March 2, 2006
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 19th-ranked Navy wrestling team begins its quest for its first EIWA team title since 1990 on Saturday at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., on the campus of Lehigh University. The Mids are one of four ranked teams in the tournament field, joining Cornell (14th), Lehigh (15th) and Penn (22nd). This year's tournament figures to be one of the most hotly-contested team races in recent memory, as several teams figure to be in the mix come Sunday afternoon. Action gets underway at 10:00 a.m., on Saturday and runs through Sunday afternoon.
• Individually, Navy's best chance at its first individual title since the 2002 championship comes from senior heavyweight Tanner Garrett. The Tulsa, Okla., native owns a 39-2 record on the season and will be the top seed. He has finished second the last two years, losing both times to Matt Fields of Penn.
• John Cox (149 pounds) is currently ranked third in the latest EIWA rankings, but could also be considered one of the favorites to win the title. The top four wrestlers can all lay claim to garnering the top seed, in what is expected to be one of the most wide-open weight classes at the tournament.
• Other Navy hopefuls include Joe Baker (133 pounds), Matt Stolpinski (174 pounds) and Chris Pogue (197 pounds).
• In the most recent WrestlingReport.com Atlantic Region rankings, all 10 Navy wrestlers were mentioned in the top 20, led by Garrett (1st).
A Look Back at the 2005 EIWA Championships...
• Navy recorded a third-place showing at the 101st EIWA Championships, hosted by Navy in Alumni Hall. The Mids scored 96.5 points to finish behind Lehigh and Cornell and ahead of fourth-place Columbia by 12.5 points.
• Navy was led by Tanner Garrett's second-place finish at heavyweight and Nate Gulosh's second-place finish at 141 pounds. Garrett dropped a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to Penn's All-American Matt Feast. Gulosh fell to Lehigh's Cory Cooperman in the finals, 14-1.
• Sam Gray (133 pounds), Craig Dziewiatkowski (165) and Thayer Paxton (197) finished third respectively to wrap up NCAA Tournament berths and John Cox (149) finished fourth, but earned one of the 12 wild-card selections.
• Navy's third-place showing was its highest finish since 1995, and its six NCAA Qualifiers were the most since 1991.
Last Time Out...
• The Mids scored a 24-9 decision over arch-rival Army before a boisterous crowd of 1,801 and a national-television audience. The win allowed Navy to finish with a 13-2 record, its best mark since 1991 and sixth-best record in school history.
• The win also enabled Navy to win the Star Match for the sixth straight season and now own a commanding 40-5-5 record all-time against Army, including 38-1-5 in the last 44 matches and a 21-0-2 mark at home dating back to 1961.
• Navy jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two matches when Joe Baker and Spencer Manley scored extra-margin victories at 133 and 141 pounds to get the ball rolling. After a John Jarred win at 157 gave Navy a 12-3 lead, Matt Stolpinski, Jonny Kane, Chris Pogue and Tanner Garrett all won close matches to give Navy the victory.
• Jarred, Kane and Pogue defeated Army wrestlers that had beaten them in the All-Academy Tournament just two weeks prior to the dual meet. Kane defeated Luke Calvert, 10-7, Pogue knocked off Charles Martin, 3-2, and Jarred topped Brian Rowan, 7-2.
Just Win, Baby...
• Navy's wrestling team has enjoyed a resurgence under head coach Bruce Burnett and this year may be his best coaching job to date.
• The Mids finished 2005-06 with a 13-2 mark, giving this year's squad the sixth-best winning percentage in school history. Navy has finished 13-2 or better just six times in school history prior to this season (1974-75, 1982-83, 1990-91, 1970-71, 1973-74, 1975-76). In those seasons, Navy finished no worse than second in the EIWA Tournament, winning the title following the 1973-74 campaign.
• In the six previous seasons, the Mids finished no worse than tied for 36th at the NCAA Championships, posting four top-25 finishes in the six years.
Dial 800 For Win...
