Nov. 2, 2008

• 2008 Eastern Michigan Open Results

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Four Navy wrestlers qualified for the championship bout in their respective weight classes, including senior team captain Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) who won the heavyweight division for the second consecutive year Saturday night at the season-opening Eastern Michigan Open. In addition to Steele, Navy freshman Pat McCaffrey (Chicago, Ill.) turned in a 3-0 record to win the 125-pound title, while returning NCAA qualifier Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) put together a 4-0 mark to claim the 149-pound weight class.

All told, 11 of the 21 wrestlers representing Navy placed sixth or better. A year ago, an experienced Midshipmen squad placed seven among the top four, while this season's youth-laden program put six in the top four.

"I think we had some outstanding performances today and I am really excited about some of our young wrestlers," said ninth-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had a freshman win at 125 and another place second behind an experienced wrestler at 174 pounds.

"Certainly we are now able to see exactly where we are at and what mistakes we need to correct in the coming weeks. We are a long ways from being a great team, but we have the potential to be a fine team. Overall, it was a good way to kick off the season and I'm really looking forward to what lies ahead for this team."

After crowning just one champion a year ago and a total of four in the four previous years combined (2004 - Thayer Paxton @ 197; 2005 - John Jarred @ 157, Tanner Garrett @ HWT; 2006 - None; 2007 - Scott Steele @ HWT), there was much to cheer about from a Navy standpoint. Steele, a member of the U.S. Freestyle National Team, defended his EMU Open title by stringing together four straight wins to take the title. He claimed his opening match by a 7-3 decision over Michigan's Chad Bleske before Pitt's Ryan Tomei succumbed to Steele by a 2-1 decision. Purdue's Chris Kasten was little match for Steele in the semis, as the Navy product advanced to the finals with an 8-3 win. The championship bout pit the No. 5 vs. the No. 13 wrestlers against one another. Though he put forth a hard-fought effort, 13th-ranked Rashard Goff from Cleveland State was tripped up by Steele, 3-2.

Saddoris, who last year became one of only three Navy wrestlers to win 30-plus matches as a freshman, won just his second collegiate title by claiming the 149-pound weight division. Saddoris opened the tournament by handing Michigan's Mark Weber an 8-2 loss and then earned a major decision over Matt Redmond of Purdue. He earned a championship bout appearance by virtue of his upset victory over seventh-ranked Jack Patacsil from Purdue, 4-3. Saddoris left little doubt in the minds of his opponents that he was the best wrestler in the tournament when he clobbered Eastern Michigan's J.J. Johnson by major decision, 17-6, to take the crown.

After an opening-round bye, McCaffrey put forth a spectacular performance in his first collegiate competition. The rookie, who won two high school state championships in two different states, opened the tournament with a pin at 1:31 over Brockport's Shawn Hainey. Advancing to the semifinals, the Navy rookie took care of Eastern Michigan's Jordan McGuire in an 18-9 major decision, just after McGuire won back-to-back major decisions of his own. In the championship bout, McCaffrey stayed the course and managed an undefeated first tournament by taking down Cleveland State's Jordan Keller, 3-1.

Fellow rookie Luke Rebertus (Elkton, Md.) a fine effort en route to a 3-1 record and a second-place finish at 174 pounds. Rebertus won each of his first three matches, including a 13-3 major decision over Findlay's Kris Bowser in his first collegiate match. In the quarterfinals, he edged Olivet's Kyle Vanderhyde, 3-2, before taking a two-point, 3-1, decision over Michigan State's John Murphy to earn a spot in the championship. Though he put up a valiant effort, Rebertus' winning streak was snapped by No. 11 Mike Letts of Maryland, 4-0.

For the second consecutive year, junior Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.) earned a fourth-place finish, this time at 141 pounds. Pagan put himself in a hole early on, as he was pinned by Eastern Michigan's Andrew Novak at 4:15 in his opening match. Though behind the eight ball, Pagan went on to win five in a row, including two one-point decisions, to earn his way into the third-place match. One of his one-point decisions ended the day for teammate John Majka, who easily defeated Pagan, 11-2, in last week's Blue-Gold Challenge Matches. Pagan went on to drop the third-place match to Purdue's Juan Archuletta by a 3-2 decision.

