March 15, 2007

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- All six of Navy's wrestlers will be back in action on Friday at the 77th NCAA Wrestling Championship at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, but all six are fighting to stay in the tournament via the consolation bracket. Four of the Mids' six wrestlers won their opening-round matches, but all six lost in the second round, as they will now join senior John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) and junior Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) in the consolation bracket.

"We had a pretty good first round," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "Every time you step out onto that mat, you have to be ready to wrestle your best. I thought we got off to a slow start in some of our matches which makes it difficult to come back from.

"We had some tough draws, Baker faced last year's No. 1-seeded wrestler Mack Reiter, Jarred went against the No. 4 seed and Miranda was up against the top guy in his weight class. We competed hard and we still have everyone in the tournament which I'm really proud of.

"Our guys are representing the Naval Academy well here in Michigan and we are excited about what tomorrow holds."

Cox and Stolpinski kept their All-America hopes alive Thursday evening, as both wrestlers turned in wins in the first round of consolations. At 149 pounds, Cox dominated Oregon State's Derek Kipperberg from start to finish as he built an 8-1 lead after the opening period. After a pair of takedowns and an escape, Cox pushed his lead to 13-5 after two periods and went on to claim the match, 16-5.

Stolpinski earned an early 2-0 lead over 174-pound Doug Umbehauer of Rider, but it was trimmed to one point by the end of the first period. Umbehauer knotted the score with an escape to open the second period, but Stolpinski took the lead for good on an ensuing takedown. With a 9-4 win, Stolpinski took a step closer to becoming only the third wrestler in program history to record 40 wins in a season. He currently stands 39-6.

In the championship bracket, 133-pound Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) faced seventh-seeded Mack Reiter, a 2006 All-American who finished fourth in last year's NCAA Championship. Baker fell behind 4-1 at the end of the first period, but got right back in the match with a takedown to open the second. Reiter escaped and followed with an immediate takedown to grab the lead for good and score the eventual 12-5 victory.

The biggest heartbreak of the evening for the Mids was a 1-0 decision suffered by team captain John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) at 157 pounds. He and fourth-seeded C.P. Schlatter from Minnesota battled for a scoreless three periods before Schlatter was awarded a point for riding time.

Senior Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) won his opening match of the tournament by fall at 184 pounds, but he wouldn't be as lucky in his second-round match against No. 1-ranked Jake Herbert from Northwestern. Herbert, who had defeated Miranda earlier in the season by major decision, nearly duplicated the score, as he cruised to a second-round win over Miranda, 16-6.

Sixth-seeded Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) fell out of the championship bracket after dropping an 8-3 decision to West Virginia's Dustin Rogers. Prendergast pinned Rogers in the semifinals of the Navy Classic in November, but Prendergast would ultimately pay the price on Thursday evening as an injury proved to be the difference in the match.

Minnesota, which has seven wrestlers still in the championship bracket, leads the field with 34 points. Missouri is second with 29.5 points and three wrestlers in the championship bracket, while Iowa State is in third place with 27.5 points. Penn State is fourth with 24 points and three wrestlers in the winners' bracket. Iowa is fifth with 20 points and three wrestlers still alive in the championship pairings. Six Navy grapplers will work their way through the consolation bracket in Friday's session. Quarterfinal bouts start at 11:00 am on Friday.