• Navy has been one of the most successful teams in NCAA history, becoming the fourth team in the annals of college wrestling to record 800 dual-meet wins. The Mids won their 800th match with a 23-13 decision over UC-Davis on Nov. 12. Navy joins Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Oregon State as the only schools to reach the 800-win plateau.
• In addition to the 800 wins, Navy has moved past Oklahoma into fourth place on the all-time NCAA match list with 1,094. Navy's all-time record stands at 810-258-26.
• The Mids boast 54 All-Americans and 83 EIWA Champions. Navy has posted at least a .500 record in 92 of 97 seasons, including 28 in a row. To top it off, Navy owns an impressive 40-5-5 mark all-time against Army, including a remarkable 38-1-5 record in the last 44 matches. The Mids have won six in a row against the Black Knights, including their 24-9 triumph two weeks ago in Annapolis.
Mids Find Success in Dual Meets...
• Following its victory two weeks ago against Army, Navy has now won 34 of its last 40 dual meets, dating back to Jan. 3, 2004, with all six losses coming to opponents ranked in the top 12.
• Navy improved to 25-7 in EIWA dual meets under head coach Bruce Burnett, but is a sparkling 25-1 against teams in the league other than Lehigh. He is 0-6 against the Mountain Hawks.
• Navy has won 24 straight matches in the league against teams other than Lehigh.
Bringing Home the Hardware...
• Navy has had a large amount of success this year, not only in dual meets, but in tournaments as well.
• The Mids cruised to the team title, outscoring second-place West Virginia by 67.5 points, scoring 151 points in the process. The Mids won the team title for the second straight season and 14th time in the history of the event.
• In addition to the team title, Navy won six individual championships and placed 23 wrestlers in the top six of each weight class.
• Brad Canterbury (133), John Cox (149), Tanner Garrett (HWT), Mike Kohler (125), Antonio Miranda (197) and Matt Stolpinski (174) all claimed titles at the Navy Classic.
• John Jarred (157) won his first career individual title at the Eastern Michigan Open, and Tanner Garrett also claimed a championship at the EMU Open.
• Lastly, in the All-Academy Tournament, Navy won four individual titles to give the Mids 12 individual tournament titles this season, won by 10 different wrestlers. Joe Baker and Alex Usztics became the newest member of the championship club, claiming victories at 125 and 133 pounds. Baker also won the Penn State Open, wrestling unattached.
The Head of The Class...
• This year's All-Academy Tournament may have been the toughest road to a title for the Mids, but in the end, the Navy wrestling team found a way to get it done.
• Navy placed all 10 wrestlers in the top three of their respective weight classes, and four wrestlers won titles at the prestigious event to lead Navy to a 10-point victory over Army.
• Alex Usztics and Joe Baker won their first individual titles as Navy wrestlers at 125 and 133 pounds respectively. Matt Stolpinski and Tanner Garrett followed at 174 and heavyweight, respectively.
• Matt Stolpinski has now won two All-Academy Championships in his first two years, something never done before by a Navy wrestler in the 12-year history of the tournament.
• Tanner Garrett also became just the third Navy wrestler to win three individual titles, joining former All-Americans Mark Conley and Greg Gingeleskie.
Showing Off the Balance...
• Navy's balance is paying off big dividends this season as several Mids begin to pile up the victories. This season, 16 wrestlers have recorded 10 victories and five have reached the 20-win plateau.
• So far this season, three Navy freshmen have reached 10 victories (Caleb Levee, Joel Ahern and Tyler Moyer). Last season, four freshmen reached 10 victories for the entire year.
• Lastly, five Mids have a legitimate shot to reach 30 wins (Tanner Garrett-- 39; John Jarred-- 33; John Cox-- 29; Matt Stolpinski-- 26; Chris Pogue-- 25). Four wrestlers have never won 30 matches in one season, and three wrestlers reaching 30 wins has happened just twice (1994-95 and 2000-01) before this year.
Navy Seniors Finish Outstanding Careers...
• Fourteen Navy seniors closed out their dual-meet careers two weeks ago against Army.