Also placing fourth in the tournament was sophomore Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.), who, like Pagan, lost early and was forced to come back through the consolation bracket. DeMichiel earned a 2-1 win over Virginia's Mike Chaires to open up the tournament, but was tripped up by Luke Manuel of Purdue, 4-2, in the quarterfinals. After earning three straight wins, including a pin over Purdue's Jason Martin at 1:02 to put him in the third-place bout, DeMichiel fell behind in his rematch against Chaires and would drop a 3-1 decision.

Other Midshipmen who placed in Saturday's tournament included Joey Boone (Poway, Calif.) in fifth at 133 pounds, Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) in fifth at 157 pounds, Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) in sixth at 157 pounds, Mike Billings (Waterford, Mich.) in sixth at 174 pounds and Philip Neese (Lexington, S.C.) in fifth at 197 pounds.

The Midshipmen will be back in action next weekend when they travel to the opposite coast to begin dual action. Navy will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday at 7:00 pm Pacific before taking on Stanford (3:00 pm) and Cal State Bakersfield (6:00 pm) in back-to-back matches on Saturday. The Mids are on tap to return home on Saturday, Nov. 22 when they play host to the annual Navy Classic.


2008 Eastern Michigan Open Results
Championship Finals:
125 - Pat McCaffrey, Navy - Jordan Keller, Cleveland State, 3-1
133 - Jake Fleckenstein, Purdue - Eric Rosencrancz, Pitt, 14-5
141 - Eric Albright, Pitt - Kenny Jordan, Unattached, 6-4
149 - Bryce Saddoris, Navy - J.J. Johnson, Eastern Michigan, 17-6
157 - Jedd Moore, Virginia - Dan Gonser, Virginia, Injury Default
165 - Luke Manuel, Purdue - Rex Kendle, Michigan St., 5-1
174 - Mike Letts, Maryland - Luke Rebertus, Navy, 4-0
184 - Jeremie Cook, Lock Haven - Ian hinton, Michigan St., 3-2
197 - Logan Brown, Purdue - Josh Ohl, Ashland, 6-1
285 - Scott Steele, Navy - Rashard Goff, Cleveland St., 3-2

Consolation Finals for third and fifth:
125 - Akif Eren, Purdue - Ross Gitomer, Virginia, fall (5:25)
Matt Fields, Purdue - Jordan McGuire, Eastern Michigan, 13-4
133 - Chris Jenkins, Eastern Michigan - Zac Stevens, Michigan, 5-2
Joey Boone, Navy - Mike Mencini, Cleveland State, 8-6
141 - Juan Archuletta, Purdue - Matt Pagan, Navy, 3-2
Zach Donofrio, Eastern Michigan - Andrew Novak, Eastern Michigan, NA
149 - Jake Patacsil, Purdue - Tim Hammer, Michigan State, 15-0
Alex Warren, Indiana - Jacob Johnson, Michigan, fall (4:01)
157 - Jason Brew, Olivet - Aaron Hynes, Michigan, 5-3
Joel Ahern, Navy - Glenn Shober, Navy, 3-1
165 - Mike Chaires, Virginia - Matt DeMichiel, Navy, 3-1
Jason Martin, Purdue - John Doyle, Purdue, Injury Default
174 - Kyle Vanderyde, Olivet - John Murphy, Michigan State, 6-2
Nick Avery, Indiana - Mike Billings, Navy, Injury Default
184 - Andrew Kissel, Purdue - Hunter Montoya, Michigan, fall (0:42)
Zac Thomasette, Pitt - Eric Anderson, Michigan State, 5-0
197 - Andy Zalaiskalus, Findlay - Matt Wilps, Pitt, 5-4
Philip Neese, Navy - Tyler Dickensom, Michigan State, 10-5
285 - Ryan Tomei, Pitt - Ed Phillips, Michigan, 5-3
Chris Kasten, Purdue - Dan Craig, Lock Haven, 11-0

### Go Navy ###