Dec. 3, 2007

2007 Nittany Lion Final Results

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Navy newcomer Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) placed second at 165 pounds, while senior 157-pounder Joe Butcher (Westwood, N.J.) turned in a third-place finish to lead the Midshipmen wrestling team Sunday in one of the largest "opens" on the East Coast , the Nittany Lion Open held at Penn State University. While Navy sent 10 wrestlers west to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday, an additional 15 wrestlers represented the Naval Academy in the non team scoring competition.

Wrestling in just his second collegiate competition, DeMichiel won four-consecutive matches before receiving a bye to compete in the championship bout against Team Wright's Quentin Wright. DeMichiel opened up the competition with a 10-2 major decision over Kutztown's Andrew Osborne before pinning Danny Artusio from Virginia in the following round. He then strung together back-to-back decisions over Virginia Tech's Anthony Trongone (4-3) and Kent State's Obie Simpson (4-1) to set up the championship bout. Wright claimed the match via a 5-1 decision over DeMichiel.

Meanwhile, Butcher produced a 5-1 record en route to claiming third at 157 pounds. Like DeMichiel, Butcher started the tournament strong with back-to-back major decisions over Columbia's Eric Rice (18-5) and Chris Vigliotti from Buffalo (9-1). Butcher advanced in the following match against a tough opponent in Sean Quinn of Wagner, whom Butcher defeated, 1-0. Butcher earned a 6-3 decision over Dan Nauman of Shippensburg sending him to a semifinals matchup against 11th-ranked Dan Vallimont of Penn State. Vallimont, who would go on and win the title, defeated Butcher by major decision, 10-2. Butcher, though, quickly bounced back, taking the third-place match by fall over Virginia's Kyle Artusio in just 1:56.

The Mids will be back in action on Dec. 18 when they return to the state of Nevada for the Reno Tournament of Champions.