• Over the four years, Navy has posted a record of 48-15 (.762 winning percentage), won three All-Academy Championships, two Navy Classics and won its fourth match against Army in as many tries.
It Starts at the Top...
• Entering this weekend's EIWA Championships, senior heavyweight Tanner Garrett appears to be Navy's best chance to gain All-America recognition. The Tulsa, Okla., native is ranked either fifth or sixth in the four major polls after leading Navy with a 35-5 record in 2004-05. Already this year, Garrett owns a 39-2 record after claiming the Eastern Michigan Open, the Navy Classic and the All-Academy Tournament and finishing second at the prestigious Southern Scuffle.
• His 39 victories this season lead NCAA Division I wrestling this season, ahead of Ben Askren's 37 wins for Missouri.
• Garrett finished his career winning 36 straight dual matches, including a 14-0 mark last year and a 15-0 record this year. His last loss in a dual match was to Purdue's Israel Blevins on Jan. 3, 2004, in the Lone Star Duals, 10-3, and has now gone over two calendar years since a dual-meet loss. He has allowed just two takedowns (both by Rutgers Mike D'Amico) in 15 dual meets this season.
• He became just the sixth Navy wrestler in school history to reach 100 wins, when he reached triple-digits in a 3-1 victory over UT-Chattanooga's Israel Silva at the Lone Star Duals. Garrett is now focused on 40 victories this year, which would make him only the second wrestler in school history to reach 40 victories in a season (Mark Conley -- 44; 2001-02).
• With his win against Maryland's Bryan Reiss, he became the 28th wrestler in school history to win 30 matches in a season and the eighth wrestler to do it twice. His 39 wins this season ranks tied for second on the single-season list and with just five wins, Garrett can equal the school record of 44 wins set by Mark Conley in 2001-02.
• All five of Navy's five previous 100-win wrestlers were All-Americans at some point during their Navy wrestling careers.
• Since the start of last season, Garrett is 74-7 (.914), including 9-4 against ranked opponents. He is 4-1 this year against ranked foes after defeating #10 Adam LoPiccolo of American, 10-3, almost a month ago. His lone loss to a ranked foe was to No. 1-ranked Cole Konrad of Minnesota in the finals of the Southern Scuffle.
• Lastly, Garrett has wrestled over 130 matches in his career becoming the sixth Navy wrestler in school history to reach 130 career matches. The 140 matches are the fourth most in school history and he will likely finish third (Sam Gray -- 143; 2001-05).
Coming From Nowhere...
• John Jarred entered the 2004-05 season with a career 10-9 mark and didn't place in the top two of the Navy wrestle-offs earlier in the year. However, the junior from Kansas City, Mo., stormed through the field at the season-opening Eastern Michigan Open, defeating the NAIA's top-ranked 157-pounder, Mike Rio of No. 1-ranked Lindenwood, in the finals, 10-5, to claim his first individual title.
• Jarred then continued his red-hot start, posting a 4-0 mark at the McDaniel Duals to start the season 10-0. He ran his mark to 12-0 before falling to seventh-ranked Matt Lebe of West Virginia in the finals of the Navy Classic in a tightly-contested 6-3 decision. Lebe was a 2005 All-American at 157 pounds.
• The junior placed third at the competitive Penn State Open, knocking off Jon Masa of Hofstra, the 2005 third-place finisher at the NCAA 149-pound weight class, on his way to the high finish.
• He also won his first career dual match of his career on Dec. 3 with a strong 15-4 major decision over Rutgers' Rob Kaiser.
• He placed eighth at the Southern Scuffle after winning three matches on the second day in the consolation bracket.
• Jarred performed well at the Lone Star Duals, posting a 2-1 record with both of his victories coming via major decision. He has a team-leading 12 major decisions this season after recording three in the All-Academy Tournament two weeks ago.
• He is second on the team in victories with 33 (33-8 record). The 33 wins are tied for the 15th most in school history in a single season.
Cox Aims For Second NCAA Berth...
