches in 2005-06 were the second most in school history and the 147 career matches were the third-highest total.

Consolation Bracket (Session IV): 149 - (9) Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan), dec. John Cox (Navy), 13-11 HWT - (5) Bode Ogunwole (Harvard) dec. (6) Tanner Garrett, 3-1

Individual Results: 133 - Joe Baker (Finished Season: 12-4; Career: 12-6) 1st rd. -- Lost to Gabriel Flores (Illinois) by decision, 9-3 Cons. - Def. Andrae Hernandez (Indiana) by decision, 16-9 Cons. - Lost to Christopher Helgeson (Northern Iowa) by decision, 12-9

149 - John Cox (Finished Season: 34-12; Career: 83-29) 1st rd. - Def. Ryan Hurley (Cleveland State) by decision, 9-4 2nd rd. - Lost to (2) Tyler Eustice (Iowa) by decision, 9-4 Cons. - Pinned Aaron Martin (UT-Chattanooga), 1:16 Cons. - Def. Keith Dickey (Cornell), 5-1 Cons. - Lost to (9) Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan), 13-11

174 - Matt Stolpinski (Finished Season: 30-11; Career: 55-28) 1st rd. - Pinned Aaron Miller (Kent State), 3:45 2nd rd. - Lost to (2) Jake Herbert (Northwestern) by fall, 0:47 Cons. - Lost to Nicholas Hernandez (Cal Poly), 15-12

197 - Chris Pogue (Finished Season: 29-12; Finished Career: 60-39) Pigtail - Def. Joe Fendone (Edinboro) by decision, 10-5 1st rd. - Lost to (11) Ryan Goodman (NC State) by decision, 5-1 Cons. - Lost to Jon Oplinger (Drexel) by major decision, 13-4

HWT - (6) Tanner Garrett (Season: 43-5; Career: 114-33) 1st rd. - Def. Matthew Weight (Illinois) by decision, 6-3 2nd rd. - Def. (11) Spencer Nadolsky (North Carolina) by decision, 5-1 Q-Finals - Lost to (3) Greg Wagner (Michigan) by fall, 1:41 Cons. - Lost to (5) Bode Ogunwole (Harvard) by decision, 3-1

# GO NAVY #