March 2, 2007

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The 17th-ranked Navy wrestling team opened the 103rd EIWA Championship in style on Friday at East Stroudsburg's Koehler Fieldhouse, sending seven Midshipmen on to tomorrow's action and ranking second in the team standings.

Cornell leads the way after the opening day with 112.5 points, while Navy comes in at second with 90.5 points. Navy's point total after the first day already topped its total from its fifth-place team total of 86 points at last year's EIWA Championship. The remaining top-five team scores belong to Penn (82 points), American (61.5 points) and Lehigh (61 points).

Among the seven qualifiers for Saturday's action, Navy has four members that will compete in its weight class championship tomorrow. The four wrestlers competing for the Midshipmen are the second most among the championship field, only behind Cornell's six wrestlers that have made their way to the finals.

After a first-round bye in the 157-pound weight class, second-seeded senior team captain John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) won both of his matches to take on top-seeded Matt Dragon from Penn. Jarred opened his day by pinning Brown's Thomas Fazio with 1:29 remaining in the second period to move onto Lehigh's David Nakasone. Jarred, who had defeated Nakasone earlier this year in the Navy-Lehigh dual meet, repeated his success with a 3-1 decision.

At 174 pounds, top-seeded Navy junior Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) extended his winning streak to 13 matches on Friday with a trio of victories. Stolpinski began his day with a technical fall of Princeton's John Clore after two periods to advance to Bucknell's Shane Riccio. Stolpinski defeated Riccio by major decision or better for the third time this season, recording a 12-1 major decision victory. In the semifinal round against Penn's Matthew Herrington, Stolpinski rolled to an 11-6 decision to qualify for tomorrow's finals. With today's three wins, he improved his record to 37-5 on the year, only one victory shy of tying for fifth on the all-time single-season list with Brett Bourne (1989-90), Greg Gingeleskie (1997-98) and Steve Kovach (2000-01).

Senior Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) defeated two higher-seeded foes on Friday to advance to tomorrow's finals at 184 pounds. Miranda, the fifth seed, opened by posting a 23-10, major decision over Brown's Matthew Gevelinger. He then took on fourth-seeded Lior Zamir from Penn and registered a 6-2 decision victory to move onto top-seed David Craig from Lehigh. In their first meeting between the two wrestlers this year on Friday, Miranda came up with an 8-5 upset victory to earn a spot in the finals. With the victories, Miranda reached the 30-win mark this season and enters Saturday with a 32-8 record.

Navy's final qualifier for a weight class title comes from heavyweight junior Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.), who won each of his three bouts by decision. He kicked off his day with a 5-2 win over Charles Deighton of East Stroudsburg, then topped Bucknell's Greg Hingson by a 7-4 margin. Prendergast concluded his evening with a narrow 3-2 decision over fifth seed Levon Mock from Brown. Prendergast has now won 16-consecutive bouts, spanning back to Jan. 6. His 34 victories in 2006-07 are tied for 16th on the single-season list with Mark Conley (2000-01) and John Cox (2005-06).

Three Midshipmen will compete on Saturday in the consolation bracket after one loss on Friday. Sophomore 133-pounder Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) dropped a tough 7-5 sudden victory to Bucknell's David Marble in the opening bout, but won his next-two matches to make it through to tomorrow. Baker bounced back with a 11-3 major decision win over Rutgers' Dan Hilt before a 5-3 decision victory against East Stroudsburg's John Stout.

Senior 149-pound wrestler John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) won his first-two matches before falling in the semifinal round. Cox posted a technical fall 34 seconds into the second period against Franklin & Marshall's Stephen Gregory before the third seed defeated American's Damian Swietlik by a 4-2 decision. However, Cox's search for his 108th career victory would have to wait at least one day, as second-seeded JP O'Connor from Harvard defeated Cox, 9-3.

Navy's final wrestler advancing to tomorrow is junior 197-pounder Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.). He opened with a technical fall 4:44 into the match against Brown's Larry Otsuka before falling to second-seeded Joshua Glenn of American by a 16-5 major decision. Parsons recouped to post a major decision win over Harvard's William Colgan and a fall with 50 seconds left in the second period against Rutgers' Lamar Brown.

The action at the 103rd EIWA Championship will conclude tomorrow, with the consolation semifinals and place matches kicking off the day at 11 a.m., before the championship finals commence at 4 p.m.

NAVY WRESTLERS AT THE EIWA CHAMPIONSHIP

125 lbs.    Greg Hart (Bucknell) fall Alex Usztics (Navy), 6:32        Alex Usztics (Navy) fall Nikhil Pereira (Princeton), 1:15        Fernando Martinez (Army) dec. Alex Usztics (Navy), 4-3
133 lbs. David Marble (Bucknell) dec. Joe Baker (Navy), 7-5 sv        Joe Baker (Navy) major dec. Dan Hilt (Rutgers), 11-3        Joe Baker (Navy) dec. John Stout (East Stroudsburg), 5-3
141 lbs. Brad Canterbury (Navy) tech fall Danny Scotton (Princeton), 20-4 (6:21)        Mark Savino (Brown) dec. Brad Canterbury (Navy), 6-4        Brad Canterbury (Navy) major dec. Sean Carr (East Stroudsburg), 17-7        Max Meltzer (Harvard) dec. Brad Canterbury (Navy), 10-3
149 lbs. John Cox (Navy) tech fall Stephen Gregory (Franklin & Marshall), 15-0 (3:42)        John Cox (Navy) dec. Damian Swietlik (American), 4-2        JP O'Connor (Harvard) dec. John Cox (Navy), 9-3
157 lbs. John Jarred (Navy) fall Thomas Fazio (Brown), 3:31        John Jarred (Navy) dec. David Nakasone (Lehigh), 3-1
165 lbs. Steve Anceravage (Cornell) tech fall Justin Jacobs (Navy), 19-2 (4:40)        Justin Jacobs (Navy) medical forfeit Brian Rowan (Army)        Frankie Colletta (Harvard) default Justin Jacobs (Navy), 0:16
174 lbs. Matt Stolpinski (Navy) tech fall John Clore (Princeton), 16-0 (5:00)        Matt Stolpinski (Navy) major dec. Shane Riccio (Bucknell), 12-1        Matt Stolpinski (Navy) dec. Matthew Herrington (Penn), 11-6
184 lbs. Antonio Miranda (Navy) major dec. Matthew Gevelinger (Brown), 23-10        Antonio Miranda (Navy) dec. Lior Zamir (Penn), 6-2        Antonio Miranda (Navy) dec. David Craig (Lehigh), 8-5
197 lbs. Matt Parsons (Navy) tech fall Larry Otsuka (Brown), 20-4 (4:44)        Joshua Glenn (American) major dec. Matt Parsons (Navy), 16-5        Matt Parsons (Navy) major dec. William Colgan (Harvard), 12-2        Matt Parsons (Navy) fall Lamar Brown (Rutgers), 4:10
285 lbs. Ed Prendergast (Navy) dec. Charles Deighton (East Stroudsburg), 5-2        Ed Prendergast (Navy) dec. George Hingson (Bucknell), 7-4        Ed Prendergast (Navy) dec. Levon Mock (Brown), 3-2