•John Cox owns a 29-8 record, matching a career high in victories. He advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament after placing fourth in the EIWA Championships. This year's 149-pound weight class figures to be wide open.
•He is one of eight wrestlers in school history to win at least 75 matches in his first three years at Navy and has recorded at least 20 wins in each year.
•He currently ranks 20th on the school's all-time win list with 78 wins, against just 25 defeats. An amazing 42 of his 103 career matches have come by extra margins as he owns 14 major decisions and tech falls for his career.
No Sophomore Slump Here...
• Matt Stolpinski is looking to finish strong during his sophomore year, entering the EIWA Tournament with a 26-7 record.
• Stolpinski placed third at the season-opening Eastern Michigan Open after falling to sixth-ranked Imad Kharbush of Stanford, 6-4, in the third round. He responded with impressive wins over Michigan and Purdue opponents in the consolation round.
• He followed that performance with two wins in Navy's California dual-meet swing, falling to nationally-ranked Christian Arellano of Cal State-Bakersfield. Included in the victories was an impressive 13-10 victory over nationally-ranked Ken Cook of UC-Davis.
• He then won the Navy Classic, defeating West Virginia's Kurt Brenner in the finals, 5-3. Brenner is ranked in the top 12 of three different national polls and is fifth in the WrestlingReport.com's Atlantic Region poll.
• He lost to No. 8-ranked James Yonushonis of Penn State, 2-1, in a dual meet on Dec. 9, but responded with a 3-2 mark in the Southern Scuffle three weeks later.
• His latest loss came in a tough 10-7 decision to #4 Muzaffar Abduarkhmanov of American. Stolpinski had Abdurakhmanov on the ropes late in the second and third periods, but wasn't awarded a takedown in either of the frames which would have changed the complexion of the match.
• Five of his seven losses have come to wrestlers currently ranked in the top 20, by a combined 14 points.
• His 51 wins through his first two years puts him well ahead of pace to reach the "century club" and he needs just eight more wins this season to record the most victories by a Navy wrestler in his first two seasons on the Yard.
Kane is Able...
• Despite the fact that the EIWA is loaded at 184 pounds, Navy senior Jonny Kane has shown he could be a darkhorse in the race for the top spot.
• The senior, who missed last year's EIWA Tournament after posting a 26-12 record, is 19-7 this season, including 13-1 in matches determined by extra margins.
• Four of his seven losses this year have come to ranked foes, including a 10-8 setback to No. 4-ranked Ben Wissel of Purdue in the Lone Star Duals. Kane was the only wrestler this year to take down Wissel twice. His four losses to ranked foes have come by a combined 20 points, with all but one being by decision. The other loss came to teammate Chris Pogue in the Navy Classic.
Produective Pogue...
• Senior Chris Pogue owns a 25-8 record in 2005-06, but it has been his work in dual meets that has been most impressive.
• Pogue ended with a 10-0 dual-meet mark, including an 8-0 record since bumping up to 197 pounds during the Lone Star Duals. However, what is most impressive is that Pogue has recorded 36 takedowns while allowing just one in his 10 dual meets. East Stroudsburg's Charles Deighton scored the first takedown of the match against Pogue on Jan. 13.
• He scored a Navy-season-high 25 points in a win over Utah Valley State's Ivan Bigney at the Lone Star Duals.
• He owns a win over No. 16 Matt Cassidy of Lehigh, 5-3.
Baker is Back...
• A key component missing for Navy's hopes of an EIWA title may be back at 133 pounds. Freshman Joe Baker is in the lineup after missing more than a year due to a shoulder injury.
• So far this season, Baker has posted just a 7-1 record, entering the EIWA Tournament on a seven-match win streak.
• He claimed his second individual tournament title with a championship at the All-Academy Tournament. Earlier this year, Baker won the Penn State Open and was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. Wrestling unattached, Baker defeated Penn's Matt Eveleth in the finals (9-6), and also picked up wins over North Carolina's All-American Evan Sola, Sacred Heart's Jason Cuccolo and a fall and tech fall in the first two rounds.
# GO NAVY #
